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These Chocolate Chip Scones are soft, tender and packed with chocolate chips! The scone is slightly sweet, buttery and perfectly moist.
These are the best chocolate chip scones! Inspired by the soft British scones of my youth, they are tender and moist, with the perfect moist, crumbly texture. Here on CLF, we have a commitment to never making dry or cakey scones! Full stop.
Once you master my scone technique, you can make a whole assortment for breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea! Like my carrot cake scones! Try these and you’ll be hooked forever.
Table of Contents
- Why you will love these chocolate chip scones:
- What is the secret to tender Chocolate Chip Scones?
- Chocolate Chip Scone Ingredients
- Variations
- How to Make Chocolate Chip Scones
- Helpful Tips
- Make-Ahead Instructions
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
- Chocolate Chip Scones Recipe Recipe
- Before You Go
Why you will love these chocolate chip scones:
- Soft, tender, and buttery: Soft chocolate chip scones with a tender crumb and soothing melty chocolate chips? Yes, please!
- Choc-full of chocolate: This chocolate chip scones recipe does justice to its name. I packed as many chocolate chips as I respectfully could into this scone dough.
- Skip the coffee shop: Once you know how to make your own chocolate chip scones, brew a cup of coffee or tea and cozy up at home. Freeze the dough after slicing, for a fresh scone break any day!
What is the secret to tender Chocolate Chip Scones?
- Cut the butter into the dry ingredients completely! I know this goes against what all the other people say but years of making giant batches at the restaurants has proven to me that this makes the most tender and moist scones. It also means you need fewer wet ingredients to make a cohesive dough, which equals less gluten development!
- Whisk together all the wet ingredients. In large batches of dough, I use an immersion blender but a whisk does the job just fine here! This is key because it means you don’t have to mix your dough while the eggs incorporate.
- Finish by hand. When near the end of the process, knead the dough by hand, and fold in the chocolate chips by hand as well. Finishing by hand gives you the control to incorporate just enough without over-mixing.
Chocolate Chip Scone Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to make a flaky texture that is not tough. You could also use pastry flour for extra cheap insurance.
- Sugar: I use granulated sugar in these chocolate chip scones for flavor reasons. It also retains moisture, improves texture, and maintains stability.
- Kosher Salt: Kosher salt is less salty than table salt and a teaspoon weighs less than other finer ground varieties. It heightens the flavor here and will keep your pastries from tasting dull or flat.
- Baking Powder: Double acting baking powder reacts instantly when mixed with an acid. It reacts a second time when heated. Because the baking powder is double acting, it has a slower, more stable rise than baking soda alone. This will also allow you to make the scones ahead and freeze.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter for baking, because you want to control the amount of salt you are adding. Butter is integral because it shortens the gluten strands as it coats them during the mixing process. This keeps them from forming a strong network that would lead to overly tough scones.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla Extract adds a beautiful flavor itself but it also boosts the flavor of other ingredients around it like chocolate chips.
- Whole Egg: The eggs are here to add fat, moisture and leavening. The fat from the yolk adds richness and helps keep the scones moist. Eggs are one of the primary liquid ingredients, which help hold the scones together without developing too much gluten in the flour.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream adds just enough liquid to make a moist, tender scone. It also comes with fat to add to the flavor and texture. Since there is no brown sugar in this recipe, heavy cream and eggs provide the only real moisture for the dough.
- Chocolate Chips: I often use a mix of semi-sweet chocolate chips and bittersweet chocolate chips for contrasting flavors and to balance some of the sweetness. I also sometimes mix in some dark chocolate pistoles which are larger than chocolate chips. But, you should absolutely use your favorites!
Variations
- Cinnamon or butterscotch chips: Go in a completely different direction and replace the chocolate chips with butterscotch chips or make cinnamon chip scones. Let me know in the comments how they turn out!
- Add a glaze: Make a quick glaze with milk, salt, sugar, and a bit of vanilla extract (like my Classic Donut Glaze) and you’re in for a treat. I see you chocolate-lovers, yes there is a Chocolate Fudge Glaze option as well!
- Get fruity: Spiced Apple Scones, Blueberry Scones, and Strawberry Lemon Scones all have a home here at CLF! I’m always on a scone kick!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Scones
Use these instructions to make the perfect chocolate chip scones every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Make the scone dough:
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients with the paddle or by hand just enough to distribute the ingredients.
Step 2: Add cold butter and mix on low to cut it in. Continue to mix until the butter is no longer visible and the mixture resembles wet sand.
Cutting cold, cubed butter completely into the dry ingredients will help cut the gluten strands. This helps you to keep the scones tender!
Step 3: While the butter is being cut in, combine the cream, egg, and vanilla in another bowl with an immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a whisk. Blend the cream mixture until it is smooth.
Mixing the wet ingredients separately before adding them allows for quick incorporation so you don’t overmix your flour causing gluten development.
Step 4: With the mixer running on low, slowly pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture and mix until almost incorporated.
Step 5: Dump the dough out onto a dry surface and knead it together (gently, with love!).
Step 6: Once only a few visible dry spots remain in the dough, gently fold in the chocolate chips.
I like to reserve some of my chocolate chips to distribute more evenly in the cut dough just prior to baking. This also ensures everyone gets some chocolatey goodness in every bite!
Portion and chill dough:
Step 1: Press the dough out into a circle of about a ½ inch thickness. Using a bench scraper or pastry cutter, cut the dough into 12 sections.
Step 2: Chill the dough completely before baking. This will take around 2 hours. You can also wrap it very well and freeze it. It is entirely possible to bake this chocolate chip scones recipe from frozen!
Bake scones:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Step 2: Brush scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
Step 3: Bake scones in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges, puffed, and the centers provide a little resistance when touched gently.
If the scones feel firm, then they are overdone. You can also insert a cake tester when baking your scones and it should come out clean.
Step 4: Cool completely on baking sheets or eat them warm! Sometimes, I’ll even re-warm my scones so the chocolate chips are just a bit more melty!
Helpful Tips
- Proper mixing methods: Cutting cold, cubed butter completely into the dry ingredients will help cut the gluten strands. Mixing the wet ingredients separately before adding them also allows for quick incorporation. Both processes support tender chocolate chip scones!
- Add in extra chocolate chips: I like to reserve some of my chocolate chips to distribute more evenly in the cut dough just prior to baking. This also ensures everyone gets some chocolatey goodness in every bite!
- Know when they’re done: Scones are done when the fattest part provides some resistance when touched lightly. If they feel firm, then they are overdone.
You can also insert a cake tester when baking your scones and it should come out clean.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Yes, you can bake these scones directly from frozen! If you prepare the dough as directed, and wrap them well, they will last for 3 months in the freezer as pre-cut dough. Once you have your frozen dough, follow these make-ahead instructions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F convection or 350°F regular.
Step 2: Place your desired number of frozen scones on a prepared baking sheet. I line mine with parchment paper.
Step 3: Brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar. it may fall off because the heavy cream will freeze on top of the scone. Just add more. It will adhere as the scones warm and begin baking in the oven.
Step 4: Bake the scones in the pre-heated oven for 22-25 minutes or until the centers provide a little resistance when touched.
Precise bake time will depend on the thickness of the scone and the size.
Step 5: Once the scones are baked, remove them from the oven, and serve warm or allow them to cool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store baked scones in an air-tight container at room temperature, refrigerated or frozen. Zip-top plastic bags also work nicely. Scones are best the day they are baked, so I prefer to freeze the cut dough and bake them as they are needed. Alternately, scones will keep 3 days at room temperature, 7 days in the refrigerator or 3 months pre-baked and frozen.
You will want to refrigerate or freeze your sliced scone dough for about two hours prior to baking.
I have tested this scone recipe in a professional commercial bakery setting. I have made it in an 80-quart mixer to great success. You are only limited by the capacity of your particular mixer.
You can freeze baked or unbaked scones. I prefer to freeze the cut dough and bake as needed, so that I can always have a fresh scone on hand!
The most common reason scones are dry is because they are overbaked. Scones can also be dry because there isn’t enough fat in the dough. Thirdly, it is possible that the butter wasn’t cut into the flour enough to cut the gluten strands. If you avoid those mistakes, it’ll help keep your scones from getting hard.
Heavy cream is a miracle ingredient. Together with the eggs, it provides all the moisture needed to make the dough. It adds fat which helps make the scones tender and keeps them moist. You can substitute half and half, but not milk, without serious textural repercussions.
Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
Make the dough in the mixer but finish the dough by hand. A stand mixer will make a more tender scone, but finishing by hand gives you the control to incorporate just enough. It also allows you to add chocolate chips without over-mixing.
Chocolate Chip Scones Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold, cubed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup chocolate chips your favorites or whatever you have on hand!
- ¼ cup turbinado sugar for finishing
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream for finishing
Instructions
Make the scone dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients with the paddle or by hand just enough to distribute the ingredients.
- Add cold butter and mix on low to cut it in. Continue to mix until the butter is no longer visible and the mixture resembles wet sand.
- While the butter is being cut in, combine the cream, egg, and vanilla in another bowl with an immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a whisk. Blend the cream mixture until it is smooth.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture and mix until almost incorporated.
- Dump the dough out onto a dry surface and knead it together (gently, with love!).
- Once only a few visible dry spots remain in the dough, gently fold in the chocolate chips.
Portion and chill dough:
- Press the dough out into a circle of about a ½ inch thickness. Using a bench scraper or pastry cutter, cut the dough into 12 sections.
- Chill the dough completely before baking. This will take around 2 hours. You can also wrap it very well and freeze it. It is entirely possible to bake this chocolate chip scones recipe from frozen!
Bake scones:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Brush scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
- Bake scones in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges, puffed, and the centers provide a little resistance when touched gently. If the scones feel firm, then they are overdone. You can also insert a cake tester when baking your scones and it should come out clean.
- Cool completely on baking sheets or eat them warm! Sometimes, I’ll even re-warm my scones so the chocolate chips are just a bit more melty!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this professional chef tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed scones recipes!
