Dark Chocolate Coffee Mini Scones

 

Delightful clouds of sweet chocolate coffee joy in your mouth. That’s what these light and fluffy dark chocolate coffee mini scones are!

 

It has been a lazy and chilly Saturday afternoon and these gooey, comforting scones were the perfect treat to provide some warmth. And after our grueling work-out this morning (we’re training for the Twin Cities Monster Dash on October 27^th), we thought we deserved (and needed) some extra fuel in the form a baked good.

We adapted this recipe from a blog that we really enjoy reading, ohsheglows.com. It called for spelt flour and although we’ve never baked with this type of flour before we thought we’d give it a whirl. Spelt flour is a whole grain and has more protein than wheat flour. Extra fuel! Another crazy twist to this recipe is curdled milk. Quick science lesson (we are the daughters of a chemistry teacher after all). pH measures how acidic a substance is. In normal conditions milk has a pH of about 6.5, meaning it’s just slightly acidic. But when you add apple cider vinegar which has a pH of 4.25 (much more acidic), the pH falls and the protein structure of the milk changes, causing the milk to curdle.

Why use curdled milk in baking? Sour curdled milk in your refrigerator is disgusting. But the curdled milk that we made as part of the batter gives the scones a moist and fluffy texture. Chemistry is awesome!

So put your lab coat on (or apron if you prefer), and curl up with these dark chocolate coffee mini scones! Happy double dipping!

Recipe – adapted from ohsheglows.com

Makes 15 mini scones

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups spelt flour (or whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour)
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• 1/3 cup very strong coffee
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp. 1% milk
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp. dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick mat.
2. In a small bowl mix the apple cider vinegar and milk, and set aside for a couple minutes until it curdles.
3. In a large bowl mix together the wet ingredients (oil, vanilla extract, coffee, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar + milk mixture)
4. In another bowl mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar).
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well. Fold in the dark chocolate chips.
6. Scoop about 1 tbsp. of batter per mini scone onto baking sheet.
7. Bake for about 12 minutes until golden brown.
8. Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee or apple cider. Enjoy!