Wedding shower tea party: scones

Emily's a scone a fan.

I asked her what her favorite kind is and she said chocolate chip.

I've only made scones a couple times before and never chocolate chip scones, but I found this recipe from King Arthur Flour on Pinterest. We made a gluten-free and regular version. Both were keepers. We also added dried cherries to one batch.

This is the recipe, straight from King Arthur:

CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONE NIBBLES

Scones:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup cold butter, cut in pats

1 cup to 2 cups mini chocolate chips, or finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup to 2/3 cup half and half or milk

Glaze:

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

7 tablespoons water, enough to make a thin glaze

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.

Work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it's OK for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and 1/2 cup milk.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together. Stir in additional milk if the dough seems dry, and doesn't come together.

Scrape the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Pat/roll it into an 8" to 8 1/2" square, a scant 3/4" thick. Make sure the surface underneath the dough is very well floured. If necessary, use a giant spatula to lift the square, and sprinkle more flour underneath.

Cut the square into 2" squares; you'll have a total of 16 small squares. Now, cut each square in half diagonally, to make 32 small triangles. (We didn't cut ours quite this small. I think we ended up with 16, rather than 32, which was still made for a smaller scone). A pizza wheel works well for this.

Transfer the scones to a parchment-lined or well-greased baking sheet.

For best texture and highest rise, place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered. While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 425°F.

Bake the scones for 19 to 20 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven, and allow the scones to cool right on the pan. When they're cool, cut each scone in half once again, to make a total of 64 tiny triangles.

Make the glaze by stirring together the sugar, water, and vanilla. If the sugar seems particularly lumpy, sift it first, for an extra-smooth glaze.

To coat scones, you can dip each one individually, which is quite time-consuming. Or line a baking sheet (with sides) with parchment, and pour about half the glaze atop the parchment. Set the scones atop the glaze, swirling them around a bit to coat their bottoms. Then drizzle the remaining glaze over the top. Use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over each scone, to coat it entirely. The glaze is very thin, so this is easily done. (King Arthur has some nice photos showing how this is done).

Transfer the scones to a rack set over parchment, to catch any drips.

Allow the glaze to set before serving the scones.