Ever since I was 2 1/2 years old, having “spresso and cookies” with my dad, before anyone else in the house was up, has been a weekend tradition.  Today, I still like to have something sweet with my coffee on the weekends, and one of my go-to recipes is this one for scones.

I’ve been making these scones since middle school home economics.  They only take about 15-20 minutes, so it’s easy to make them on Thursday or Friday night and have delicious scones to enjoy all weekend.

I usually make them with chocolate chips, slivered almonds and dried cranberries, but you can use the recipe as a base and experiment with any type of nut, fruit or other ingredient.

Also, if you’re health conscious but sill like to indulge in the occasional treat, you can use a smaller round object to cut the scones (my tool of choice is a martini shaker lid to make mini scones).

Enjoy!

Weekend Chocolate Chip Scones
Makes 12 large scones or 20 small scones

1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter cut into bits
1/2 cup of chocolate chips
1/4 cup of slivered almonds
1/4 cup of dried cranberries
3 tablespoons of orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  With a pastry blender or a large fork, cut in the butter to make coarse crumbs.  (Tip: Make sure the butter is well chilled to produce the flakiest texture.) Stir in the chocolate chips, almonds and cranberries.
3. Mix in the orange juice to form a dough.  If the dough does not stick together and is still crumbly, add more orange juice, just a splash at a time.  If the dough becomes too sticky, add more flour.
4. Turn out the dough on a floured surface.  Pat or roll until it’s about 1/2 inch thick.  With a biscuit cutter, cut out scones, pushing the dough scraps together for the last few if necessary.  (Note: If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, any round object will do, like a wine glass or martini shaker lid for smaller scones.)
5. Transfer the scones to the baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes.  Cool on wire racks.

Experiment with different nuts, fruit or other ingredients in your scones.

The lone scone.