Chocolate Chip Scones
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Sweet, tender, and buttery with morsels of warm chocolate, chocolate chip scones are a kid favorite.
Whether it’s chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip granola bars, or chocolate chip muffins, I’ve found that anything dotted with chocolate chips will catch a kid’s eye. These chocolate chip scones are no exception — sweet, tender, and buttery with morsels of melted chocolate within, kids (and adults!) absolutely love them. They’re wonderful served warm out of the oven, especially on a lazy weekend morning when you feel like spoiling everyone. This recipe is a variation on my traditional cream scones. The difference is that these are a bit sweeter, dotted with chocolate chips, and flavored with vanilla. They also disappear faster, at least at my house.
Table of Contents
“These are great! I’ve tried to make scones 3 times with other recipes, this is the first time they came out perfectly.”
What You’ll need To Make Chocolate Chip Scones
- Cake Flour: The base of the scones. Cake flour provides a softer, more delicate texture than all-purpose flour. Don’t have cake flour on hand? See the FAQs to see how to make your own cake flour using all-purpose flour and cornstarch.
- Baking Powder: Acts as a leavening agent, helping the scones rise and become light and fluffy.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness and enhances the flavor of the scones.
- Butter: Incorporates richness and flavor, contributing to the scones’ buttery taste and flakiness.
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips: Infuse the scones with bursts of chocolate flavor.
- Egg: Acts as a binding agent, helping to hold the scone dough together.
- Heavy Cream: Provides moisture and richness, resulting in a tender and moist scone. Do not substitute light cream or milk
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor profile with its aromatic sweetness.
- Demerara Sugar: (Also called raw or turbinado sugar) Sprinkled on top for a crunchy, caramelized texture and a hint of sweetness.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then whisk to blend.
Add the pieces of cold butter.
Use your fingertips to rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs. Don’t worry about getting a uniform consistency. All those little pea-size clumps of butter create structure in the scones and make them tender and fluffy when baked.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Combine the cream, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl.
Whisk to blend.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the cream mixture.
Stir with a rubber spatula until blended.
When the dough comes together, dump it onto a work surface dusted with flour. It should be sticky.
Gently knead the dough into a ball.
And then press it into a flat circle about 3/4-inch high.
Cut the circle into 8 wedges.
Transfer the wedges to prepared baking sheet, then sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden and firm to the touch.
Serve scones warm out of the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cake flour is finer and lower in protein, which makes lighter and fluffier scones. If you don’t have any on hand, a simple blend of all-purpose flour and a bit of cornstarch makes a great substitute. Simply whisk together 1¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch. This easy swap will take your scones from just okay to fantastic, giving them that perfectly tender, fluffy, ultra-buttery crumb. If you’d like some other options for using up cake flour, take your pick from cherry cornmeal upside-down cake to crumb cake to pound cake.
Definitely! To freeze them before baking, place the raw scones on a baking sheet, let set in the freezer, then place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Wait until you’re ready to bake the scones to brush on the egg wash, and allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To freeze after baking, let the scones cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Before serving, remove the scones from the container and let them come to room temperature. (If you have the option to freeze the scones before or after baking them, you will get the best results if you freeze before baking.)
Demerara (also called raw or turbinado) sugar is a type of cane sugar with large, crunchy crystals and a slightly amber color. It has a natural caramel-like flavor and is often used to add texture and sweetness to the tops or exterior of baked goods like pecan shortbread cookies and strawberry muffins. If you don’t have it on hand, you can substitute light or dark brown sugar, or simply omit it.
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Chocolate Chip Scones
Sweet, tender, and buttery with morsels of warm chocolate, chocolate chip scones are a kid favorite.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cake flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled with knife (see note on substitution)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
- ⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, best quality such as Guittard or Ghirardelli
- 1 large egg
- ⅔ - ¾ cup heavy cream (do not substitute milk or light cream)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon demerara sugar (also called raw sugar or turbinado)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, salt, baking powder and granulated sugar. Add the pieces of cold butter. Use your fingertips to rub butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-size clumps of butter within. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- In a small bowl, whisk together ⅔ cup heavy cream, the egg and the vanilla. Make a well in center of dry ingredients, then add the cream mixture. Use a rubber spatula to mix until the dough comes together. It should be a bit sticky. If it seems dry, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream.
- Dust a work surface lightly with flour, then dump the sticky dough on top. Knead very gently a few times until the dough comes together into a ball, sprinkling more flour as needed if the dough is too sticky to work with. Press the dough into a circle about ¾-inch high, then cut into 8 wedges. Transfer the wedges to the prepared baking sheet, and then sprinkle evenly with the demerara sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the scones are lightly golden and firm to the touch. Serve warm.
- Note: If you don't have cake flour, you can make your own: simply whisk together 1¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: To freeze before baking, place the raw scones on a baking sheet, let set in the freezer, then place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To freeze after baking, let the scones cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Before serving, remove the scones from the container and let them come to room temperature. (If you have the option to freeze the scones before or after baking them, you will get the best results if you freeze before baking.)
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Serving size: 1 scone
- Calories: 364
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 44 g
- Sugar: 16 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 217 mg
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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First of all these scones were nearly perfect. My review is to share something I found out about baking. Regarding Baking Powder – make sure you buy Aluminum free BP! I made the mistake of buying a store brand and couldn’t understand why many of my baked goods had an underlying bitterness. As this recipe had a fair amount of baking powder, I did a little Google research and found out that aluminum in BP will cause bitterness! I can’t wait to make this recipe with my new aluminum free bp! I will go back into my review and update after making these again!
good old Rumford baking powder…what would we do without it
I already prepared the dry ingredients and then realized we didn’t have any eggs. Should I keep dry ingredients on standby until I get eggs later? Or should I bake without the egg?
Hi Carrie, I’d keep the dry ingredients on standby– you’ll be happy you waited!
OMG They didn’t last an hour after I said they were done! Generally I prefer Nuts and Berries but I used them up making your Cranberry Quick Bread earlier today (Which is also gone!) My hubby loves Bread of any kind but put Chocolate in it and he goes nuts but generally I get a piece or two, not this time. I did add a few cinnamon chips as well as the chocolate it was Fabulous!!
I forgot to add a rating!
I just made these for breakfast, half asleep and clumsy. I was sure I would butcher this recipe. However, they were AMAZING! Each bite was like heaven. I can’t wait to make it again!
Hi Jen,
I have two question:
1. Why can scone be made ahead the night before and still rise in the oven the next day but your quick cinnamon roll will not.
2. Can I use buttermilk instead of cream in your recipe? What does buttermilk do in such pastry?
Thank you!
Hi Lu, The scones are leavened with baking powder, while the cinnamon rolls are leavened with a combination of baking powder and baking soda. The buttermilk in the cinnamon roll dough reacts immediately with the baking soda, so they should be baked right away to get the maximum rise. Unfortunately, buttermilk won’t work in the scones — buttermilk is acidic and would require the addition of baking soda for the scones to rise. You’ll notice baking soda in any baked good that calls for acidic ingredients, such as citrus, buttermilk, etc. Hope that explains it 🙂
Thank you, Jen! I made your scone this weekend and followed this recipe! They were AMAZING! My picky three-year-old even asked for seconds.
These look amazing as do the pumpkin scones. My question is actually for both recipes. Can the batter be frozen, thawed and baked at a later date and if not, can the scones after cooking them be frozen? Thanks!
Hi Abbie, Yes, that should work just fine. Hope you enjoy 🙂
Perfect and easy! It would be fun to try different add-ins.
Why can’t milk or milk/butter combo substitute for heavy whipping cream? I’d really love to make these with my son but don’t have any in the house and hate to go to the store just for it. Thanks!
Hi Ursula, Milk will work but the scones won’t be as rich and tender.
Thank you, again, for this scone recipe. I baked it with my kids again this morning and we absolutely love it! It turns out perfect every time, even with an inexperienced baker like me.