Get ready for some Easter themed photos accompanying some Spring inspired scones. Yes, Easter was yesterday, but a holiday featuring a magical bunny, soft pastels, adorable baby animals, fun crafts, and lots and lots of chocolate and jelly beans should be celebrated year long, right? Or at least all Spring? Or at least until I run out of sunny scone recipe ideas (never going to happen I seriously have over 50 recipes lined up) and my mom puts away the Easter decorations photography props? Come on, I thought you were on my side!

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

I read in one of my new baking cookbooks about both orange poppyseed and orange lemon poppyseed muffins and wanted to try those flavors in scones! “But Jenna, the title of this recipe is orange chocolate chip scones!” I know, friends, bear with me. So I flounced over to the market, because only in Spring can you flounce, and bought oranges, lemons, poppy seeds, and mini chocolate chips. I have NO idea how the chocolate found its way into my basket! The sneaky little devils have a mind of their own.

What was I to do? As devilish as the mini chocolate chips misbehaved, I couldn’t just abandon them to my pantry, left to languish until I finally got around to remaking my S’mores scones since I ate the entire last batch before I could photograph them. That would be too cruel. So I sighed, gave the mini chips a stern look, and changed my recipe plan to orange chocolate chip scones. The hardy, reliable orange should be able to keep those wily chocolate chips in line.

And what a line! The scones contain the perfect amount of orange to offset the sweet chocolate (these chips are semisweet instead of my preferred dark because I have yet to find dark chocolate mini chips), neither flavor dominating. The orange must have taught the chips to cooperate!

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

Orange is typically found in bakery scones via cranberry orange scones, but the orange in those recipes is sugary and overly sweet, achieved through artificial flavorings and extracts. We went fresh for these scones, and that is what sets them apart! No orange flavoring that doesn’t come from straight from those glorious globes. (Unintentional Alliteration Win) If you want to make cranberry orange scones, simply sub dried cranberries for the chocolate chips. Fresh orange versus the fake stuff will blow your cranberry orange scone mind.

Top these scones with the Greek yogurt “clotted cream” (recipe will come shortly I promise) or other tangy topping. Tang and citrus are excellent complements. Add a little extra orange zest to the Greek yogurt mixture for a boost, or to go chocolately drizzle some extra melted chocolate on top of the scones. But beware, that may encourage those pesky chips!

orange chocolate chip scones

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

ingredients

• 250 g all purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 50 g superfine baking sugar
• 75 g unsalted butter
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 tsps fresh orange juice
• ¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
• 125 mLs buttermilk

Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F and place oven rack at top 3^rd of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium-large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Grate the butter into bowl, then rub it in until the texture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the zest, juice, and chocolate chips. Slowly add the buttermilk, kneading the mixture together with your hands a few times to bring everything together. If dough is too dry, add additional buttermilk 1 tbsp at a time.

Transfer dough to a floured surface; pat the dough down to about ¾ inch thickness. Use a 5 cm biscuit cutter dipped in flour to cut scones and transfer them to the baking sheet. Knead scraps back together and repeat until all the dough has been used.

Bake for 7-10 minutes (mine took 8) until edges are lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Some topping suggestions: the Greek yogurt whipped cream, cranberry or red fruit jam, Nutella (trust me it is awesome), and regular clotted cream as always!