Chocolate Chip-Toffee Scones - Fresh Cream Cafe

Forget everything you know about dry, crumbly scones. These are the kind you find at that one bakery where the line wraps around the block.

The trick is whipped heavy cream folded straight into the flour mixture instead of cutting in cold butter. It sounds unconventional, but the result is a scone that’s impossibly tender with just enough structure to hold pockets of melty chocolate chips, crunchy toffee bits, and toasted walnuts.

Brushed with melted butter and a sparkle of sugar before baking, they come out golden and shatteringly crisp on the outside while staying soft within.

Pro Tips

• Whip the cream to stiff peaks before folding. Under-whipped cream makes a sticky dough that’s hard to handle and produces flat scones.
• Toast your walnuts first. Five minutes in a dry skillet transforms them from bland to nutty and fragrant. It makes a real difference here.
• Don’t overknead. Two minutes of gentle kneading is all you need. Work the dough too much and you lose all that flaky tenderness.
• Serve them warm. These are at their absolute peak straight from the oven when the chocolate is still gooey and the toffee is sticky-sweet.

Variations

• Swap walnuts for pecans or macadamia nuts for a different crunch.
• Replace toffee bits with chopped Heath bars or Skor bars for bigger toffee pockets.
• Add 1 teaspoon of espresso powder to the dry ingredients for a mocha twist.