Dark Chocolate Raspberry Scones

These Dark Chocolate Raspberry Scones are so full of flavor, perfectly sweet and delicious on their own! They are so soft and even moist (no dry scones here!) and jeweled with fresh raspberries, vanilla and morsels of dark chocolate in every bite. I top them with a bright fresh raspberry glaze and they are just so beautiful and will impress any guests you have for brunch! If you love scones, make sure you also check out my Glazed Lemon Blueberry Scones that are made with lemon curd baked right in!

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE:

• Soft and tender texture - this recipe makes very soft, moist and tender scones. They are certainly not dry!
• Dark chocolate chips - bits of melty dark chocolate make these taste like dessert and they are so delicious while warm.
• Fresh raspberry scones - fresh raspberries burst with flavor and pair with dark chocolate so well. Check my tip below for how to ensure the raspberries don't mash up completely into the dough.
• "Cool" butter - you don't need to work too hard to make these because there's no need to work stone cold butter into the flour. Cool butter mixes in easily and also makes the softest texture. You can read the details about why in the "Expert Baking Tips" section below. Butter that is cold will just melt out of the scones and we want the butter blended right in to soften the texture. Cold butter is for pastry that is baked until crisp and browned when the layers of flour toast up between layer of butter. In a scone dough, the flour will taste raw if it is not over-baked, and then they will stale quickly since the flour is not protected by fat.
• Bright fresh raspberry glaze - the glaze is optional but it adds another element of tartness and sweetness, and it is also so pretty from the natural color pigments in raspberries!

INGREDIENTS

• All purpose flour - regular unbleached all-purpose flour will work fine in this recipe because I use soft butter. If you want an extra tender scone, you can use half cake & pastry flour which has a lower protein content (high starch content) and finer particle size.
• Granulated sugar - simple granulated sugar keeps these scones moist and helps develop the golden top. You also don't need a lot of sugar to make scones because they are meant to be just lightly sweet.
• Baking powder - make sure it is fresh. Scones use quite a lot of baking powder as it is the only leavening agent that will give rise to them and help create a tender texture.
• Unsalted butter - I like to make scones with unsalted butter for a smooth creamy taste. You can still make this recipe with salted butter, but then reduce the added salt by half.
• Eggs - one large egg will add nice structure and help with the moist spongy texture.

• Raspberries - I only recommend fresh raspberries for scones, and then flash freeze them for just 30 minutes to firm them up. This helps to prevent them from mashing up into the dough ask you incorporate them. However, fully frozen berries can bleed and cause grey streaks in the dough. They will also be more shriveled so you won't get a nice juicy pop of berry. You can use it if it is all you have access too, I just wouldn't recommend it for best results. If you do use frozen berries, do not thaw them.
• Sour cream - this adds rich dairy notes and tanginess, while also adding fat to contribute further to tenderness. You can also substitute with full fat Greek yogurt.
• Dark chocolate - use any chocolate chips that you prefer, but these dark chocolate chips melt so nicely into the dough.
• Milk - you can use whole milk or light cream to make these.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• STEP 1). Blend dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
• STEP 2). Blend in butter. Add butter and rub it in with your fingertips or use a hand mixer until it resembles coarse crumbs and it is well incorporated. Make sure there are no large lumps of butter.
• STEP 3). Combine wet ingredients. Whisk together milk, egg and sour cream in a small bowl.
• STEP 4). Combine wet and dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Fold together gently using a spatula until just moistened enough to come together.
• STEP 5). Mix in berries. Add the chocolate chips and raspberries and fold them in. Do not over-mix. The dough will be quite soft and sticky but resist adding more flour.

• STEP 6). Form the dough. Generously dust your work surface with flour and turn the mixture out onto it. Fold it over just once or twice (max!) - do not knead. Sprinkle the soft sticky dough with more flour and pat it down so it is 8 inches by 6 inches pressing in loose bits as necessary. Brush off excess flour with a pastry brush and then cut into 8 pieces.
• STEP 7). Brush with milk. Transfer each scone to a parchment lined baking tray and brush tops lightly with milk.
• STEP 8). Bake for 5 minutes. Lower oven temperature and continue baking for until evenly golden on top and on the bottom. Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool before adding the glaze.
• STEP 9). Make the glaze. Mash the raspberries until smooth, then add powdered sugar and cream in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. It should be opaque pink and quite thick but thin enough to drizzle. Spoon it generously over each scones. Let it set for about 14 minutes and enjoy!

EXPERT BAKING TIPS

• Blend in the butter. We're not making pastry, we're making scones so we don't want lumps or "pea-sized" pieces of butter in the flour. You want the butter to be evenly incorporated into the flour so that it coats the flour particles and becomes evenly dispersed for a soft, tender texture.
• Use "cool" butter. This is probably the opposite of what you have seen in most scone recipes that require cold butter... specifically "rub the cold butter into the flour so it is the size of small peas". Leaving cold butter in bits in the scone dough will leave you with flaky yet dry scones. That is not for me. Cool butter (not warm and seeping, but not straight from the fridge) that is incorporated evenly into the flour coats the flour particles and protects the proteins from hydrating and developing gluten which is what makes scones dry and tough. Using soft butter will give you such a nice fluffy texture.
• Do not over-mix the dough. Once the flour is mostly combined (with a few light streaks), then the dough is ready for patting and folding. Just flour the dough and use your hands in a cupped shape to bring the dough together and pat it out into a rectangle. You can fold it over itself once or twice, but do not knead!
• Flash freeze the berries. When using fresh raspberries, they are very soft and will mash into the dough as you mix and leach water into the dough to ruin the texture of the scones. To prevent this, place the berries on a lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer for 30 minutes just to firm them up.
• Fold the berries in gently. Mixing too vigorously will cause juices from the berries to bleed and can cause the batter to turn grey.
• Brush with milk before baking. This will prevent them from drying out excessively and also helps promote a nice golden brown top. That's because the milk proteins react with the milk sugars in a process called "Maillard browning" to create a brown color and caramel-like flavors.

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