These Chocolate Scones are quick and easy to whip up from scratch and deliver rich decadence in every bite. Trust me, once you try them you'll be hooked. Perfect for a make ahead breakfast, a tasty snack, or packed lunch!
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This post was originally posted on 4/26/2020 and updated on 9/8/2025.
Why We Love These Chocolate Scones
- Rich and Decadent: The perfect amount of sweetness and chocolate in every bite.
- Best Texture: These scones are perfectly flakey and tender!
- Quick and Easy: Homemade recipe using basic pantry staples to enjoy bakery style scones without spending hours in the kitchen.
- Enjoy Anytime: Serve these scones for breakfast or brunch, as a snack, or packed in lunches. They are delicious served as dessert with a scoop of ice cream too!
- Versatile: These scones are wedged shape, but there is no law saying they have to be. You can make them circle with biscuit cutters or even go the super easy route and make drop scones using an ice cream scoop.
- Family Friendly: The kids and adults both get excited for these. The kids absolutely love them in their lunch boxes!
- Freezer Friendly: Make them ahead, make a double batch and freeze them so you have them anytime a craving hits.
Chocolate Scones Recipe Ingredients
- Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- White Sugar
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Salted Butter
- Milk
- Large Egg
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Substitution Suggestions
- All Purpose Flour: Feel free to use white whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour. They turn out well with both types of flour.
- Salted Butter: If you prefer using unsalted butter that will work. I suggest adding an extra ¼ teaspoon of salt to the dough.
- Milk: Any type of milk will work. I use 2% cows milk because that is what my family drinks. You could also use heavy cream or half and half. It will add even more richness to the scones.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Pure extracts give the best flavor. Imitation extracts can leave an unwanted after taste in your baked goods.
- Mini Chocolate Chips: Use your favorite chocolate chips! Butterscotch and peanut butter chips are a delicious addition of flavor. I like to use the mini chips because they distribute throughout the dough better and are easier to cut through when cutting the dough.
How to Make Chocolate Scones
- First, preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Next, in a large bowl, combine the all purpose flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Give it a good mix.
- Then, cut the cold butter into pea size cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or your fingers cut in the butter until it resembles course crumbs.
Expert Tip: You can also use the new pastry beater attachment for the Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Or you can use the dough blade in a food processor. It makes the scones even easier to make!
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla extract. Add to the dry mixture along with the chocolate chips, and using a rubber spatula or your hands, mix together just until everything is combined. Be careful not to over mix the dough.
- Dump the scone dough onto prepared baking sheet and shape into about an 8 inch circle.
- Slice the dough into 8 triangles with a dough cutter or bench scraper and arrange on baking sheet 2 inches apart. Top with some extra chocolate chips for a pretty presentation.
- Bake for 13-16 minutes until the scones are set. The sides of the scones will no longer look glossy.
- Let them cool if you can and enjoy all the goodness!
Looking for more scone recipes? Don't miss my other delicious scone recipes:
Storing Chocolate Chocolate Chip Scones
Make a double batch and freeze them! They freeze very well and can be pulled out for an easy breakfast or snack. They also are great packed in lunches. I pack lunches the night before and just add the frozen scones to the lunch box and place in fridge until it is on the way to school with the kids.
Storing: Store the cooled chocolate scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Freezing: Once the scones are completely cooled, place them in a freezer safe air tight container or zip top bag. Label, date and freeze. These scones will last in the freezer for 3 months.
Thawing: To thaw the scones, take out 15 minutes before needing them or take out the night before and let thaw covered on counter.
Heather's Favorite Tools for this Recipe
- My KitchenAid Stand Mixer is my most favorite kitchen tool! It's the best tool ever and now it has a new pastry beater attachment for cutting in butter. You can make loads of scones and your arm won't get sore!!!
- Long ago, I used to be a Pampered Chef consultant and I still prefer their baking tools and pans to any others. Their baking sheets are the ones I prefer to use. Find yourself a consultant, host a party and treat yourself to a set. These aluminum sheet pans from Nordic Ware are a great option too.
- A dough cutter works the best for cutting scones into triangles.
- Pre-cut parchment paper is a life saver and so easy. No cutting my fingers!
- You can package these scones up for a bake sale in these Self Sealing Cellophane Bags. They are the best!
Tips for Chocolate Scones:
- Gather all the ingredients before you start preparing the recipe. It is so much easier to bake when all the ingredients are ready.
- Read the recipe from start to finish before you start baking. I am speaking from experience.
- Fluff your flour before measuring. Flour can become packed and won't measure accurately which can make the scone dry and the dough hard to work with. Fluff it a few times with the measuring cup or use a whisk right in your flour container. Then measure and level off the flour.
- Use cold ingredients. Cold or even grated frozen butter using the large holes of a box grater and cold milk helps create the flaky tender crumb scones are known for.
- Use your hands, pastry blender or the new pastry beater for the kitchen aid stand mixer to cut the butter into the flour, leaving sheets or clumps of butter. You should still be able to see pea sized or sheets of butter.
- Work quickly once the butter has been cut in. The butter needs to be as cold as possible when it goes into the oven, that is what creates the flakiness of the scone.
- Do not over work the dough. Fold the dough until it comes together. This will create layers helping the scone to stay tender and flakey and prevent it from becoming too dry.
- Do not saw the scones when slicing. Use one smooth cut to slice the scones into 8 triangles. Using a sawing motion can make the scones fall apart.
- Make these scones ahead of time and keep them covered with plastic wrap and chilled in the fridge until ready to bake. Prepared scones will last 1-2 days in the fridge.
FAQs About Scones
First, measure the flour properly. Fluff it, scoop it in measuring cup and then level it off. Next, use cold butter and cold milk. The cold butter is what helps the scones become flakey. Lastly, don't over mix the dough. Fold it instead of mixing or stirring. The less you work the dough, the lighter and fluffier the scones will be.
Avoid using warm butter and milk, and overworking the dough. Warm or room temperature butter and milk will create flat and dense scones. The less the dough is worked, the better. The scones will turn out lighter and fluffier.
Scones are typically a bit more denser than biscuits and usually made with eggs. Scones will likely have sugar in the dough and most biscuits don't.
Most scones are done when the edges and bottom are golden brown. For these chocolate scones they will look set and no longer glossy. They should also feel firm to the touch.
More Easy Breakfast Recipes:
- Ham Egg and Cheese Bake
- Easy Blueberry Muffins
- Monkey Bread
- Easy Homemade Bagels
- Sheet Pan Pancakes
- Ham and Cheese Mini Frittatas
- Mini Chocolate Donuts
- Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets
- Peanut Butter Muffins
- Chocolate Waffles
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Chocolate Scones
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups unbleached all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup salted butter, cold and diced
- ⅓ cup cold milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the all purpose flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
- Add in the diced butter and using a pastry blender or fingers cut the butter with the dry ingredients until course crumbs.
- Whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla in a small bowl and add to the flour mixture along with the chocolate chips. Using a rubber spatula or your hands, combine the mixture just until everything is combined, do not overmix. It is ok if the mix is crumbly.
- Turn the dough onto prepared baking sheet and using your hands fold the dough and form into an 8 inch disc.
- With a dough cutter or sharp knife, slice the disc into 8 triangles and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 13-16 minutes until the scones are set and the edges no longer look glossy.
- Let cool and enjoy!
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