Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Scones {Guest Post}

One of the best things about this blog is all of you.  Thanks for letting me vent on Thursday and thank you for all of the stomach tips.  It sounds like I was not alone with stomach pains and A/C problems.  Hopefully all of you are keeping cool and pain-free now!

Since last week was full of whining, I thought I’d switch things up with some fantastic news and what I’m thankful for:

• Last night was the second night in a row that I was stomach-ache freeand the source of my pains doesn’t seem to be anything serious!
• Last night was the first night we slept in an air conditioned bedroom!
• The rain yesterday brought us a couple humidity-freedays.
• I have a delicious guest post for you today and an exciting new recipe for Thursday

Can you tell I am a different person?  I knew that my stomach aches were getting to me, but I didn’t realize how much they were affecting my mentality on a daily basis.  As it turns out, it was my breakfast that was the culprit.  Ever since summer started, I’ve switched my daily hot oatmeal to a yogurt/oatmeal mix.  The thing is, I just mix the oatmeal and yogurt (kind of like muesli) without cooking the oats.  Apparently my stomach does NOT like that.  And evidently, I’m not alone. The fact that I am not allergic to gluten, dairy or anything else is a huge relief.  I also feel very lucky that there is nothing seriously wrong with me.

Now, onto today’s post!  Brandi from BranAppetit offered to share a delicious recipe with all of you.  I only found Brandi’s blog a couple of months ago, but I am so glad I did.  She is a fabulous self-taught cook and baker that posts various delicious recipes and peaks into her life.  She focuses mostly on healthier dishes but also shares my love of indulgent desserts.  A few recipes I need to make are her Vanilla Confetti Pound Cake, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Oat Muffins, S’mores Dip (!!!), and Vegan Frozen Chocolate Dipped Cookie Dough.  Of course I chose the indulgent sweets.

Hi everyone! My name is Brandi and I’m the recipe maker, tester, and eater over at BranAppetit! I’m so happy to be guest posting for Lauren – her recipes are so fun and I’m excited to be sharing one of my own.

After years of thinking I didn’t like scones, I’ve completely changed my mind. My husband and I found these incredible chocolate chip scones at a local bakery, so I made it my mission to make scones at home that were just as good and a tad healthier.

In the past couple of years, Nick’s dad has been teaching me how to make biscuits from scratch (without using a recipe) and all the biscuit baking has definitely paid off!

Making scones isn’t very different from biscuits, except that you should definitely (and always) add in chocolate chips.

The basic process is really similar – cutting the butter into the flour, adding the liquid, and mixing just until the dough comes together and no more.

I definitely could have patted the dough out and cut into wedges, but I’m lazy and didn’t want to clean off my kitchen counter. I just divided the dough into 6 equal sections, formed them into rounds with my hands and plopped them on the parchment lined baking sheet.

Easy, less clean up, and – bonus – they look a little like chocolate chip-filled biscuits.

No wonder we like them so much.

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Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Scones

Yield: Makes 6 scones

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose if you don’t have this)
• 3/4 cup quick cooking oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, chilled and diced
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup fat free buttermilk (plus 2 tablespoon for brushing)

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, and 3 tablespoons of sugar.
3. Cut the butter into the dough (with pastry blender, forks, or hands) until mixture feels like (and looks like) cornmeal.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Pour in buttermilk and mix, just until dough comes together.
6. Form into 6 rounds and place on baking sheet.
7. Brush the top of each scone with a little buttermilk and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
8. Bake 17-20 minutes until golden.

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You can also find Brandi’s original post here.