Chocolate Chip Scones, Gluten-Free

From: Art of Gluten-Free Baking (http://artofglutenfreebaking.com)

Chocolate Chip Scones, Gluten-Free

Yield: about 12 scones

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (215 grams) Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour

1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons aluminum-free double-acting baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons (55 grams; 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream, cold

1/2 cup (85 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips

heavy cream for brushing (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/190 C/Gas Mark 5. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the cold butter pieces and rub into the mixture. Work quickly–you don’t want the butter to get too warm.

Once the mixture looks like wet sand mixed with differing sized pebbles, add the cream and stir with a spoon until just combined–the mixture will be very thick and will look “shaggy.” Add the chocolate chips and stir until combined.

To roll out and cut scones in to hearts

With your hands, gather the dough into a ball. Place it between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll out to 1/2 inch thick (no thinner). With a 2 1/2 inch (6.35 cm) heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many hearts as you can and place them on the lined cookie sheet. Gather together the dough and re-roll and cut until you have used up all of the dough. Work quickly--you don't want the dough to get too warm.

To shape scones into a disk

With your hands, gather the dough into a ball. Place it on the lined baking sheet and cover with a piece of waxed paper. Roll into a into a disk that is roughly 1/2 inch thick (no thinner), using your hands to shape and tidy the edges. Remove the waxed paper. With a sharp knife, cut into 12 triangles (as you would a pie) but keep the triangles together in the circle shape.

At this stage, you can wrap the baking sheet with the cut scones with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight for baking the next morning.

When you are ready to bake the scones

If desired, brush scones with heavy cream. Disregard this step if you are dairy sensitive.

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25 minutes, or until the edges of the scones are a medium brown. If you are baking them straight from the refrigerator, add about 5-10 extra minutes. Remove from oven. If you used the disk method, re-cut the triangles to be sure they are separate pieces.

Serve warm, plain or with butter and jam.