Chocolate Chip Scones
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My Chocolate Chip Scones are such a delicious treat for breakfast or brunch! They're easy to make, buttery, tender, and loaded with mini chocolate chips. No mixer required, just a bowl, a pastry cutter, and a few simple ingredients.
These scones turn out moist and crumbly, with crisp edges and soft centers. Drizzling melted chocolate on top makes them extra special, but they taste great even without it.
Table of Contents
- Here's Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients You'll Need
- In Photos: How To Make Chocolate Chip Scones
- Can these be made ahead?
- More Scone Recipes
Scones are a classic baked treat with a tender, biscuit-like texture. They are usually lightly sweetened and can be flavored with fruit, nuts, spices, or chocolate.
The key to great scones is keeping the butter cold. When the scones bake, the small pieces of butter melt, creating steam that makes them flaky and tender.
Scones are my favorite kind of breakfast treat! I've got lots of scone recipes to prove it. See also my orange cranberry scones, pumpkin scones, and lemon blueberry scones, just to name a few!
There is nothing like a freshly baked scone, still warm from the oven, but they are still so good at room temperature. I like them just as is, but you could spread them with some soft butter, or top them with a little strawberry jam or orange marmalade. Whipped cream would also be a treat! This is how Irish scones are often served.
A chocolate chip scone and a cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa is all I really need. But these would go great on a breakfast or brunch buffet, along with a breakfast casserole, some fresh fruit or salad, and a selection of juices or yogurt.
Here's Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy to make: The dough comes together quickly with simple pantry ingredients.
- Perfectly tender: Cold butter and heavy cream make these scones soft and rich.
- Loaded with chocolate: Mini chocolate chips are spread evenly in the dough, so every bite is full of chocolate.
- Great for breakfast or dessert: Enjoy them with coffee in the morning or as an afternoon treat.
- Freezer-friendly: You can make a batch ahead and save some for later.
Ingredients You'll Need
The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains the full list with all of the amounts. Refer to that when you're cooking.
- All-purpose flour: This gives the scones structure. Make sure to measure it accurately so the dough does not get too dry. All-purpose flour is my go-to, but you can swap it for any whole-grain option if you like. You may need slightly less if you go that route. A gluten-free flour blend that can sub 1:1 for regular flour should also work just fine, if you'd like to make gluten-free chocolate chip scones.
- Granulated sugar: Sugar adds sweetness (obvs!), but it also aids in browning and keeps things moist, since it's hydrophilic (this means it loves water, in other words, it draws moisture in). Regular white sugar is fine, or sub for another type of sweetener if you like. As long as it swaps 1:1 for granulated sugar, it should work just fine.
- Baking powder: Baking powder is a double-acting leavener, so it starts the pastry rising both when liquid is added to it and when it hits the hot oven. I would not recommend substituting baking soda. It will not work as well in this recipe because there isn't anything acidic to activate it. Baking powder has a little bit of that acid built in.
- Kosher salt: Salt carries the flavors and intensifies them. The end result won't taste salty, but it will make everything so much more flavorful! I like kosher salt best because it doesn't have any additives (table salt usually contains iodine, and that can leave a bitter taste), so the flavor is pure, and it's very inexpensive and easy to find.
- Unsalted butter: I like to use unsalted butter because it lets me control the amount of salt in the dish. Different brands of butter contain different amounts of salt, so this way you get a more consistent result. For a vegan or dairy-free chocolate chip scones recipe, use a plant-based butter that can substitute for dairy butter on a 1:1 basis.
- Mini chocolate chips: I like mini chocolate chips for this recipe, because they disperse throughout the scones in the most delicious way! You get so much chocolate in every bite. Regular chocolate chips will work fine, too, if that's all you have on hand.
- Heavy whipping cream: Cream moistens the dough and adds a rich flavor. There are certain flavor compounds that are only carried by fats, so higher-fat foods like cream will really intensify the flavors of everything you make. Be sure to use cold cream and not melted butter. Pastries like this should be kept as cold as possible until they go into the oven.
- Melted chocolate: This is optional, but it looks great drizzled over the baked scones.
Want to change it up?
You can substitute another kind of baking chips if you like. Here are a few suggestions:
- White Chocolate Chips
- Butterscotch Chips
- Peanut Butter Chips
- Cinnamon Chips
- Caramel chips
- Rainbow Chips
- Mint Chips
- Lemon Chips
Or even use fruit or nuts instead.
In Photos: How To Make Chocolate Chip Scones
Step 1: Mix Dry Ingredients
Start by placing the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Give everything a quick stir just to get it combined. You could also do this in a stand mixer on low speed.
Step 2: Cut In Butter
Next, add the cold butter. I like to cut it into cubes first, so it's a little easier to blend in.
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles oatmeal. There should be lots of very small pieces of cold butter, coated in the dry mixture.
I like to do this with a pastry blender, but you can also do this step with a mixer on low speed. You could even use two knives, or just your fingers (as long as you work fast and don't let the heat of your hands warm up the butter too much).
Step 3: Add Chocolate & Cream
Finally, add the chocolate chips and cold cream to the bowl.
Stir it all together to make a very stiff dough.
At first, the dough will seem very dry and crumbly. But notice, if you squeeze a little of it in your hand, it does hold together.
Step 4: Shape The Scones
To shape the scones, start by gathering the dough up and pressing it into a big clump.
Then divide it in half.
Press each half into a disc shape, about 1 ½-inches thick.
Then cut each disc into 6 triangles.
The tool you see me using here is called a bench knife or a bench scraper. I love mine! It cuts cleanly and makes cleaning your work surface a breeze!
Step 5: Place On Baking Sheet
Place the unbaked scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about ¼-inch of space between each one so they can expand a little.
Pro tip: At this point, the dough is probably warming up and becoming soft. So I recommend popping the unbaked scones into the freezer for a few minutes, while the oven preheats.
Step 6: Bake
Once the oven is up to temp, slide in your scones and bake until puffy and just beginning to turn golden on the bottoms.
Be careful not to overbake them! If you do, they could come out dry.
Once they're baked and slightly cooled, drizzle them with a little melted chocolate to make them extra pretty.
This step is completely optional! The scones will still taste fabulous, even if you don't drizzle them!
Can these be made ahead?
You can definitely make this chocolate chip scones recipe ahead, although I'd recommend baking them as soon as the dough is made.
It's not a good idea to keep raw scone dough hanging around too long, because the baking powder starts working as soon as liquid hits it. You want to utilize that rise as soon as it happens! If you wait, it will poof up and then deflate. So go ahead and bake them!
They'll last for several days in an airtight container at room temperature, and for well over a week in the fridge. You can also freeze them! You'll get several months out of them if you wrap them up nice and tight. Thaw them at room temperature and reheat in the microwave for about 10 seconds or in a 170-degree F oven until warmed through.
Helpful Tips and Tricks
- Keep the butter and cream cold. This helps the scones turn out tender instead of dense.
- Don't overwork the dough. Mix just until it holds together.
- The dough might look crumbly, and that is fine. As long as it holds together when pressed, it will bake well.
- If you want larger, coffee shop-style scones, shape the dough into one big disc instead of dividing it.
- Use mini chocolate chips to get the most even chocolate in every bite.
More Scone Recipes
- Strawberry Scones
- Gingerbread Scones
- Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- Banana Scones
- Maple Scones
- Petite Vanilla Bean Scones
- Double Chocolate Scones
- Frosted Vanilla Cookie Scones
Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons (6 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, cold
- 10 ounces (283.5 g) mini chocolate chips
- ½ cup (119 g) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 1 ounce (28.35 g) melted chocolate, approx. (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl, and whisk to combine.
- Cube the butter and cut it into the dry mixture until only very small pieces remain (it should look almost like oatmeal).
- Stir in the mini chocolate chips and the heavy cream (mixture will look very crumbly but should hold together when squeezed).
- Press the dough into a ball and divide it in half.
- Flatten each portion of dough into a disc shape, about 1 ½-inches thick.
- Score each disc into 6 triangles with a knife, and pull the triangles slightly away from one another (allowing about ¼-inch in between).
- Bake the scones for 18 to 22 minutes, or until set in the centers and slightly golden on the bottoms.
- Drizzle with melted chocolate for garnish, if desired.
I just made these chocolate chip scones, and they turned out absolutely perfect! So moist and delicious, they disappeared in no time! Thank you for such an easy and delightful recipe!
My pleasure! So happy you enjoyed!