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November 4, 2018
Crispy edges and flakey, buttery centers make these espresso chocolate chunk scones the best ever. Made with freshly brewed espresso […]
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Crispy edges and flakey, buttery centers make these espresso chocolate chunk scones the best ever. Made with freshly brewed espresso and topped with a heavenly maple butter glaze, these scones are sure to be your new favorite breakfast treat!
I’ve got a thing for scones. Not gonna lie. That crispy edge and flakey, buttery center get me every time. A warm scone fresh from the oven with a dollop of freshly whipped cream is the weekend breakfast of my dreams. My scone obsession began many years ago on the east coast. My husband and I were newlyweds and would spend hours every Sunday morning at a local bakery reading the paper and noshing on scones and lattes. A Sunday without scones was not a good Sunday. Fast forward two decades and “Sundays are for scones” is practically the family motto. And with so many flavor combinations there is a scone for all seasons. Berry scones, cinnamon apple scones, coconut lemon scones…you name it, I’ve made it! But my favorite scone of all is this espresso chocolate chunk variation. Because, well…chocolate. Enough said.
The hint of freshly brewed espresso enhances the chocolate flavor perfectly and who can deny chunks of dark chocolate folded into a light, flakey scone? I’ll be first in line for this carb-fest! Trust me when I say I’ve been making these scones for half my lifetime and they are worth every.single.bite. To make these scones we start with extra cold butter. Keep it cold bakers! The one mistake you don’t want to make is letting your butter get too warm while making the dough. We want the scones to hold their shape and not spread out into something that resembles pancakes while in the oven. I use buttermilk in all of my scone recipes to make a light and flakey scone. Heavy cream and half-and-half will also work if you find yourself short on buttermilk. Before you rush off to preheat your oven, remember to avoid over mixing the dough. Tough scones are not tasty scones so be nice to your dough. Happy dough makes good scones.
Speaking of good scones, I made this already great scone even better with a maple butter glaze that I {generously} drizzled on top. This maple butter glaze is as good as gold and you’ll see it making an appearance on everything from baked donuts to chai spice cupcakes this fall. It’s ridiculously good and I cannot get enough of it. It’s I-want-to-lick-the-bowl-clean worthy and you too should put it on any and everything that comes out of your oven. Since it’s actually Sunday morning at this very moment I’m going to sign off and get my own batch of scones in the oven. It’s the best way to Sunday in my book! Love to know if you enjoy these scones as much as I do…leave me a comment here or tag @brownedbutterblondie on Instagram. Enjoy your #sundayfunday friends!!
Happy baking!
Espresso Chocolate Chunk Scones
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 3 reviews
- Author: Browned Butter Blondie
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
Crispy edges and flakey, buttery centers make these espresso chocolate chunk scones the best ever. Made with freshly brewed espresso and topped with a heavenly maple butter glaze, these scones are sure to be your new favorite breakfast treat!
Ingredients
Scale
For Scones
- 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup plus 1 TBSP sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/4 sticks {18 TBSP} very cold, unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
- 1/4 cup freshly brewed espresso, cooled {can substitute strong coffee}
- 1 cup dark chocolate, chopped
- Egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 2 TBSP heavy cream
For the glaze
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt
- Add the cold, cubed butter and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry blender until the mixture resembles course meal
- Do not over mix the dough
- Add cooled espresso to the buttermilk and stir to combine
- Add buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and combine by hand or with a wooden spoon until barely incorporated
- Carefully fold in chocolate chunks
- Add a tablespoon or two of buttermilk if dough seems too dry
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat gently into two 6 inch rounds
- Cut each round into 6 triangles and place on baking sheets
- Brush tops of scones with egg wash
- Bake 20-25 minutes until scones are golden brown and firm
- Cool slightly before drizzling with glaze
For Glaze
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat
- Add maple syrup and vanilla, stirring to combine
- Remove from stovetop and slowly add the confectioner’s sugar
- Stir constantly until smooth
- Drizzle on top of scones immediately before glaze begins to harden in the saucepan
brunchbuttermilk sconeschocolate sconesmaple glaze
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24 Comments
Reply
Dee
January 19, 2024 at 1:00 pm
Ok. These are AMAZING!!!! I subbed a half/half whole fat Greek yogurt and milk for the buttermilk and they came out Devine. I added a tablespoon of instant espresso to the glaze and that elevated it a notch. SOOOOO GOOOOOD! These will definitely be on the rotation.
Reply
Jennifer
September 20, 2022 at 4:30 pm
Made these yesterday and very good 🙂
I didn’t have buttermilk but used cream and cut recipe in half and then added 1/2 cup of cinnamon chips and 1/4 cup toasted pecans … will be making them againReply
Ally
April 5, 2022 at 3:44 pm
Loved these! I think I made mine a little too thick, but the scones were a hit. Next time I make them I might do mini scones. If I did that, would I shorten bake time/do a lower temp when baking?
Reply
Anonymous
November 18, 2021 at 3:39 pm
Have you tried these without the glaze? Is it still amazing or do they seem lacking without it?
Reply
Julz
May 1, 2021 at 2:29 am
I absolutely need those plates where did you find them? My girl friends would LOVE them (qnd these scones) for brunches, so cute!
Reply
Heather Mubarak
May 1, 2021 at 7:05 am
The plates are from Target…the Magnolia collection!
Reply
Suzanne
November 2, 2020 at 8:16 pm
This looks so good! I love this combination of coffee and chocolate in the morning!
Reply
Heather Mubarak
November 3, 2020 at 8:57 pm
It’s the best!
Reply
Sarah F
September 19, 2020 at 11:49 pm
I’ve made these a few times now and they are DELICIOUS. Each time I make them I find it useful to freeze them for about 10 minutes before I put them in the oven to prevent spreading. Funny as it sounds, this is also one of those recipes that I think tastes even better after they’ve sat for a little while so I tend to prepare them the night before I want to serve them! They are delicious with coffee at breakfast or eggnog during the winter 🙂
Reply
Heather Mubarak
September 21, 2020 at 1:18 am
I’m so happy to hear you love these scones!! They are a weekend favorite around here too!Thanks for trying my recipe!
Reply
sue
May 10, 2020 at 12:54 am
Thank You!
Reply
Sue
May 9, 2020 at 6:07 pm
I am about to make these and had to find a conversion for sticks to cups. However 2 and 1/2 sticks equals 1 and 1/4 cups and 20 tablespoons but the recipe says 2 and 1/4 sticks equals 20 tablespoons. Which one should I be using please?
Reply
Heather Mubarak
May 9, 2020 at 6:26 pm
Hi Sue! Sorry about the typo…I just updated the recipe. You should use 2 1/4 sticks of cold, unsalted butter which is 18 tablespoons. Enjoy!
Reply
Jacquelyn
May 2, 2020 at 8:38 pm
These are fabulous! My dough was very sticky and not cold by the time I got to cutting, so I put them in the freezer as another suggested. Half of them turned out great, my first pan burned so I adjusted my oven to 375 and baked 20 min and they are perfect. Also you could totally cut the icing recipe in half, it’s enough for a double batch easily.
Reply
Lyndsay Graham
November 9, 2019 at 3:20 am
I made these today with my mom and sister for our annual baking day and they turned out lovely! We did a double batch. FYI to other bakers the egg wash and glaze was enough for a second batch without needing to double up those items.
Reply
Heather Mubarak
November 9, 2019 at 3:51 pm
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that. And I love the idea of an annual baking day!
Reply
Katie
August 27, 2019 at 7:26 pm
I just made these and they are SO good!! I froze the scones about half an hour before baking them and that helped them not to spread. I’ll be making these repeatedly….probably too often, to be honest
Reply
Heather Mubarak
August 28, 2019 at 8:43 am
YAY!! I’m so glad to hear that you loved them. They are definitely worth repeating and you an even sub out the espresso and chocolate for other ingredients and try different flavors. Enjoy!
Reply
Jackie
July 6, 2019 at 1:07 pm
Are you sure it shouldn’t be 2 1/2 sticks of butter rather than cups? My dough was like cookie dough before I even got it out of the pastry blender. So, added more flour, less milk, stuck them in the freezer and hoping for the best!
Reply
Heather Mubarak
July 8, 2019 at 8:01 am
My goodness….that’s what I get for writing recipes at midnight! Yes, your intuition was correct. It should be listed as 2 1/3 STICKS of butter. I’ve corrected the recipe. Enjoy!
Reply
Whitney
July 2, 2019 at 3:18 pm
Can you use regular coffee instead of espresso if you don’t have it?
Reply
Heather Mubarak
July 3, 2019 at 6:47 pm
Yes, you can substitute regular coffee. Enjoy!
Reply
Shelly
May 2, 2019 at 12:00 am
These looked and sounded so good I had to make them. They look like they turned out okay but with that amount of butter in them, a lot oozed out during baking (making a mess of my oven). What did I do wrong? Everything was super cold when I mixed up the scones and looked really good when they went in the oven. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.Reply
Heather Mubarak
May 3, 2019 at 5:57 am
Hi Shelly,
I’m so sorry you had trouble with these. The butter does need to remain very cold or the scones will spread a lot. You definintely need to work quickly when adding the buttermilk and shaping the scones to be sure the butter isn’t getting warm with all the handling of the dough. You could also pop the prepared scones back in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before baking next time. Hope that helps!
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