Triple Chocolate Zucchini Scones with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Drizzle

Normally I would be all over making chocolate zucchini bread this time of year. (See HERE for our Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread!) I decided to make something a little different but still reminiscent of quick bread. 

You can't go wrong with scones, right?

Scones are awesome. 

We should strive to include scones at every meal.

*Sigh* Things would be different if I were in charge of the universe.

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Scones with 

Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Drizzle

Ingredients

Salted Caramel Drizzle

4 Tbsp cream cheese, room temp

1 Tbsp butter, room temp

1 Tbsp salted caramel sauce

2 - 3 Tbsp icing sugar

Scones

4 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1 small pkg (serving size 4) Jello Chocolate Pudding powder

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1 cup butter, cold

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 cup zucchini, shredded

1/2 cup 1% milk

1/4 cup Greek yogurt, plain

2 eggs

2 Tbsp sugar

Directions

Prepare drizzle - Beat together cream cheese, butter, and caramel sauce until smooth. Beat in the icing sugar until smooth. Chill until ready to use. 

Prepare scones - Preheat oven to 400. Line a large cookie sheet (or 2 small) with parchment paper, set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, cocoa, Jello pudding powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt.  

Cut in butter using a pastry blender (or 2 butter knives), until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. 

In a smaller bowl, whisk together zucchini, milk, yogurt, and eggs.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients.

Stir together with a fork until stiff dough forms. You may need to add a bit more milk if you are having trouble getting the dough to come together.

Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. 

Fold dough in half, lengthwise, and lightly roll to 1 inch thickness. (I do this so my scones have a lovely split right in the middle of the scone and are easier to separate. You can simply roll it to 1 inch thickness to begin with and cut them out.)

Using a sharp edges cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out scones and place on prepared cookie sheet. Press together the scraps and cut out more scones. (I used a  2.5 inch cookie cutter and got approx 24 scones.)

Sprinkle the tops of the scones with the remaining 2 Tbsp of sugar.

Bake at 400 for 10 - 15 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet at the halfway mark. 

Remove from oven when cooked and leave on cookie sheet for 5 minutes to cool. After 5 minutes, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely. 

When the scones are room temp - take the caramel cream cheese mixture from the fridge and microwave for 5 - 7 seconds. Just enough to melt a little so it is thin enough to drizzle.

Drizzle over the scones.

Serve room temp or slightly warm.

*Note - these freeze well too - with or without the drizzle. 

Also, if you can't find store bought salted caramel sauce you can use regular ice cream topping caramel and add in about 1/8 tsp of salt. 

From start to finish in about 30 minutes. Definitely a tasty way to use up some that zucchini coming out of the garden this time of year!

 

Be sure to visit these fab linky parties - Feeding Big, Memories By The Mile, Hun...What's For Dinner?,  Table For Seven, New Mrs. Adventures. Anyonita Nibbles