chocolate chip scones

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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.

1,086 Comments → chocolate chip scones

  3. Tracy

    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!

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  4. Danica

    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!

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