chocolate chip scones Apr 30
It’s Friday — and that means tomorrow is Latte and Scones Day! Here’s the recipe I use:
Chocolate Chip Scones
adapted from Baking Illustrated, a cookbook I highly recommend
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
3 T sugar
1/2 t salt
5 T cold butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes*
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream/half and half/milk
1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together.
3. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut butter into dry mixture until it resembles coarse meal with a few larger lumps. (Don’t be afraid of butter lumps!)
4. Add chocolate chips.
5. Stir in heavy cream (or your dairy of choice!) with a rubber spatula just until dough begins to form — about 30 seconds. The mixture will be very shaggy.
6. Turn out onto a floured counter and knead the dough by hand for a few seconds. Pat into a round, about 1″ high. With a sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges.
7. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops generously with cream, then sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake until tops are light brown, 12-15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.** Serve warm.
*Cold butter is the key. If you get interrupted mid-recipe (’cause that never happens, right?), throw the bowl into the fridge. It’s gotta be cold in order to be light and airy.
**Don’t skip the cooling part. These are much better after they’ve had a chance to cool and firm up a bit.
Make ahead: I usually make a few batches at a time, whenever I have time. I shape them into wedges, cram as many as I can onto a baking sheet, and then throw them into the freezer. Once they’re hardened, move them to a ziploc bag. Then on Saturday morning, I pull out whatever I need and proceed from the “brush with cream” step. Frozen scones may need a few more minutes in the oven.
Yup, my name is Danica. Like the race car driver, whose name I know, but whose career I know nothing about. A Nascar fan I am not. Things like reading, playing piano, gardening, cooking, sewing, writing, and keeping my bathroom bleached are more up my alley. 
These sound delicious and I’m hoping to make them this weekend but do you use salted or unsalted butter?
April 30th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
@Jennifer: I use salted. Hope they’re yummy!
April 30th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
we are leaving town first thing in the morning and I’d like to make these to take in the car with us for breakfast. i have regular whole wheat flour and regular white flour…should I use a cup of each or 2 cups of white? Thanks in advance!
May 7th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Tracy, I’d use half and half. Or maybe a bit more white than ww. I just love these so much more when there’s the nuttiness of whole wheat!
May 7th, 2010 at 2:10 pm