Best Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scone Recipe

This is the BEST peanut butter chocolate chip scone recipe… have you ever wanted to make the perfect melt in your mouth scone?  This is it!  These moist and flaky scones are energy boosters for breakfast, coffee break, or tea time.

This isn’t your proper English scone, for sure, but omg it’s a killer.  Maybe I should dub it an American style, scone, because it’s loaded with that all American duo, chocolate and creamy peanut butter.  After many many years of developing and baking scone recipes, I think I may have hit on my absolute favorite.  This one is soft and tender, and the peanut butter presence is just perfect.  It’s nice and sweet, but in a middle of the day sort of way.

This peanut butter chocolate chip scone literally melts in your mouth…and I’m not one of those people who use the word literally loosely ;)

I broke tradition with this peanut butter chocolate chip recipe…

If you know me you know I love pb and chocolate together.  Have you ever had my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies, or my Peanut Butter Frosted Brownies?  And while I usually like to use regular homogenized pb like Jiff in baking, for these scones I actually prefer a drippy, natural peanut butter.  As for the chips?  I broke tradition again and used milk chocolate.  Dark is my usual preferred chocolate, but milk chocolate makes these scones utterly perfect.

Scones should always be served warm, if you ask me.  

Scones are always best fresh out of the oven, but if you’re eating one the next day, I love to microwave it for about 20 – 30 seconds to ‘reactivate’ its texture.  That short time in the microwave makes them soft and steamy and wonderful.  In this case it also makes the chocolate chips go all molten again.  I.    love.    scones.

I had every intention of making a drizzle or glaze for these scones, but after one bite I knew they didn’t need a thing except maybe a glass of milk or a cup of coffee.  They’re absolutely perfect.  

Follow the instructions exactly and then let me know what you think.  Scratch that, I already know what you’ll think ;)

Why do I use cornstarch in my peanut butter chocolate chip scone recipe?

• Cornstarch is the secret ingredient if you want to bake tender scones.
• The cornstarch plus flour in this recipe mimics the use of cake flour. (Yup ~ cake flour is simply flour that has cornstarch added to it.)  
• Cornstarch does not contain gluten, and so lightens the dough and makes for a soft, tender scone.
• I always have cornstarch in the cupboard and use it often for baking shortbread and scones.  

The best (and a little controversial!) method for making high rise flaky scones ~

• I swear by the food processor method, it makes scones quick, easy, mess free, and perfect every time.  It’s the same way I make my pie dough, too.
• I pulse the dry ingredients together to combine.
• I drop in cubes of cold butter and pulse until fully incorporated and ‘sandy’ in texture.
• I add the liquid and pulse/run the machine just until the dough comes together.
• I fold in any add-ins by hand.
• I shape the dough into a disk, then refrigerate it while I clean up and preheat the oven.  
• Then I’ll slice it into triangles, and bake up the flakiest scones ever!

How to make fresh scones ahead of time ~

Yes, you can refrigerate your scone dough overnight in the fridge, and bake it up fresh in the morning…

• After you’ve formed your scone dough into a disk, wrap it up tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
• In the morning preheat your oven before removing the dough from the fridge, you want it to stay cold.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment, place the disk on top, and slice it into 8 triangles with a large sharp knife.
• Bake as directed. 

How to freeze and thaw baked scones ~

Maybe you’re just one or two in your house, or maybe you have no self control, but freezing scones is a handy thing and luckily these freeze beautifully.

• The best way to freeze scones is to wrap them individually.  
• Let them cool completely.  Then wrap each one in plastic wrap, and then in foil.  
• They’ll be great for 3 months.  
• To defrost, just remove the package from the freezer and let thaw on the counter. To prevent any condensation from making the outside of your scone soggy you can unwrap it.  I usually don’t bother.  
• You can zap the thawed scone in the microwave for about 20 seconds, or until warm throughout.  Some people prefer to rewrap loosely in foil and set in a 300F oven for 5-10 minutes.

How to freeze and cook unbaked scones ~

• Set the unbaked scones on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze until solid, about an hour.
• Wrap each scone in plastic wrap, then stash in heavy duty freezer bags, pushing out any extra air before zipping.  Label with the date.
• The scones will last one month.
• To bake, remove from the freezer, unwrap, and set on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Preheat the oven.  By the time the oven is preheated, the scones will be partially softened.  Bake as usual, perhaps adding a few extra minutes if necessary.

These scones are so rich and delicious they don’t need anything else with them, no butter, no clotted cream, no nothing.  But if you’re a scone type of person you might be interested to see my Homemade Clotted Cream recipe, and my new Instant Pot Clotted Cream recipe, they’re both awesome for serving with all the rest of your scones ;)

One of my favorite challenges in the world of food photography is to capture in an image what you can expect to experience in your mouth.  I think you can see in these photos how tender these scones are…just look at those lovely cracks!  Never trust a scone that’s completely smooth :)

Reader Rave ~

“I rated this 5 stars, yum! I’ve never made scones before, this recipe turned out perfectly for me. Luckily I have 5 kids to share them with or I would eat all of them! The only thing that I had to change was the baking time for me was closer to 20 minutes. I will definitely make these again.”  ~ Tina

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3.63 from 40 votes

Epic Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

Course breakfast or tea time pastry

Cuisine British/American

Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Yield 8

Equipment

• food processor (optional)

Ingredients

dry ingredients

• 2 cups or 250 grams all purpose flour fluff the flour before scooping and leveling
• 1/4 cup or 30 grams cornstarch
• 1/2 cup or 110 grams sugar
• 3/4 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

butter

• 1/2 cup or 113 grams cold unsalted butter 1 stick cut in pieces

wet ingredients

• 1/2 cup or 117 grams heavy cream
• 1/2 cup or 125 grams natural style creamy peanut butter

chocolate

• 1 cup or 176 grams milk chocolate chips

Instructions

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Put the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade and pulse to combine.
• Add the pieces of cold butter and pulse about 25-30 times to get the butter really incorporated in small bits. The mixture will be sandy.
• Measure out the heavy cream in a glass measuring cup and then pour in the peanut butter to make 1 cup.
• Add the wet ingredients to the processor and pulse/process just until the dough comes together in a lump or lumps.
• Turn out into a bowl and fold in the chocolate chips, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a smooth 7-8 inch disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for an hour to an hour and a half.
• Preheat the oven to 400F
• Slice the chilled dough into 8 scones with a large, sharp knife, and place on the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between scones. Bake for about 15 minutes until the scones are firm and baked through. Look closely at the cracks in the top of the scone, if they look wet inside, bake a little longer. Don't over bake. Note: you can place the scones closer together in a ring shape if you like the sides to cook into each other, pull-apart style...this makes a softer scone.
• Let cool on a rack for a bit before devouring.

Notes

These scones are quick to prepare, but do require an hour to an hour and a half of chilling for optimum rise and flakiness.

Check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer.  It should be right at 400F when you slide your scones in.  If your scones seem to be browning too quickly, tent loosely with foil.  This high temperature helps to give the scones a high rise, but if you know your oven runs hot you can reduce the temperature by 25 degrees.