Garden season is in full swing, and our herbs have been super happy with all this rain we have had in the Midwest. I can’t say the same for our carrots or greens-however. But our herbs are like giant weeds in the garden. The biggest is our tarragon. It look almost like some hairy, prehistoric beast. So I thought it was time to cut it back and make some yummies from it.
Tarragon has a licorice flavor, and actually works really well with chocolate. So I thought I would combine them using a recipe I found in an old cookbook I found in a thrift shop called Morning Glories. This cookbook was a jewel I found, with great ideas using garden herbs in sweet breakfast fare. Thrift shops and second hand book shops are a treasure trove of awesome, hard to find, niche cookbooks. I highly recommend visiting one.
I also highly recommend these scones. The licorice flavor is very subtle and magically marries with the chocolate. I think my daughter snuck 4 of them one morning.
Sambuca Tarragon Chocolate Scones
Ingredients
3 Tbsp. whole, clean tarragon leaves, minced
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut up into 8 pieces
2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
3/4 cup plus half and half (and extra for brushing on top)
2 Tbsp. Sambuca or other licorice flavored liquor
1 Tbsp. cold coffee (I set some aside from our morning pot-or you can make instant)
1/2 cup chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
1 square chocolate almond bark melted with 1 tsp. canola oil (for drizzle)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425˚. Layer a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a food processor, pulse the tarragon leaves with the sugar until finely ground. Add the flour, salt and baking powder and pulse again until combined.
Pulse in the cut up butter until butter is pea size pieces in the flour, Do not over pulse. You want little butter nubs in the mixture to make the scones tender and flaky. Pour the flour/butter mixture into a large bowl.
Using a pastry cutter, add in the half and half, Sambuca & cold coffee and cut it all in until dough forms.
Add in the chopped chocolate and knead it in until well distributed, but do not over work the dough. Divide into 2 even balls.
Place your dough balls 3″ apart on the baking sheet. Flatten using the palm of your hand into discs. Brush the tops with a little extra half and half using a pastry brush. Using a spatula or sharp knife, cut the discs into 4 or 8 triangles, like cutting a pizza. Gently separate the triangles to give each one room to bake and expand.
Bake until lightly golden around the edges and firm when pressed-about 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely. I cool them on the parchment so they are ready for drizzle time. It helps clean up go faster!
Melt the chocolate almond bark square with the canola oil in a microwave for 30 second intervals at 50% power until melted and smooth. Using a fork, drizzle the scones generously with the chocolate. set the chocolate set and serve.
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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