Blood Orange and Dark Chocolate Scones

So I'm officially obsessed with blood oranges, and you (my darling readers) are probably over recipes about them!  I promise only one or two more--the season is almost over after all.

I love scones; delicious butter breakfast treats normally filled with yummy bites of fruit.  For these blood orange scones I added chunks of dark chocolate.  The chocolate was a perfect pairing with the blood oranges and make the flavor of these scones really pop!

These are a great breakfast treat, and I may have been hoarding them.  I meant to bring them to school to share with the other teachers--instead I've been eating them all by myself.

Blood orange and dark chocolate scones are a perfect breakfast treat.  They would be great for brunch, or even afternoon tea, if you're that fancy. I've also been eating half of one as my lunch treat.  It keeps me out of the chocolate stash at school.

Blood Orange and Dark Chocolate Scones

Author: Happy Food Happy Home-recipe adapted from Bakery Style Blueberry Scones from Pinch of Yum

2 cups all purpose flour

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

zest from 2 blood oranges

½ cup cold salted butter, cubed

1 large egg

½ cup cold heavy cream

1 cup blood orange segments

½ cup dark chocolate chips

few tablespoons of extra cream

turbinado sugar for tops

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Zest your oranges.  Combine with the sugar and use your fingers to massage zest and sugar together releasing the oils from the zest.
3. Whisk together flour, sugar-zest mix, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl.
4. Cut the cold butter into very small chunks.  Use a mixer, your hands, or a pastry blender to combine the dry ingredients with the butter until very small crumbs form.  Keep the butter cold--if it gets warm at this point set it in the fridge for 5 minutes.
5. Mix the cream and egg together in a glass measuring cup with a pour spout.
6. In a thin stream, add the cream and egg to the dry ingredients.  Mix together with a mixer until just combined.  The dough will be thick and heavy dough.
7. Peel the oranges and cut into chunks.  I cut each segment into three pieces. Make sure to remove seeds. 
8. Add the chocolate and oranges to the dough.  Use your hands to toss and mix together until the chunks are spread through the dough.  It will be rather crumbly and full of chunks--this is what makes the scones good!
9. On a floured work surface dump out your dough.  If it looks like a crumbly mess that's ok!  Use your hands to pat and push the dough into a circle an inch thick.  Cut the dough into 8 even wedges.
10. Place your scones on the baking sheet.  Make sure to leave space between the scones because they will puff as they bake.
11. Brush the tops of the scones with a light layer of cream. Sprinkle a pinch of turbinado sugar over the tops of the scones for crunch and a light sweetness.
12. Bake scones for 18-22 minutes until the tops are golden brown and firm to the touch.

Notes--

• I washed and scrubbed my blood oranges before I zested them. The blood oranges I've been using have wax on the outside, and I wanted that off before I zested them.
• You can segment the oranges with a knife if you don't want the membrane in your scones. I didn't really notice once they'd baked. 
• Be careful not to bash up the oranges too much. They'll release some juice into the dough, but you don't want too much and make it really wet. 

Do you find scones tricky to make?  Or are you just intimated by their reputation?  Really they aren't that different from biscuits, and they're so delicious.

What's your favorite breakfast treat?  Or your favorite thing to make for brunch?