A Little Chocolate Love in the Morning

I am not a morning person. Ask anyone who knows me at all. They would probably also tell you that I’m not always very pleasant-tempered before my morning espresso. I’m not saying it’s a particularly charming aspect of my personality.

I am also not a breakfast person. Perhaps those two facts are connected…

Anyway, my theory on breakfast is that its purpose is to provide some buffer between my stomach lining and the quad espresso I’ve just tossed down my gullet.

But saying that kind of discounts how yummy these scones were. And they were just as good two days later for breakfast (although next time I won’t glaze all of them right away so I can reheat - because they’re just awfully good warm).

These would be a really nice Valentine’s Day breakfast surprise along with some strawberries and a mimosa.

I mean for you. Not for me.

Chocolate Scones with Vanilla Bean Glaze


2/3 cup heavy cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp (4 grams) pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips

1 large egg
1 Tbs heavy cream

Glaze:

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped into a bowl
1 cup (approximately) powdered sugar
4 tsp (approximately) heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375˚ and place rack in center of oven.

In a small bowl whisk together the whipping cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chunks (chips). Add the cream mixture and stir just until the dough comes together (add more cream and/or flour as necessary).

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Shape the dough into an 8 inch circle. Cut into pie-shaped wedges (about 12). Brush excess flour from the bottom of the scones, and place them on a baking sheet. Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 Tbs cream and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until they are firm around the edges but a bit soft in the center. A toothpick inserted into the center of a scone will come out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

In the meantime, prepare glaze. Add powdered sugar to a bowl with the scraped vanilla bean. Mix in cream, 1 tsp at a time until you have a glaze that is thick (about the consistency of maple syrup). Drizzle glaze over scones or pour glaze into a plastic sandwich bag, cut a small corner out of it, and ‘pipe’ over the scones).

Makes about 12.