Cinnamon Chip Scones

I haven't made scones in way too long!

I think the last time I made them, it was from the Pacific Passions Cookbook that Peter gave me - back in August 2006!??! (Ok, has it really been THAT long!?)

Anyhow, I've craved cinnamon chip scones after getting a taste of them from some local bakery quite awhile back - one that's no longer local-enough to make trips to after the move, at least not just for a single scone, which they might not even offer any particular day.

The problem? Where to find cinnamon chips!? I know Joe over at Culinary in the Desert/Country has found them before, but they're not easy to come by locally - believe me, I've looked!

And then it finally happened - sometime back in December while shopping for Christmas baking marathons, I came across them in the seasonal baking goodies (along with mint chips, swirled chips, etc) at Giant Eagle. I bought a bag! WHY only one bag? I don't know. I'm hoping I'll go back and find they're now stocking them on a regular basis.

Anyhow, those chips have been sitting in the pantry just waiting for their chance to shine - which happened this week. I decided to start with the cranberry orange scone recipe from Barefoot Contessa's cookbook, leave out the cranberries, use the zest of just one orange (I think it called for two?), and dump in most of the bag of cinnamon chips. Hm. Was that going to be cinnamony enough? So I dumped in some (maybe a couple teaspoons' worth) of chinese cinnamon, finished making the dough, cut some in larger rounds, others in smaller triangles, and plopped them on their pans.



They all got a quick egg wash, and then the larger ones were treated to a sprinkling of very coarse sugar, and I decided to consider the smaller ones "diet scones", leaving the sugar off. (ok, here's the inside joke - there's nothing "diet" about these suckers! The recipe called for 3/4 lb butter, a cup of heavy cream, and 4 large eggs - I used all-natural eggs from Emma's Eggs near us)


Once they came out, I caved and had to scarf down one of the large ones (hey, quality control!) right away. YUM!

Then I figured they'd benefit from even MORE cinnamony goodness...so I combined a cup or so of powdered sugar, maybe a tablespoon of cinnamon, and the juice of half the orange to make a glaze I dribbled on top.

Hm, seems another one disappeared, post glaze, for, um, quality control reasons.


I have to be honest - I made these in the morning, and had a THIRD one for dessert with lunch. How bad is that?


Some of the remaining scones went in the freezer - we'll see how they hold up later. And most of the rest went in to work the next day. It didn't take too long before those scones were cleared out - I know the last one was split by two coworkers who showed up at the same time and decided to share rather than wrestle for it!


Unfortunately, this recipe doesn't seem to create scones with a long shelf life. They were AMAZING the first day. The second day they were pretty good but already not as fresh and fluffy tasting, and by the third day they had an almost stale texture/taste to them. I'm not sure how this works - maybe all the fat in them doesn't preserve them well? Any suggestions? They were sealed in Gladware, but there was definitely some air in there with them.

What do you guys say - should I post the recipe? Hunh? ;-) I can't be held responsible for your calorie intake if I do!