More scones, please

Bear with me. I am on a bit of a scone kick right now (a pickling kick too, as we speak I have my first batch of kimchi fermenting on the counter top). I can't help it--there is something about fresh baked scones and jar of homemade pickles that speaks to me. At a dinner party the other night, as my friend Adam filled my glass with bourbon, he said "We drink whisky because it makes us feel alive." His words resonated with me and although he was referring more specifically to the slight burn of the temperate liquor as it slips down the throat, that final sensation is precisely why I find pickling and baking to be so  rewarding.

The act of hand mixing, pouring, creaming and even scrubbing the bowls at the end of a meal is much more real to me than merely opening a package and eating its contents. I want to occasionally nick my nuckles against the teeth of the box grater and feel the burn of the scalding, sudsy sink water. These things remind me that I am an active consumer, preparing and eating what I see fit as I see fit, and putting into the preparation all that I hope to glean from its consumption.

For those of you who read my last post, you know that I was slow to come around and appreciate the scone. But, eventually I did and when that happened I sort of imagined myself becoming  a connoisseur of scones. I envisioned endless experimentation with flavor combinations like lemon and ginger or cardamom and pear, bringing to the scone that imaginative exploration so popularly inspired by the cupcake.

Let's just say that I'm working with it, seeing how it goes. I had some Godiva dark chocolate chunks, and hazelnuts in the cupboard, which I decided to use in this scone recipe. This time I went with a more traditional buttermilk scone, instead of the slightly sweeter cream scones that I made last week. These scones are a bit hardier, the crumbly pastry flecked with nubs of bittersweet chocolate and crunchy bits of hazelnuts.

Scones with Chocolate and Hazelnut

Ingredients

Yields eight scones

2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbs cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips/chunks
1/2 chopped hazelnuts

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder lightly with a whisk. In a separate bowl combine vanilla, egg and buttermilk. Delicately cut cold cubed butter into the flour sugar mixture until you have created a loosely bound mixture. Slowly stir wet ingredients into flour butter sugar mixture.

Mix with a wooden spoon or whisk until you have formed a smooth pastry dough. Fold chocolate chunks and hazelnuts into the mixture. Form the dough into a disk (about 8 inches in diameter) and cut into 8 wedges like you would a pizza. Place wedges 2 inches apart on a stick free cookie sheet, or piece of parchment paper. Bake for 17-19 minutes.