“Oh my god! These are super good!” This was stated as exuberantly as any almost 5 year old possibly could. My little baking partner. Weston, was taste-testing a scone while I was on clean up duty. He always cracks me up! He cleaned his plate except for a few crumbs which he politely offered to me. I just love little boys! Take it from Weston, these Chocolate Chip Scones are a winner!
Instead of using granulated sugar, I chose to use brown sugar as I did in my Butter Pecan Scones. It gives each bite a warm, inviting flavor and emulates the smell of what you think are chocolate ship cookies while baking. Make sure you crush any lumps of sugar with the whisk as you combine the dry ingredients together.
Over the flour mixture, grate the frozen butter. If you haven’t used this method before, you will do this from now on! While watching a Southern Living instructional video on making Buttermilk Biscuits, they shared this method and I’ve used it every time since. My pastry blender has since been retired. The flakes of butter are easily disbursed within the flour mixture with a few “tossing” stirs. Place the bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
After the required chilling period, toss in the mini chocolate chips then make a well in the center. Whisk together the cold wet ingredients and pour in the center.
Stir about 15 times until ingredients begin to hold together. If it appears too dry and crumbly, add 2 more tablespoons of cream at a time, but no more than 4 tablespoons. You do not want a soggy appearance so only add as/if needed. Evidently, the weather determines the need for the extra cream.
What are you doing, Weston?
“It needs more chocolate chips,” he said. From the looks of those hands, it appears he’s been helping himself o some chips. Oh, well…It’s all in the family. I swear he washed them before we started.
Dump the scone mixture onto a lightly floured surface.
Gently mound the dough. You want it to stay as chilled as possible so only press gently;, the warmth of your hands could melt the butter. See those flakes of butter? They create the flaky texture you desire in scones. Limited “handling ” will assist in the achievement of that specific end result.
To make traditional cut scones, slice this mound in half and create 2 smaller 6″ mounds that are about 3/4″ in height. Use a rolling pin to flatten and round the edges with the palms of you hand. Each mound can be cut into 6 pie-type wedges for a total of 12 scones.
An alternative would be to roll and cut scones using a biscuit cutter shape and size of your preference.
Reroll the scraps using the same process.
To avoid too much handling, you could use the side of the spoon to straighten the outer edges. I figured this out late in the process, but thought I would share for your benefit.
Place the scones on a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet.
Brush the tops with cream and a sprinkling of raw (turbinado) or sparking sugar, if desired. Weston had suggested colored sprinkles. I’ll have to try that again. Maybe I’ll do that for his upcoming birthday! Don’t tell him! Because of all the extra handling using biscuit cutters and more rolling, I refrigerated them to make sure butter remained cold before going in the oven. A 15-20 minute stay in the fridge should be enough.
If you walked into my kitchen while these were baking, you would have sworn I was baking chocolate chip cookies. Not! These are perfect in this form without the chocolate drizzle, but….
These are perfect as you see above, but why stop there? I melted abut a half cup of semi-sweet chips in the microwave. Place this in a small sandwich bag, Snip off a small corner and drizzle the chocolate over the scones. Maybe this is where you can put on sprinkles because they will stick to the chocolate. before it hardens back up. A small stay back in the fridge will harden the chocolate drizzle if you need to accelerate that process.
Enjoy these Chocolate Chip Scones with a glass of milk on the side instead of tea. They’re a trip to chocolate heaven!
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12-14
- 2¾ c. all purpose flour
- 1 T. baking powder
- 1`/2 t. Kosher salt
- ⅓ c. dark brown sugar
- ½ c. unsalted butter
- 1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 large eggs
- ½-3/4 c. heavy cream
- 2 t. vanilla
- Drizzle:
- ½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Mix dry ingredients together including brown sugar. Make sure there are no clumps of brown sugar.
- Grate the frozen butter using a box grater over the flour mixture.
- Toss the butter flakes throughout the flour mixture. Place bowl in the frezzer for about 10 minutes.
- Mix in the mini chocolate chips to coat then make a well in the center.
- Blend together ½ cup the cream, eggs and vanilla.
- Pour into the well and stir about 15 times until mixture begins to hold together. If it seems too crumbly and dry, add in 2 tablespoons at a time, until less dry but not too moist. Do not exceed
- additional tablespoons !
- Dump on a lightly floured surface and press together into a circular mound with your hands.
- Split mound in half. Method 2 is demonstrated in pics above, but #1 is more typical. Method #1:Form each half into a 6" mound with a ¾" height with a rolling pin. Press sides in gently with your hands. Try to avoid too much hands-on time as you want the butter to remain cold to ensure flaky scones. Cut each mound into 6 wedges. Method #2: Form each half into a rectangle about ¾" in height using a rolling pin. I straightened the sides using the side of a wooden spoon. With your choice of biscuit cutters, cut desired forms. Reroll scraps and repeat process. Because this method is handled more and takes a little longer, place pan with cut scones in refrigerator for a few minutes before baking.
- Place scones on parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Brush cream on top of each with a sprinkle of raw sugar(turbinado).
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes.
- If desired, melt chocolate chips in the microwave as directed on package.
- Place in a small sandwich bag and snip off a small tip from one corner.
- To help with clean the clean up, drizzle chocolate over scones while still on cooling rack. The chocolate will harden once cooled.
- Remove from pan to serving plate. Enjoy!
