In my opinion, fewer things make a finer morning breakfast than a cup of coffee accompanied with a delicious scone. Although I've enjoyed a handful of different scone recipes in the past, I believe I have finally perfected the ultimate dough formula in these chocolate chip scones. Everyone has different tastes, but my favorite type of scone is delicate and flaky in texture, and is buttery while lightly sweetened.
This is one recipe where I no longer use a stand mixer in order to avoid over mixing the dough. Careful handling of the dough ensures a lighter and more airy scone. So, I stir this one by hand and then use the drop method just like I'm making cookies.
Another trick to this particular formula is to make certain you are using good chocolate chips. This does not mean paying a pretty penny. In a recent episode of Cook's Country, they taste tested chocolate chips and concluded that these chips were by far the best. I have to agree, and at only 20 cents more than the Nestle brand at my local grocery store, the favored Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips are now my pantry staple. They have less sugar which brings out more of the chocolate flavor while the other brands are too smokey, too sweet, or too complex.
Since this creates a large amount of scones (almost 2 dozen) bake up a batch one morning and immediately freeze the leftovers to preserve the freshness. Then, any time you're ready to get one out with your morning coffee, toss one in the microwave on a paper towel for about 30 seconds. They're perfectly good this way, too.
Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons cold butter , diced
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375?F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone liner.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, sugars, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture, using a pastry cutter or fork, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. Add the whipping cream to the flour mixture and stir just until the ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix! Drop the dough by large tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.
- To freeze: Place completely cooled scones into labeled freezer bag. When ready to enjoy, microwave one scone on a paper towel for 20 to 30 seconds.
