A few weeks ago, we kicked off the end of summer vacation for the nephew a-go-go with a campfire on the beach. Campfires in a-go-go land usually mean s'mores and well, I got a hankering the day after that and the day after that and then the day after
that. While summer has finally hit our happy town, the mornings are still socked in, cool and grey...perfect for some morning baking.
With visions of marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate still in my head and a hankering for a good scone and some coffee, I came up with this recipe. Knowing that my tastes in scones might not be your average taste in scones, I put out a call for some testers and the results were dandy. Three of us baked up these scones using less sugar, more mix ins, no top wash, milk chips, semi-sweet chips, and even a round with almond milk. The verdict is these are tasty
and customizable. So if ya like, grab up some grahams, a rolling pin and a few other staples and get to baking. Soon enough you will have a tasty treat with echoes of our favorite campfire treat.
The key to a dilly of a scone is to keep your ingredients as chilled as possible. I like to pop a bowl into the fridge both to keep my batter cold and to remind me that I want to bake. This recipe uses one stick of butter (about 1/2 cup), which can be frozen and grated into your flour or cut up into smaller bits. I usually cut mine up then put it back into the fridge to ensure its chilliness.
To start, place your graham crackers into a bag and give them a squish or two with a rolling pin or jar or can. Make sure to crunch them up nice and good. This is something your kiddos will really get kick out of.
Next, add your dry ingredients (including graham cracker crumbs but not the mix-ins) to your chilled bowl and break your butter into the whole shebang either by using your fingers or a pastry cutter. Sometimes I am known to use two forks to mix it all up.
Once it is all crumbly, toss in your mix ins and add about 1 cup of liquid. Don't go dumping the whole cup into your bowl, add a little at a time until your dough is sticky but not runny. This is also a good time to set your oven to 400F in case you haven't yet. At this time, I also make sure to have a cookie sheet ready. I use a sheet of parchment paper atop mine.
Turn your dough out onto a floured surface and push, shape or roll out to a decent sized blob for cutting. I used a square biscuit cutter but you can use your hands to dollop out scones like
Ezerd did or mound it on top of your cookie sheet if you like, like
ms. a did (they even have the pictures to prove it). Depending on your method, you should get at east eight scones out of this dealio. I got ten.
Brush with milk or egg and add your sanding sugar, brown sugar or sprinkles. I used an awesome coffee, chocolate, sugar grinder I picked up at Trader Joe's. Bake for 12-15 minutes depending on your oven and preference for browning.
Let cool a smidge before enjoying and don't forget to use that parchment paper. The ooze from the marshmallows can be quite troublesome to clean up. Allow to cool completely before storing and store them in a loosely wrapped container or in a bowl covered with a dishtowel. This will keep the tops nice and crisp while the insides remain slightly moist. These scones are not very sweet save for the chocolate and marshmallowy bits. I made the recipe as printed up there.
ms. a did a batch with semi-sweet chips and thinks they were quite tasty but the milk chocolate lends itself to the intention of the s'mores. My gal,
ezerd added a bit more chips and squish but forgot to give her scones a wash. She said they still cooked up really nice and were super tasty even using almond milk.
Enjoy with a cup of coffee served up your favorite way. I had a few marshmallows and chips left over and couldn't let them go to waste. Here ya go! An ode to summer and campfire treats, these scones can be tweaked most any way you like. Have a go at it and let me know what you think!
