These chocolate chip sourdough scones are so tender and buttery on the inside and you'll fall in love with the crumbly, golden brown edges
This is a great recipe to use with your sourdough discard and we provide step-by-step instructions for you to follow!
Sourdough scones are a great way to use your sourdough starter discard. I love to save my discard to make these scones and other baked goods like, sourdough banana nut muffins and sourdough discard crackers.
If you've never had a scone before, the texture is kind of like a cross between a cookie and cake. A crumbly, golden brown outside with a soft center. It's the best of both worlds!
The recipe is made of basic ingredients like butter, flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, heavy cream and vanilla extract. So more than likely, you've got what you need to bake a batch!
Let's bake some scones!
Step by step instructions
These sourdough scones are so easy to make. Let's dive straight into the details!
- Make sure to put stick of butter in freezer ahead of time for best results!
1. To a mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and whisk to combine. Use a cheese grater to grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture. Use a fork to cut the butter into the flour until it forms pea size crumbles. Toss in the chocolate chips.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, sourdough discard, heavy cream and vanilla extract.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a fork to combine. Dump the dough onto a clean work surface. (The dough will seem dry and clumpy but resist the urge to add more liquid) Use your hands to press the dough together and shape into an 8" disc.
4. Cut into 8 wedges and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Remove the baking sheet from the fridge, brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until the scones are golden brown.
Tips for success
To make sure these scones keep their shape, make sure you chill the wedges for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Scones can be assembled the night before and kept covered in the fridge for a quick breakfast. (Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle sugar, right before baking.)
The heavy cream can be substituted with milk or half and half with no problems.
Butter should be frozen for best results, but cold butter out of the fridge will work in a pinch. Use a cheese grater to create small ribbons of butter. This makes it easy to cut the flour into the butter with a pastry cutter or a bench scraper.
Don't have a kitchen scale to measure flour?
Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
Because flour is measured by weight in these recipes, if the flour is scooped straight out of the bag with the measuring cup, there will be more flour than is called for in the recipe.
Tips for baking in warm and/or high humidity areas - When baking in high humidity and/or warmer areas, it's often a good practice to use less water and bake a little longer than the recipe calls for. Reduce the water by 25 grams in the initial mix and then slowly add the remaining water until you achieve the correct hydration level. You may need to bake the scones a few minutes longer. This will take some trial and error!
How to store and freeze leftovers
Store leftover scones in an air-tight container on the counter for up to 4 days.
To freeze baked scones, let them cool completely and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to eat, let thaw at room temperature. You can heat them up in the microwave for about 30 seconds if you want to eat them warm!
To freeze unbaked scones, cut the scones out and arrange them on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze them on the sheet until they are solid and then transfer them to resealable bags and freeze for up to 3 months.
Bake the scones direct from frozen but add an extra 2-3 minutes baking time.
Other sourdough discard recipes you might like to try:
We hope you enjoy these chocolate chip sourdough scones as much as we do!
Make sure to rate this recipe and leave a comment below! We'd love to hear from you!
Chocolate Chip Sourdough Scones Recipe
INGREDIENTS
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 teaspoons (250 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter (frozen or very cold)
- 1 cup (180 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup (125 g) sourdough starter discard
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) heavy cream (milk or half and half can be used)
Topping
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) heavy cream (milk or half and half can be used)
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) sanding sugar (coarse sugar)
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together. Use a cheese grater to grate the butter into the bowl. Toss the grated butter with the flour mixture with a fork to coat and separate the pieces of butter. Cut the flour into the butter using a pastry cutter or a bench scraper until the mixture comes together in pea size crumbs. Add the chocolate chips to the mixture and stir.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the starter, egg, vanilla extract and heavy cream until smooth. Pour into the dry ingredients and use a fork to gently mix. The dough will be crumbly, resist the urge to add more liquid.
- Dump the dough onto a clean work surface and use your hands to press and shape the dough into an 8" disc shape. (Use a small amount of flour if needed to help it from sticking to the surface.)
- Cut the dough into 8 wedges using a bench scraper or a large knife. Arrange the wedges onto a parchment lined baking sheet with space in between each wedge. Place the baking sheet in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Brush the top of the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the scones are golden brown. Remove and serve warm.
NOTES
- Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
- Tips for baking in warm and/or high humidity areas - When baking in high humidity and/or warmer areas, it's often a good practice to use less liquid and bake a little longer than the recipe calls for. Reduce the liquid by 25 grams in the initial mix and then slowly add the remaining liquid until you achieve the correct hydration level. You may need to bake the scones a few minutes longer. This will take some trial and error!
- Store leftover scones in an air-tight container on the counter for up to 4 days.
- To freeze baked scones, let them cool completely and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Freeze up to 3 months. When ready to eat, let thaw at room temperature. You can heat them up in the microwave for about 30 seconds if you want to eat them warm.
- To freeze unbaked scones, cut the scones out and arrange them on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze them on the sheet until they are solid and then transfer them to resealable bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake the scones direct from frozen but add an extra 2-3 minutes baking time.
Helene says
This was my first time baking scones and they turned out absolutely amazing!!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I didn't change anything, except reduced slightly the amount of chocolate chips to 120g as that was the amount I had on hand.
Meghan says
Fantastic, this will probably be the only scone recipe I'll ever use. I did candied ginger and walnuts instead of choc. chips. I really had to resist adding more moisture, trust it if your discard is 100% hydration. Perfect scone.
Simone says
Amy, I can’t stop making these! I am still figuring out my starter schedule and keep putting it in the fridge because I run out of time to make bread, so then I need to dump and feed when I want to use it, which means I have discard...which means more scones! I have made cranberry ginger ones with chopped dried cranberries and crystallized ginger and I have made chocolate ones with some cocoa nibs added in for crunch. Thank you for all your recipes!
Judy says
Wonderful recipe! This was my first time making scones and I was very pleased with the results. Super easy, and quick enough that my 4-month-old didn’t get impatient until I was nearly finished. I only had about 3/4 cup of chocolate chips, but for my taste, that turned out to be the perfect amount. I uses 2% milk and it was totally fine. My niece said these scones were better than any she’s ever bought. I’ll definitely be making them regularly from now on. A+
Katie says
I have made these about 20 times since I first started sourdough baking this spring. Tried 2 other recipes and these are pretty close to perfect! Great texture and not too sweet.
Clarissa says
Super yummy!
Made it 2x in 1wk
Question about freezing. Can we freeze the dough before baking then just put them straight into the oven when we have a craving? Instead of freezing the baked product
Thanks!
M says
These are absolutely incredible. Once you make these, you won’t want to buy scones from a bakery. They don’t taste sour per se, but the starter seems to give them a unique flavor. Extremely moist and tender. I used chopped up bittersweet chocolate instead of chips. This gives a range of chocolate pieces, from big chunks to fine powder — tastes just like cookies ‘n cream!
Tammy says
I'm new to the sourdough game and these sourdough starter discard recipes are giving me life during these crazy times! I got distracted at the end and TOTALLY forgot to brush them with heavy cream and sugar, but they still came out amazing!! My whole family loved them. I cannot WAIT to try your other recipes!
Brooke says
Delicious and so easy! I had never made scones before but had some leftover starter and wanted to try my hand at baking scones. Googled and found this recipe. I'll use it as a base for blueberry scones next!
Just in case anyone runs into the issue - I didn't have baking powder on hand so subbed 1/2 two baking soda and added 1 tsp of ACV to the wet ingredients. Seemed to work just fine!
Thanks for the recipe!
Sally says
This is the only recipe I use for scones now. I have made them with many alterations (rhubarb, raisons, strawberries) and they always turn out fantastic. Thanks for such a great recipe.
Maura Neill says
I agree, I love this recipe, and have tried it with cranberry/chocolate chip mix and it was just amazing, and so tempting to each more than one piece!