nutella scones

These scones are WICKED good. Now if you are from the New England area, you know that wicked is a the highest form of a compliment. These. Are. Good.  No, better than good. What's better than good? Well...these scones are! If you haven't crawled out from under the same rock I had been under most of my life where nutella did not exist, then let me give you a lending hand. Nutella is to put it simply a chocolate hazelnut spread. Sounds so innocent right? Then you open up the jar, tear back the shiny gold covering, and dip your finger in it (because who is looking right?) And you taste..and you sigh and smile. Everything for that moment is right in the world.

I had leftover heavy cream and (believe it or not) an unopened jar of Nutella just sitting there taunting me from the cupboard shelves. I found this recipe for Nutella scones from the Baked cookbook. I have also tried making their sweet and salty cake (a recipe I have yet to share, but was equally delicious).  These scones were a bit crumbly in the process. I added a few more tablespoons of heavy cream. Not sure if that was the way the dough was suppossed to be or if it was the lovely sunny day wreaking havoc on my scones. Either way, I proceeded. The entire scone dough once mixed and turned out onto the surface, gets a nice thick layer of Nutella spread it over. Then you simply roll the dough back up and flatten it back into a circle and cut into wedges.

These scones were a tad dry, as scones can sometimes be. The Nutella drizzle over the scones does help. How do you make it even better? Don't drizzle..spread a nice thick layer of Nutella over the scones once cooled. I know...it's wicked. But oh is it so, so good.

Nutella Scones

Please note:  I omitted the hazelnuts. After searching every grocery aisle twice with no luck finding them, I gave up on adding hazelnuts to my recipe. The crunch would have been nice, but they were still good with out.  Feel free to add or omit hazelnuts to your scones. Whatever you do though,do not omit this recipe from your life.

There is also a great step-by-step tutorial of how to make these scones here.

Yield: 6-8 scones
Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder (like Valrhona)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 large egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup toasted hazelnuts,coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Nutella

*Baked Note*
Matt & Renato’s advice: Do Not Knead Too Much. Stop working the dough the minute it comes together and don’t worry if there are a few dry bits scattered throughout.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and place the rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt until combined.
Add the butter. Use your fingertips to rub it into the flour until the butter is pea size and the mixture is coarse.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and cream. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the dough just comes together. Gently and briefly knead the dough with your hands. Add the toasted hazelnuts and knead gently to incorporate. Flatten the dough into a rectangle approximately 6 by 12 inches. ( it doesn’t need to precise) and spread 1/4 cup of the Nutella on top in a criss cross pattern.  Roll the dough up to make a cylinder about 6 inches long, turn it on its end, and gently flatten it into a disk about 1 3/4 inches high. Do not overwork the dough.
Cut the dough into 6 or 8 wedges and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the scones for 18-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Do not overbake. Transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool completely. Place the baking sheet with the parchment still on it underneath the rack.

Assemble the Nutella Scones:
Heat the remaining 1/4 cup Nutella in a microwave until pourable, about 10 seconds on high. Pierce the tops of the scones a few times with a fork. Use a spoon ( or two spoons-one to scoop, one to scrape) to drip the warm Nutella in a zigzag pattern over the tops of the hot scones. Transfer them to a refrigerator to set for 5 minutes, then serve immediately.

Most scones have a lifespan of 24hours or less; however, these scones taste pretty darn good on day two provided you wrap them tightly and store them at room temperature.