Mini Chocolate Chip Scones

I made these scones for the first time yesterday and I believe we have found a new favorite.  I love scones!  I appreciate their texture.  They are a cross between a biscuit and a cake and they are wonderfully light and fluffy.  These little things are delicious!  And they go very well with a cup of coffee.  

Give this recipe a go.  I think you'll find that they are rather easy to make and sure to please the crowd! ;)

Mini Chocolate Chip Scones

makes 32 scones

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted cold butter, cut into pieces

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup half and half

Directions:

Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse meal ( I rotated between criss-cross slicing through with my knives and using my hands to break up the butter and work it into the flour.)  Add the chocolate chips and stir to evenly distribute.

In a medium bowl, add eggs, vanilla and the half and half and whisk until combined.  Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and mix until just moistened and the dough holds together.  

Place your dough onto a floured surface.  Pat out the dough until it is roughly an 8x8 (a square, feel free to use a ruler to get it right) and about 3/4" thick.  Cut the dough into 2 inch squares.  Here is what it should look like at this point:

Now you are going to cut each of these squares in half diagonally to make little triangles.  They may seem small but trust me, they will bake to be the perfect size.  Using a flat spatula or your butter knife, move the triangles to the prepared baking sheet.  I like to mold them a little with my fingers just to make sure there are no little pieces of dough sticking out that might burn in the oven.  I fit all 32 scones on one baking sheet.  Like this: 

The next step is to put your baking sheet full of scones into the refrigerator or freezer.  I used my freezer.  Leave them in the fridge to chill for 45 minutes or the freezer for 30 minutes.  Set your timer to go off a little earlier than that so you can preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

When the time is up, remove them from chilling and place them in the oven.  Bake them until they are golden brown, approximately 15-20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack.

Enjoy!