Just looking at this picture makes my mouth begin to water and I’m tempted to pour myself a tall glass of cold milk to go with this scone even though they are long gone. A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine was scheduled for knee surgery. All she knew prior to the appointment was that she would either have a *simple* Meniscus repair or a full fledged knee replacement, but the doctor wouldn’t know for sure until he was in there. Gee, toss a coin, I’d opt for the repair vs. the total knee. As luck would have it, that’s all she needed. I gave her a few days of recovery time before I made her these tasty treats.

Ingredients:

for the scones:

•  2 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup Cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. espresso powder
• 8 tbsp. cold butter, cut in chunks
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, plus more if needed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks

for the espresso chocolate glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. espresso powder
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• milk or cream to thin

Preparation: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Add the dry ingredients of the scones to the bowl of a processor and pulse to combine. Add in the chunks of cold butter and pulse several times until the mixture is crumbly. Pour the buttermilk into a measuring cup and then add the egg and vanilla and blend it together with a fork or whisk. While the machine is running, pour the liquid in a steady stream until the dough comes together.  If the dough seems too crumbly and dry, add a little more buttermilk. Stir in the dark chocolate chunks, distributing evenly. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Shape into an 8 or 9 inch round and then cut into 6 or 8 triangles and add to the already prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 -14 minutes.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely before drizzling with the glaze.

For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. Add the vanilla extract and just a tablespoon or two of milk or cream to the sugar mixture and stir well to fully incorporate ingredients. Add more milk a teaspoon at a time until you have a thick glaze.

Adapted from: http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/chocolate-espresso-scones/

Note: These were great the day of. The following day; however, they were a bit more dry than I like my scones so in the future, I might swap out the buttermilk for sour cream or greek yogurt to see if that helps maintain the moisture content.