Fall Baking Part 2: Chocolate Chip Orange Scones

Do you like your daily dose of dark chocolate first thing in the morning? This scone will fix you right up! The original recipe called for all white flour (we used 1 cup of whole wheat and 3/4 cup of white flour), 5 tablespoons of stick butter (we used light margarine with plant sterols and froze it to make it easier to crumble into the flour). Instead of half and half we used fat free half and half and I added some orange zest to boost the flavor.

By making these changes we cut the calories (in these still delectable and satisfying scones) by about 50 per scone and we trimmed off 4 grams of total fat and 4 grams saturated fat per scone. Cholesterol plummeted from 19 milligrams to 2.

Chocolate Chip Orange or "Halloween" Scones

Photo: Elaine Magee

5 tablespoons light margarine with plant sterols added (whipped butter can be substituted if butter is preferred)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup miniature semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (or pulse regular size chocolate chips briefly in food processor)
1 tablespoon orange zest, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
3 tablespoons fat free half and half

1. Place each individual tablespoon of margarine on a piece of wax paper or foil and place in the freezer to chill for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with canola cooking spray.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the frozen butter, breaking each tablespoon into about 8 pieces each. Beat on medium-low speed until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest. On low speed, beat in the orange juice and fat free half and half just until a dough is formed.
4. On a floured surface, pat scone dough into a 9 inch circle about 1/2 inch thick. Use a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter to cut out 8 scones and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown (about 12 minutes). Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Yield: Makes 8 scones

Nutrition information per scone: 183 calories, 4 g protein, 30 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 2 g monounsaturated fat, 1.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 2.5 g fiber, 307 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 25 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .2 gram, Omega-6 fatty acids = 1 grams.

Related Topics:

• Fall Baking Part 1: Overnight Brown Sugar Pecan Coffee Cake
  
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
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