Scones for the Birthday Boy

Today is Raf's birthday. Not really all that exciting, considering he's currently working 14 hour days for quarter-end. But they were nice tonight and let him come home a couple hours early so we could take him to dinner.

Instead of cake, I decided to make him some scones for his birthday. He always gets cake at work, and he loves scones. (I think they're boring and grossly lacking in sugar!) So when I came across a recipe for scones a couple days ago, I knew this was the one to try.

Things were not looking so hot in the preparation stages. For starters, I'm not sure what "knead 6 times" means. Especially considering the dough was SO sticky that it took longer to scrape it off my hands than it did to mix it! Look at these sad looking pre-bake specimens!
But look! They came out of the oven 10 minutes later looking fabulous! Like real scones! And they tasted even better! I'm now sold on homemade, fresh from the oven scones. No more of those day-old, rock hard, tasteless ones from the coffee shop. So, wanna try them for yourself? Here's the recipe from random cooking mag.

Chocolate-Orange Scones

• 1 1/2 cups complete buttermilk pancake mix
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2-3 tsp grated orange peel (this didn't sound super exciting to me, so I threw in a handful of orange flavored Craisins instead)
• 2 milk chocolate candy bars (1.55 oz each), chopped (This is 2 FULL Hershey's candy bars. Seemed a little excessive to me, so I just used one.)
• I also added a dash of vanilla extract, though the recipe didn't call for it. I think it helped. A lot.

In a small bowl, combine the pancake mix, cream and orange peel. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, knead 6 times (whatever). Knead in chocolate (and Craisins if you go that route). (Personally, I think I'll avoid touching it as much as possible next time, and just work it well with a spoon.)

Pat into a 9-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges. (Have faith that no matter how impossible this seems, it will work out in the end.) Separate wedges and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm. Yield: 8 scones.

Good luck!