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brown butter chocolate chip scones
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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

Perfectly flaky chocolate chip scones with crispy edges and soft middles. Butter is browned for these to enhance the dough’s flavor, giving it a nutty taste and rounding out the dark chocolate.

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour 335g
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons sugar 45g
  • 10 tablespoons butter browned , 130g
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup heavy cream, plus 2 tablespoons 145g
  • 1 large egg
  • 100 g chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Do ahead! Brown 1 ½ sticks of butter (6oz or 170g). In a skillet, add the butter and cook on medium low until the butter stops sputtering and goes almost silent and you can see brown bits at the bottom. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and set in the fridge to chill until totally firm, at least an hour. For the scones you’ll need to weight out 130g,
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a pastry knife, cut in the cooled brown butter until the butter bits are kidney bean sized. Use your fingers to press the larger bits into a flat piece. Add the chocolate chips.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the vanilla, cream and egg. Pour it into the scone mixture and use a rubber spatula to mix it in. Then, using your hands, grab the dough and fold it over itself in the bowl, several times, until you can mostly form a ball. It will still be very dry and crumbly when you stop and it's ok if there are dry bits that don’t want to stick, press them in.
  • On a floured countertop, press the ball into a rectangular shape, then fold it over itself. If it’s resisting, use a rolling pin. Do this up to 3 times total, it will create lovely layers in the scone.
  • Press out the dough until it's just under 1 inch thick and use a bench scraper to slice rows and then triangles, they can be big or little but make sure they aren’t too thick or they’ll struggle to bake in the center.
  • Set the scones on a parchment lined cookie tray or, if baking more than 3 hours later, set them in an airtight container, in the freezer. Freeze until solid.
  • When you’re ready to bake (and eat!) preheat the oven to 400 F. Set the scones on a parchment lined cookie tray (it can be the same one used to freeze them). Keep them relatively close together, scones don’t spread as much as they rise and brush with heavy cream. Sprinkle with sugar if you like.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes (smaller scones bake quicker).
  • If you’d like to glaze them, wait until they are cool. Whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, a splash of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of milk until you have your desired consistency. Cream cheese tastes wonderful here (just 2 tablespoons will do, make sure it’s softened).

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