Can't Sleep? Make Scones

As most of you know, I don't sleep much. And fall tends to be one of those times for me when I sleep even less. The minute that chill hits the air I find myself up to my elbows in busy work. It's mindless, and it's usually comforting. I find both of those qualities in baking.

However after a recent sizable weight loss, if I bake I have to give it away. I cannot take the chance of being left alone with a dozen or more fresh baked scones! So bake them I will and then I proceed to pack them up and give them away, I give them to the bus drivers and the neighbors, I send them to work with my husband. All I really needed out of that was the comfort and the activity late, late at night. I don't need the hundreds of extra calories that I would mindlessly consume throughout the day if they were sitting in my kitchen.

Now that I confessed that I am absolutely weak against the power of the baked good, I have another confession, I LOVE those horrible processed cakes called Devil Dogs. They are totally a guilty pleasure for me, and I haven't actually consumed one in many, many years. And the reason for that is if I buy a box and leave it in the cupboard, I will not be able to stop myself from eating the entire thing. Maybe not in a day but in a ridiculously short amount of time. So I simply do not buy them. I avoid walking down the same isle as them at the grocery store. I go to great lengths to insure that my exposure to them is limited and always in plain view of the public. I know, it sounds more like an affair than a confection, but sometimes, in life there are things that you just cannot resist. So you avoid being in a place, time or position that could make things less than platonic. For me that is the snack isle!

Chocolate Chip Scones

4 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 extra-large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk or water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine 4 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, and salt in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Blend in the cold butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add to the flour/butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Combine the chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon flour and then add to the dough and mix quickly. The dough may be a bit sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and be sure it is well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough out to 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick. You will see lumps of butter in the dough. Cut into circles with a biscuit cutter. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Brush the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the outsides are crisp and the insides are done.

(Adapted From Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Raisin Scones) Give credit where credit is due.)