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The ultimate treat for chocolate lovers, this Chocolate Scones recipe is full of chocolate chips and finished off with a chocolate glaze! These melt-in-your-mouth chocolate scones make for an indulgent breakfast or snack as they are so tender, rich, and moist.
If you want to start off your day with some chocolate, then you need to make these chocolate scones. Not only are the scones chocolate flavored, but they’re also full of chocolate chips and finished with a chocolate glaze. They’re perfect for the chocolate lover in your life or for when you’re craving an indulgent treat.
These chocolate scones are one of my go-to breakfast and brunch recipes, as everyone loves them. They’re not only soft and moist but flaky and tender. They’re also extremely easy to make! The most difficult part of this recipe is laminating the dough before refrigerating it. Even then, it’s straightforward and easy to get the perfect flaky layers. If you want another scone recipe for brunch, then try my blueberry scone recipe, cranberry orange scone recipe, or chocolate chip scone recipe.
Excellent recipe! The chocolate scones were tender, buttery, and delicious. Easy to follow, and they turned out perfectly. I’ll definitely make them again!
franca
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Flour — due to the amount of protein in different types of flour, I do not recommend changing the all-purpose flour to a different one. More protein (like in bread flour) produces more gluten which makes the scones too tough. Less protein (like in cake flour) produces less gluten and makes the scones too crumbly.
Cocoa powder — make sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder. Personally, I like using Ghirardelli but use what you have. I have tested this with natural and Dutch-process cocoa and both work. Dutch cocoa is less acidic, richer in flavor, and slightly less bitter. Since baking powder is the leavener used and can react on it’s own without an acid, the higher pH Dutch-process cocoa powder worked just as well in my tests.
Baking powder — make sure your baking powder is fresh and not expired! Baking powder is how you get your chocolate scones to rise and be fluffy. It mainly reacts with the oven heat to puff up the dough as it bakes so your scones don’t turn out too dense and they cook through.
Butter — make sure your butter is super cold, as you don’t want the butter to melt into the dough before you bake the scones. The reason you need cold butter and not room temperature is so it’ll melt when you bake them, creating pockets and leaving you with flaky layers. The cold butter hits the hot oven air and steam, pushing the dough apart to create small gaps (those flaky layers!).
Chocolate chips — use good quality chocolate chips when possible. I like using semi-sweet chocolate chips to make the chocolate scones taste even more chocolatey, but you can also use any chips in this recipe, such as dark chocolate chips, white, milk chocolate chips, or even peanut butter chips or caramel chips.
Heavy cream — instead of milk, this scone recipe uses heavy cream as it adds richness to the dough, so the scones stay tender and will not dry out as quickly. I recently retested this recipe and increased the amount cream in the scones. I found it kept them tender for longer, and made the dough less crumbly when you are shaping the scones.
Powdered sugar — you’ll need this to make the glaze for the scones. See my post on how to make you own powdered sugar if you don’t have any on hand.
How to Make Chocolate Scones
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter.
2. Toss to coat the butter in the flour mixture. Then, use a pastry cutter or, by pressing the pieces between your fingers, work in the cold butter until the pieces are pea-sized.
3. Toss in the chocolate chips.
4. Slowly stir the heavy whipping cream into the flour mixture using a fork until a shaggy dough forms.
5. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press into a ¾-inch thick square.
6. Cut the dough in half. Stack each half and press down.
7. Repeat the cutting and stacking again, then shape the dough into a 7-inch disc.
8. Cut the disc into 8 equal triangles and place scones on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes on a parchment paper lined sheet pan, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
9. In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
10. Drizzle the cooled scones with the chocolate glaze. Let the glaze set up for about 20 minutes for serving.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
Make sure to measure the flour correctly. If you add too much flour, the dough will become dry, and the scones will be crumbly. The best way to measure flour is with a kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
Press straight down when you cut the scone dough, being careful not to twist or saw the dough. Doing so seals the edge and prevents the scones from rising properly. If you use one then make sure its a sharp knife.
Careful not to overwork the dough, as you don’t want too much gluten to form! The more you knead the dough, the more gluten will form, leading to chewy scones.
If your kitchen is warm and you’re worried about the butter melting as you work it into the flour mixture, you can freeze and grate it. This helps the butter stay solid until the chocolate scones go into the oven for the best flaky interior.
While refrigerating for 15 minutes seems like a small step, do not skip it! Placing the dough in the fridge gives the gluten in the dough a chance to relax and the butter to firm up. Cold dough will also help keep the scones from over-spreading as they bake. I baked a test batch straight after shaping, and they were still delicious, but they spread out more to the sides in the oven. They also weren’t has flaky so overall they felt denser. With the butter being warmer, it doesn’t steam as well so it doesn’t give as much extra lift to the dough.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store leftover chocolate scones in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
You can prepare the dough for the scones, then cover and refrigerate overnight. Cut and bake the scones in the morning.
Alternatively, you can flash freeze cut scone dough on a sheet pan before transferring them to a freezer bag or container to freeze for up to 1 month. You can bake them from frozen with a couple of extra minutes added to the baking time.
If the dough is too dry, the scones won’t rise and will be crumbly, so make sure to measure the dry ingredients correctly. If the scones are too wet, then they won’t rise either, as they’ll be weighed down. Also, if you do not fully heat the oven to 400F before adding the wedges to the oven, that will also affect the scone’s rise.
Chocolate Scones
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment paper
- Large mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour (270g)
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (50g)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter cubed (113g)
- ⅓ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (60g)
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream (360ml)
For the Chocolate Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120g)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2-3 tablespoons whole milk divided
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and toss to coat in flour. Using a pastry cutter or by pressing the pieces between your fingers, work in the cold butter until the pieces are pea-sized. Toss in the chocolate chips.
- Slowly stir the heavy whipping cream into the flour mixture using a fork until a shaggy dough forms. (If your mixture is still very dry, add additional cream a tablespoon at a time.) Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press into a ¾-inch thick square. Cut the dough in half. Stack each half and press down. Repeat the cutting and stacking again, then shape the dough into a 7-inch disc. Cut the disc into 8 equal triangles and place on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until puffed and tops appear dry, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Let cool completely.
For the Glaze:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla until smooth. Whisk in more milk, a teaspoon at a time, if needed, to thin out the glaze. Drizzle the cooled scones with the chocolate glaze. Let the glaze set up for about 20 minutes for serving. Scones can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Make sure to measure the flour correctly. If you add too much flour, the dough will become dry, and the scones will be crumbly. The best way to measure flour is with a scale. If you don’t have one, then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- Press straight down when you cut the scone dough, being careful not to twist or saw the dough. Doing so seals the edge and prevents the scones from rising properly.
- Careful not to overwork the dough, as you don’t want gluten to form! The more you knead the dough, the more gluten will form, leading to chewy scones.
- If your kitchen is warm and you’re worried about the butter melting as you work it into the flour mixture, you can freeze and grate it. This helps the butter stay solid until the scones go into the oven for the best flaky interior.
- While refrigerating for 15 minutes seems like a small step, do not skip it! Placing the dough in the fridge gives the gluten in the dough a chance to relax and the butter to firm up. Cold dough will also help keep the scones from over-spreading as they bake.
Nutrition
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More Recipes To Try
Try one of my other popular breakfast recipes next:
- Lemon Scones: tender, flaky, and packed with fresh lemon flavor in the dough and drizzled with a lemon glaze.
- Pumpkin Scones: a fall favorite using canned pureed pumpkin for moisture and flavor.
- Classic Scones: the perfect scone recipe that is adaptable to different mix-ins and flavors.
- Blueberry Muffins: fluffy muffins with bakery-style domed tops and bursting with juicy blueberries.
- Chocolate Muffins: rich chocolate muffins loaded with melty chocolate chips.
If you’ve tried this Chocolate Scone recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
