Chocolate Chip Scones
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These chocolate chip scones are soft, buttery, and just sweet enough, with plenty of melty chocolate in every bite. They’re perfect with coffee, tea, or straight off the baking sheet.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that anything with chocolate chips is an instant hit with my kids—chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip muffins, you name it. These chocolate chip scones are no different. They’re sweet, buttery, and tender, with just the right amount of melty chocolate in every bite. Warm from the oven, they’re perfect for a lazy weekend morning when you feel like spoiling everyone.
This recipe is a twist on my classic cream scones—just a bit sweeter, flecked with chocolate chips, and flavored with vanilla. And they always disappear fast…at least around here.
“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 thanks to its lower protein content. Don’t have cake flour on hand? You can make your own; just whisk together 1¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch.
- Baking Powder: Gives scones their lift, helping them rise and become light and fluffy.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the dough just enough to balance the richness and chocolate.
- Cold Butter: Butter adds richness and helps create a tender, flaky texture in scones; keeping it cold ensures it melts during baking, forming steam pockets that lift and lighten the dough.
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips: Semisweet chips bring bursts of melty chocolate throughout—use a high-quality brand like Guittard or Ghirardelli for the best flavor.
- Egg: Helps bind the dough and adds richness.
- Heavy Cream: Adds moisture and richness to the dough, creating a soft crumb. Don’t swap it for milk or light cream—this is one place where the fat really matters.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warm, subtle flavor that complements the chocolate.
- Demerara Sugar: Sprinkled on top before baking for a sweet, caramel-y crunch on the outside. Also known as raw or turbinado sugar. If you don’t have it on hand, you can substitute brown sugar or more granulated sugar.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Whisking helps evenly distribute the baking powder, which ensures the scones rise and bake evenly.
Step 2: Cut in the butter. Add the cold butter and use your fingertips to rub it in until the mixture looks very coarse—those little clumps of butter are what make the scones tender.
Step 3: Add the chocolate chips. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Step 4: Whisk the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the cream, egg, and vanilla until smooth.
Step 5: Combine wet and dry. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients, and stir it all together. (Making a well helps incorporate the wet ingredients more gently, which reduces overmixing.)
Step 6: Mix the dough. Stir with a spatula until the dough mostly comes together—it’ll be sticky.
Step 7: Shape and cut dough. Lightly knead it into a ball. Be gentle and stop as soon as the dough holds together; over-kneading can make the scones tough. Press the dough into a ¾-inch-thick circle and slice into 8 wedges. For clean cuts, use a sharp knife.
Step 8: Prep to bake. Transfer the wedges to a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the Demerara sugar.
Step 9: Bake. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven and serve warm. The scones can be frozen, before or after baking, in an airtight container for up to 3 months. (For best results, freeze before baking.)
More Scone Recipes You May Like
Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups cake flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off (see note on substitution)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch (13-mm) pieces
- ⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, best quality such as Guittard or Ghirardelli
- 1 large egg
- ⅔ to ¾ cup heavy cream (do not substitute milk or light cream)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon demerara sugar (also called raw or turbinado)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C) 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 (160 ml) 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-in (2-cm) 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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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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I think it would have been better just spooning the moist dough onto the parchment paper and baking the way you do Sticky Fingers scones. The flavor was good, but I had to add so much flour to be able to roll out and cut into wedges that it made them very dry. I will try again making them as drop scones or less cream.
These were delicious! Is it better to freeze the scones before baking or after baking?
Hi Josephine, I’d freeze them before if possible. 🙂
I have made these scones for my son-in-law several times. I always give them as a parting gift after a family visit. Come to find out, since they live about 3 hours away – apparently the children and my daughter dive into the package
en route home! I don’t think he ends up with many for himself as everyone loves them! I follow the recipe exactly, and they are a big hit!
Can i use blueberries instead of chocolate chips?
Hi Fanny, Do you have my cookbook? I have a wonderful blueberry scone recipe in there. If you don’t have the book, feel free to email me at jennifer@onceuponachef.com and I’ll send it to you.
Yes I have the book.i didn’t see that.i see ot now.
Can i use cake flour instead of all purpose flour to the BLUEBERRY scone the one is the book.
Hi Fanny, I actually don’t recommend cake flour for the blueberry scones. The blueberries release so much juice, you really need the all-purpose flour to lend structure; otherwise they fall apart (I’ve tried it!).
I love your recipes! The presentation and pictures make them even more appetizing.
For this scone recipe, I made it, I liked it, but I still feel that it’s missing something. It is flaky and tender, and maybe too tender, for scones. I think I like scone a bit more “dense” to hold the buttery signature taste of scone. These scones are light and airy, and while that is much better than dry and dense, it’s still missing something. Maybe next time I’ll try using half all purpose and half cake flour. Thanks!
Hi Amy, For a denser scone, use all-purpose flour. 🙂
These scones are perfect. Just the right texture and delicious. I use chocolate chunks. I wrap each one individually and freeze them. They are great with coffee in the morning.
These are my go-to recipe if I’m having people over for coffee. The scones are easy to make and they freeze perfectly so can be made ahead of time and defrosted when needed. I have even used cookie cutters to customize the shapes from triangles into hearts or scallop-edged circles.
As an avid follower, I just wanted to thank you for your recipes and blog. I actually feel like I am becoming a decent cook/baker because I finally have the confidence to try new things due to your very specific instruction and recipe details. I just made these scones the other day(and I would never have attempted anything like this a couple years ago), and they were delightful! My friends wanted the recipe so I shared your blog with them. Thanks so much for your willingness to share!
Oh, and since I can now make a scone, 🙂
is this recipe pretty much interchangeable with other flavors? For example, insert blueberries instead of chocolate chips? TIA!
So glad you enjoyed them, Amy! And thank you for the kind words about the recipes – that makes me happy 😊. I would say you could use this scone recipe for some scone flavors but not all. For example, it would work with dried fruits like currants, raisins, or dried blueberries. Fresh blueberries are quite tart and release a lot of juice, so the recipe would need to be adjusted. I actually have a wonderful recipe for blueberry scones with lemon glaze in my upcoming cookbook. I’m happy to email it to you, if you’d like. Lmk. 🙂
These came out delicious. First time I have ever baked with cake flour and I was happy I did. Quick question, we had some left over and they were clearly not as good as when I first made them. An suggestions on the best way of serving/using leftovers? I had put them in a plastic sealed container. Thanks for another great recipe
I made these scones tonight and was very pleased by the outcome. They were not too dry and very tasty. I will definitely make these again.