Wednesday, December 26, 2018

SCONES, When You Need Something Special

from Chris Pavesic

These vanilla scones feature chocolate chips, which melt slightly into the dough around them as they bake, making for an especially enticing presentation. Top with sparkling course sugar or my family’s favorite--salted caramel chocolate truffle spread.

SCONES
Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
6 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs, beaten
¼ cup vanilla yogurt
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. Key Lime juice
Milk a few tbsp.
2 tbsp. course sparkling sugar to sprinkle on top, optional
Salted caramel chocolate truffle spread, optional

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Lightly grease the scone pan.

Add the dry ingredients to a bowl. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly using an electric mixer or spoon. Gently mix the chocolate chips with the dry ingredients.

Stir together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, and Key Lime Juice. Add to the dry ingredients and stir very gently, just until combined. The dough will be resemble cookie dough.

Scoop the dough into the scone pan. Sprinkle the top of each scone with milk and (optional) sprinkle with coarse sparkling sugar.

Bake the scones for 20 to 24 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into a scone comes out dry. Remove from the oven, and serve warm.

Optional: Top with salted caramel chocolate truffle spread and let it melt slightly before eating.

Scones can be stored at room temperature for several days. Freeze for longer storage.

Enjoy a brief glimpse into my latest novel Travelers Zone , book two in The Revelation Chronicles series, while you delight in your scones.

Above the tree line floats an airship close to three hundred feet long with a slightly rounded wooden hull. Ropes attach the lower portion of the ship to an inflated balloon-like aspect, bright white in color with an identification symbol, a red bird with white-tipped feathers extended in flight, inside a round yellow circle in the center of the canvas. The deck is manned with archers and swordsmen. There are two sets of fore and aft catapults.

What I don’t see are cannons or any other type of a gun large enough to account for the sound of the explosion.

The ship pivots in the air, coming around to point directly at what looks like an oncoming flock of five large birds. Or creatures. They are too big and too strange looking to be birds. They drift closer, flapping their wings.

A moment passes before I realize that they are not creatures either. They are some sort of gliders. A person hangs below each set of the feathered wings, which flap and move with mechanical precision in a sky washed out by the morning sun.

The archers nock their arrows and aim at the flock.

The gliders draw in their wings and dive toward the deck, covering the distance in a few heartbeats. Most of the arrows fly uselessly past the attack force and fall like black rain from the sky. The archers aimed and released the volley too late.

The forward catapult releases a torrent of small rocks at the lead glider. It is a scatter-shot approach that proves effective. There are so many missiles that it is impossible to dodge them all.

But at the moment the stones strike, the other four let loose with fireballs. Spheres of crackling flame spring from their hands, glowing faintly at first and then with increasing brightness. The balls of fire shoot from their hands like bullets from a gun and fly toward the ship, exploding. Pieces bounce off the hull and fall to the ground, throwing hissing, burning globs of magic-fueled fire in all directions, setting everything they touch aflame.





Want to learn more about The Revelation Chronicles? Click HERE for updates on this and the other series by Chris. Watch the video on YouTube.

4eee6-chris2bpavesic2bauthor2bphotoChris Pavesic is a fantasy author who lives in the Midwestern United States and loves Kona coffee, steampunk, fairy tales, and all types of speculative fiction. Between writing projects, Chris can most often be found reading, gaming, gardening, working on an endless list of DIY household projects, or hanging out with friends.

Learn more about Chris on her website and blog.

Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and her Amazon Author Page.

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