Dark Chocolate and Sunflower Spelt Scones

Preheat the oven to 350°F, and toast the sunflower seeds until they're fragrant, but haven't taken on much color; this will take 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the sunflower seeds from the oven, and let them cool while you start the scone dough.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.

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 cooled sunflower seeds and chopped chocolate.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, and gently/quickly mix everything together, just until you've made a cohesive dough; your hands are the best tools here.

Line a baking sheet with parchment; if you don't have parchment, just use it without greasing it. Sprinkle flour atop the parchment or pan; use just a little bit if your dough is fairly "workable," more if your dough is soft and sticky.

Scrape the dough onto the floured parchment or pan, and round it into an 8" disk a scant 1" thick.

Brush the dough with milk. Using a knife or bench knife that you've run under cold water, slice it into 8 wedges.

Carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them just a bit; there should be about 1/2" space between them, at their outer edges.

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, with a rack in the upper third.

Bake the scones for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they're golden brown. When you pull one away from the others, it should look baked all the way through; the edge shouldn't look wet or unbaked.

Remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly on the pan. Serve warm. When they're completely cool, wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to several days. Freeze for longer storage.