These chocolate chip scones are buttery, fluffy and absolutely delicious, especially topped with a sweet and tangy blood orange glaze. The scones definitely make for a special breakfast or afternoon snack!
This recipe has been revived from the archives and given an update to the photography, recipe and information to make it more user friendly. It was originally posted on Eat Love Eat February 26, 2018.
I find scones are one of those delicious carb filled snacks that are quick and easy to make and really hit the spot when you want something satisfying. These chocolate chip scones are light and buttery making these perfect for a special breakfast or a snack. They’re only slightly sweet and are delicious warm with some butter melting into them, or you can serve them with our vibrant, sweet and tangy blood orange glaze.
These chocolate chip scones are golden and crisp on the outside and soft and light in the centre and you can’t go wrong with the molten pools of chocolate either! The blood orange glaze is the perfect way to celebrate these vibrant winter fruits and makes the scones perfect for a special Valentine’s day breakfast. If you love blood orange as much as me, you may want to try my other blood orange recipes:
I hope you’ll enjoy these scones, be sure to rate the recipe and leave a comment. I love hearing from you so let me know what you think! Follow the links below to get to where you need to in the post.
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What makes these the best?
Easy - these scones are very quick and easy to put together, making them suitable to get the kids involved. Albeit maybe a bit messy, they're overall super fun to make. Ha!
Fluffy - working these chocolate chip scones together gently with the cold butter allows the centres to be light and fluffy as the butter and flour creates a flaky soft texture.
Chocolate chips - anything that has chocolate chips in wins my vote! You just can’t go wrong with them! Who else is with me?!
Zesty - to make these a little bit special you’ll be adding some of the blood orange zest into the scone mix - chocolate orange scones are the best!
Ingredients
You only need simple ingredients for these fluffy and light chocolate chip scones. Here’s what you’ll need.
Flour - you’ll need two types of flour in these scones, all purpose flour for lightness and spelt flour for texture and flavour.
Baking store cupboard - you’ll need baking powder as a raising agent and a little ground cinnamon and sea salt for flavour.
Sweetness - these scones are only lightly sweetened due to the use of the blood orange glaze. You’ll need some soft brown sugar, which you can switch out for coconut sugar or granulated sugar if you like. You’ll also need some powdered sugar (icing sugar) for the glaze.
Butter - the best chocolate chip scones are made with butter, giving them a lovely light flaky texture.
Binding - you’ll need an egg and some milk to bring all the dry ingredients together.
Mix-ins - these scones get their unique flavour from mixing in blood orange zest and chocolate chips! Feel free to use normal oranges or a clementine if you can't find blood oranges. The pink glaze really does make them quite special though.
How to make them
Follow these simple steps to success for these tasty scones!
- First things first, make sure you preheat your oven to 180C/350F. In a large bowl, mix together your flours, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Once combined, add the cold butter cubes into the dry ingredients.
- Rub the cold butter cubes into the flour mix until you are left with pea size lumps of butter throughout the flour.
- Add the blood orange zest and chocolate chunks into the bowl and stir throughout the flour mix.
- Add the lightly beaten egg and gradually stir the milk into the dry ingredients.
- Bring together the chocolate chip scone dough with your hands until uniform but without overworking it. Flecks of butter are a good thing! The dough shouldn’t be dry but you don’t want it too sticky either. Flatten it into a round about 1 inch thick.
- Cut the round into 8 wedges and brush the tops with a little egg wash leftover from the main mix.
- Place the scones on a parchment lined baking sheet with enough space in between them.
- Bake at 180C/350F for 15 minutes until golden brown on the outside. Leave them to cool a little before glazing and serving!
Tips and tricks
Here are some tips and tricks I recommend for making these chocolate chip scones.
Liquid - I recommend adding most of the lightly whisked egg (reserving some for the top) and starting with half the amount of milk, gradually adding the rest. I find that 100 ml is about right, but it really depends on the humidity in your kitchen and the flour used. You want to work it all in gently and not overwork which will make the scones tough. It should just come together into a dough ball and not be dry to touch or too sticky.
Cold ingredients - the butter you’ll be using needs to be really cold. The reason for this is it will give you the flakiest and fluffiest scone dough. If its too warm you will lose that buttery mottled look of the dough which gives the best texture.
Egg wash - the reserved bit of egg from earlier in making the scones is used for brushing over the top of them before baking, this will give them a nice golden crust and slight crispy edge leaving the insides soft and fluffy.
Glazing - I would recommend allowing the scones to cool a bit before glazing them with the blood orange glaze. If not you’ll find your glaze will melt and go very thin.
How to serve them
Here are some suggestions for servings.
Breakfast - the fact that these scones are only lightly sweetened means they make for a perfect breakfast, you can warm them up in the oven or microwave to enjoy them warm with a bit of butter if you like. They also make an alternative Valentine’s day breakfast if that’s something you are looking for.
Buttery snack - get these scones warmed up and slather them with your favourite butter. I would highly recommend some slightly salted butter and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup to finish it off, or even your favourite jam or marmalade.
Glaze - obviously this recipe comes with guidance for a blood orange glaze, but you can adjust that to any flavour glaze you wish! The sky is not the limit!
FAQs
For me the reason for using an egg is to aid binding, but most importantly flavour. It really brings out a lovely richness and works well with the flours used in this recipe.
Two words, over mixing. If you over work the dough it starts to melt the butter. Melting butter will lead to scones that are heavy and chewy rather than light and flaky. The top tip is to use cold ingredients and only mix just enough to combine. The rubbing of the butter into the dry ingredients needs to leave pea sized bits of butter, not a fine breadcrumb.
The scones are best eaten fresh on the day they are made. If keeping any longer, I would recommend reheating in the oven or microwave for a minute or two, to refresh them. If you think you won't eat them all straight away, I'd recommend keeping them unglazed until ready to eat, or store them well wrapped in the freezer.
Other breakfast recipes
I hope you love these delicious chocolate chip scones with blood orange glaze! If you make them, be sure to leave a comment, rate the recipe and tag me on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!
Chocolate Chip Scones with Blood Orange Glaze
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, 180 g
- 1 cup spelt flour, 120 g
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons soft light brown sugar, 25 g
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons cold butter, 75 g, cubed
- 2 blood oranges, zest finely grated
- 2 ounces dark chocolate, 60 g, chopped into chunks
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 6-7 tablespoons milk, 100 ml
Glaze
- 1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar), 125 g
- 2-3 tablespoons blood orange juice, freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. In a large bowl, mix together the plain flour, spelt flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon.1 ½ cups all purpose flour, 1 cup spelt flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 2 tablespoons soft light brown sugar, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Add the cold butter cubes and gently rub together until you are left with pea-sized pieces of butter.5 tablespoons cold butter
- Stir in the blood orange zest and the chocolate chunks.2 blood oranges, 2 ounces dark chocolate
- Add the lightly beaten egg (reserve a drop for brushing the tops) and the milk and bring together gently using your hands to form a dough, adding more milk if needed. You don't want the dough to be dry but you don't want it to be super sticky either. Pat the dough into a round, 1" thick.1 large egg, 6-7 tablespoons milk
- Cut into 8 wedges. Brush with the reserved beaten egg.
- Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool a little before drizzling with glaze and serving.
Glaze
- Mix together the icing sugar and blood orange juice to form a thick but drizzleable glaze.1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar), 2-3 tablespoons blood orange juice
Chris says
Even though I couldn't follow the recipe exactly due to lack of some ingredients it came out really well. One day I'll try the real thing.
Ellice says
That colour balance! The scones look quite ordinary but that topping transforms them! Love the photography.
Sue says
Oh my! Yummy!