Name: Chocolate Chip Scones
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 33 min
Cuisine: American/British
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups all purpose flour; ½ cup rolled oats; ¼ brown sugar – packed; 1 tbsp baking powder; ¼ tsp kosher salt; 1 stick salted butter – frozen; 1 cup mini chocolate chips; 1 egg; ⅓ cup whole milk; 2 tsp vanilla extract; Turbinado sugar – optional

These Chocolate Chip Scones are the perfect blend of savory and sweet. Take a classic, buttery scone and mix in decadent semi-sweet chocolate.

Above view of chocolate chip scones on a baking sheet

Contents hide

These might just be your new favorite sweet and salty snack

Kitchen tools

Serving Suggestions

Tricks for making good scones

Ingredients

Ingredient substitutions

How to make chocolate chip scones

Storage and freezing

Check out these other sweet treats!

Chocolate Chip Scones

These might just be your new favorite sweet and salty snack

Is there anything better than a crumbly scone with a warm beverage? Perhaps the only thing better is a chocolate chip scone because you get that extra sweetness from the chocolate chips.

I used to be intimidated by making scones at home, but I realized that if you follow just a few simple tricks you can make them perfect every time. Keep the butter cold as you cook and don’t overwork the dough.

Following this simple chocolate chip scone recipe will give you perfect fluffy yet crumbly scones every single time. Make a batch for guests and they will think you bought them at the local bakery!

A pile of chocolate chip scones on a cooling rack

Kitchen tools

Measuring cups, measuring spoons and a liquid measuring cup
Whisk
Flat spatula
Cheese grater for grating butter – you can also use a sharp knife and pastry cutter
Small bowl and Large bowl
Baking sheet
Parchment paper or silicone mat to line sheet pan

Serving Suggestions

Pretend you are in a lovely British cafe for afternoon tea and have one of these chocolate chips scones with a cup of tea. If you are more of a coffee person you can enjoy one with your favorite cup of coffee. Around the holidays like to make myself a festive caramel brulee latte.

You could also serve this chocolate chip scone recipe as a dessert option after a luncheon. Serve something like a green salad with blackened mahi mahi. Then for dessert you can serve the chocolate chip scones and coffee cake muffins.

Tricks for making good scones

Keep the butter cold – Warm butter will melt too quickly in the oven causing the scones to spread out. Use very cold butter or frozen butter and try not to touch it too much with warm hands. If you need to take a break at any point, place your dough in the fridge to keep the butter cold.
Do not overwork the dough – You want your scones to be the right texture, crumbly, but not too dry or chewy. To get a scone with a crumbly crust and a tender inside you need to be gentle with the dough. Mix until only just combined and then gentle shape into triangles.
Use high fat ingredients – Use real butter and half and half or heavy cream. This gives scones that rich, buttery crumble that you know and love.
Chill scones before baking – I don’t always have time to do this, but if you have an extra 30 minutes you can shape the scones and then place them in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes prior to baking.

Ingredients

All purpose flour
Rolled oats
Brown sugar
Baking powder
Sea salt
Salted butter – very cold or frozen
Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Large egg
Whole milk or heavy cream
Vanilla extract
Optional: turbinado sugar or coarse sugar for topping each scone before baking

Ingredient substitutions

Make these scones gluten free by using a one to one gluten free flour blend in place of the all purpose flour. Also check to make sure the rolled oats you are using are gluten free.

Swap the mini chocolate chips for some chopped dark chocolate for a deeper, richer flavor. The chopped chocolate will spread through the scone giving you chocolate in each bite.

You can also use butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips in this scone dough. You can also add some chopped nuts. My favorite to mix in are some chopped walnuts.

Substitute one teaspoon vanilla extract with half a teaspoon of almond extract for a slight change in flavor. You can also add in some slivered almonds for extra crunch.

Step by step assembly of a chocolate chip scone recipe

How to make chocolate chip scones

Step 1: Preheat oven, mix dry ingredients, grate butter

To begin, preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Then, mix flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Grate frozen butter using the large side of a cheese grater.

Pour that into the mixing bowl. Stir in the butter and chocolate chips.

Step 2: mix in wet ingredients and shape scones

Then, in a separate small bowl whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and mix until just combined. Do not over mix because you will melt the butter.

Next, dust a clean surface with flour and use floured hands to shape the dough into an 8” x 12” rectangle on the lightly floured surface. Cut this rectangle into 12 triangles.

Step 3: bake and cool

Then, arrange the scones on the baking sheet with a bit of space between each of them. Sprinkle the tops of each scone with turbinado sugar.

Bake at 400F for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown on the outside. Cool completely on a wire rack and enjoy!

Three quarter view of two scones on a small serving plate

Storage and freezing

To store, allow the scones to cool completely. Then, transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

If you want to freeze them, they will be good frozen for up to 3 months. Take them out of the freezer one by one and allow to thaw at room temperature.

Check out these other sweet treats!

Images by Ella from Alpine Ella.

Recipe