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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Another great recipe from this site. I’ve been making scones and muffins for years, and the recipes here are the best, ever. I usually follow the recipes exactly unless I need to substitute for an ingredient I don’t have on hand. I’ve made these scones using half-and-half in place of the cream, and I thought they were perfect. To make clean up easier, I turn the dough onto a pan-size piece of parchment, knead it, cut it, separate and space the scones, then transfer the whole thing to the baking pan.
These are my kids’ all-time favorite breakfast food ever. I’ve made them so often, I could probably do it in my sleep. I leave off the sprinkling of sugar on top (it’s sweet enough without it) and sometimes split the dough into two rounds and cut each round into six triangles.
Can I make these with Gluten-Free Flour?
That should work, Ana. Please lmk how they turn out!
Hi Jenn! Did Ana (or anyone else) let you know how these came out with GF flour? Thanks!
No, unfortunately, it doesn’t look like anyone has reported back — sorry!
I gave it a shot today! I used Namaste GF Flour from Costco, as I have found it to be a great GF flour. I did use cornstarch as you suggested to make it more of a “cake flour.” The scones came out looking beautiful. They tasted fine but not great. They were a little gritty, like a lot of other GF baked goods. Perhaps they needed a bit more butter or whipping cream to offset the grittiness?
Hi Melissa, I think that grainy texture is sometimes unavoidable with gluten-free flour. I wouldn’t add more butter or cream as that will change the wet to dry ratios. While you mentioned that you’ve had good luck with Namaste flour, you may want to give this a try with a different brand.
These scones are fantastic! I’ve made them for friends, family and bake sales. Everyone always raves about them. I use a food processor to pulse the butter into the flour mixture. I look forward to trying other recipes on this site. Thanks to Jenn for sharing.
Best scone recipe ever! And super simple to make. I’ve made it several times and it has come out perfectly every time.
Hi! I don’t have raw sugar. Can I substitute with granulated sugar ? If so , what amount is needed. Thank you!
Sure, Molly – I’d use about 2/3 as much.
So glad I found this site and totally agree with the majority of reviewers: recipes are excellent, preparation steps are well laid out and easy to follow and best of all everything that I have made so far tastes fantastic! Thanks Jenn!!
Hi Jen, I have a question about cake flour. I read online that as a substitute for every cup of regular flour remove one Tbls. and add one Tbls. of cornstarch in its place. Would that be something you’d suggest? Otherwise, I’ll wait until I buy some cake flour. The scones sound and look delicious!
Hi Sandy, I replace 2 tablespoons of flour with cornstarch – works great!
Thanks, Jen, for getting back so quickly! Made them right away – why is every recipe I try of yours an absolute favorite!?!?! My husband ate two right away! We have some guys over doing some painting, and I gave each of them a scone – they were wowed! That means only three left, since of course I had one! Next time I’m thinking of cutting each triangle into three before baking – ? Thanks for another 5 star recipe!
Yay! ?
I’m making your chocolate chip and flaky scone recipes today for Mothers Day but I just noticed that while they are very very similar they bake at different temperatures. Any chance they can both be baked at same temperature? Hope you have a wonderful Mothers Day. I’m a huge fan of your recipes and site.
Sorry I’m probably too late to reply, Annie – but yes you can cook them at the same temp.
Hello,
I do not eat chocolate (I don’t like it very much), can I substitute nuts, cranberries, or dried coconut (or something else along those lines)?
Thank you,
Marilyne
Definitely– hope you enjoy!