These Easy Chocolate Chip Scones Make Any Morning Special

Every once in a while, when I was growing up, my mom would surprise my brothers and me with scones for Sunday breakfast. We’d wake up to the buttery smell and rush down to the kitchen. She didn’t save them for holidays or birthdays. She simply wanted to make that morning special by baking a homemade breakfast treat. Now I associate scones with an everyday type of joy; joy for joy’s sake.

As an adult, I understand at least part of the reason behind choosing scones, in particular, for a breakfast surprise. Compared to cinnamon rolls that need to rise or French toast cooked on the stove one serving at a time, scones are easy to make on a whim. Using a base of pantry staples, my mom could add whatever mix-ins she had around: cinnamon chips, frozen berries, or my favorite, chocolate chips.

Because of these memories, I have a particular taste in scones. They should be tall, crisp on the outside, buttery and tender on the inside, and never dry. These chocolate chip scones are all of those things. They’re sturdy but moist, rich with butter, and sweetened with just enough sugar to balance the chocolate without being cloying. I keep a stash of them in the freezer to bake up on mornings that could do with a bit more joy.

For the Tallest Scones, Chill Them

My friend, who runs a microbakery in my hometown, makes enviably tall and tender scones. When I asked about them, the single most important tip she gave me for making tall scones that keep their shape is to chill or freeze them before baking.

Whenever I take the time, even just thirty minutes, to chill the shaped scones in the freezer, they bake up noticeably taller, neater, and more tender. Chilling the scones allows the flour to hydrate and the gluten to relax, prevents the butter from melting too early or leaking out during baking, and prevents the scones from spreading out.

More Tips for Tender Scones

Here are a few more of my favorite tricks for mixing and shaping tender scones:

• Use cold ingredients. As with pie dough or biscuits, keeping the butter cold throughout the whole mixing process makes the tenderest scones with the best rise.
• Avoid overmixing the dough. After adding the wet ingredients, mix only enough to bring the dough together into a cohesive mass. Overmixing the dough develops more gluten, resulting in flatter, tougher scones.
• Shape the scones into wedges. Reincorporating the scraps left behind by a biscuit cutter overworks the dough, making tough scones. Flattening the dough into discs and cutting them into wedges works the dough less and leaves no scraps.

Bake from Frozen

With just two of us at home, I don’t often need a whole batch of 12 scones. I like to place a tray of the shaped, unbaked scones in the freezer. Once they’re frozen solid, I store them in a freezer bag or freezer container for up to two months.

On the mornings that I crave a sweet breakfast treat, I bake a couple of scones, without defrosting them, adding an extra two to four minutes to the baking time.