Chocolate Chip Scones

These are seriously the BEST chocolate chip scones. They are tender, yet flaky. The edges have a slight satisfying crunch while the inside has soft and buttery laminated layers of chocolate chip dough. Topped off with a light drizzle of icing, this scone will truly melt in your mouth!

What makes these Chocolate Chip Scones the BEST?

These Chocolate Chip Scones are what I consider to be the perfect scones! They rise tall, have a buttery and moist texture, and bursting with pleasantly sweet chocolate chips. It truly ticks all the boxes!

Tender and flaky – The lamination process layers butter with the dough which creates a “croissant-like” effect. You get flaky and tender scones that rise tall! The secret is to keep the butter and dough very cold all the way until it’s baking time.

Moist and soft – A dry scone is truly disappointing. Most scones have to be eaten immediately after baking, but these remain most for DAYS. Oh, and there is no need for butter or jam since these have both delicious flavor and buttery texture! Using brown sugar helps the scone stay moist thanks to the molasses content.

Crunchy edges – That satisfying crunchy exterior is achieved by brushing these with milk and sprinkling granulated sugar right before baking. This makes each bite a satisfying contrast of slight crunch with flaky melt-in-your-mouth insides, yum!

Balanced flavor – The chocolate chips add just enough sweetness to these scones without making them too sweet. You can omit the glaze altogether if you like it less sweet, or add milk chocolate if you prefer it on the sweeter side. But the combination of semi-sweet chocolate chips and the drizzle glaze is in my opinion just right!

Perfect make-ahead recipe – This recipe actually works better if you make it ahead as the butter layers need to remain cold to rise tall. I like to make and shape these before bed. In the morning, simply brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar and pop it in the oven. Nothing like the smell of fresh chocolate chip scones in the morning!

Key Ingredient Notes

Fermented milk – This helps make the scones tender and flaky. The slight tangy quality also helps balance the flavor of the scones. Not to mention how it is a natural levening agent! I use A-fil (Lactobacillus Acidophilus milk) which is common in the Nordic countries. Although it looks reminiscent of yoghurt, it tastes slightly more tangy. Good substitutes would be Kefir, sour cream, buttermilk or even yoghurt.

European style butter – The difference between bakery-style scones and at-home scones is the quality of the ingredients. European style butter is made by churning fresh cream and adding bacterial culture. The latter step enhances and enriches the deep butter flavor. I recommend using this no matter what you are baking!

Brown sugar – Brown sugar contains more moisture than regular sugar. It locks in the moisturee during the baking process, resulting in moist and tender scones!

Baking soda & Baking powder – These will react together with the acid ingredient (fermented milk) creating gas that causes our scones to rise tall in the oven.

How to make Chocolate Chip Scones

The secret to tall and tender scones is to use cold butter. The trick is to grate the butter into the dry ingredients. That way you can work it into the batter quickly before it starts to soften and melt.

Once the texture is crumbly with uneven sized dough sticking together, stir in the whisked wet ingredients with a rubber spatula.

Add the chocolate chips into the shaggy mixture and begin the lamination process. If your dough feels to warm at this point, then let it cool in the fridge for 10 minutes before laminating. We want the butter to remain cold to help us create flaky layers.
Simply spread the dough out onto a lightly floured surface into a rectangle. Grab from the two ends and fold into the middle. The dough might fall apart and crumble, but this is ok. Now, rotate the dough 90 degrees and flatten into a rectangle once again. Repeat the folding process.

Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten into a circle about 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter and cut into 8 pieces. Lay the scones on a lined baking tray with distance between each scone. Brush with milk or cream and sprinkle some coarse sugar. Bake until golden, but keep an eye on the scones as they get dry if overbaked.

More of my favorite scones recipes: