Dark Chocolate Cranberry Scones are studded with chocolate chips and dried cranberries. These make a great breakfast or addition to your tea party menu! I especially like them for the holidays and Valentine's Day.
I made these scones for a tea party with my girls many years ago. I used my mini scone pan, which is perfect for tea parties where there are many different sweets to try.
Another way to make them is to cut them into wedges and space them out on a parchment lined baking sheet like I did with the Blueberry Scones.
The original recipe has a chocolate glaze which looks amazing, but I chose to eliminate it to avoid the mess with the kids, and I didn't want the scones overly sweet since they were for the scone course, not the dessert.
While these would be delicious anytime of year, I made them around Valentine's Day. They would also be great during quintessential cranberry season, around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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Make the Dough
First, the dry ingredients are combined in a large bowl.
Then the butter is cut into the dry ingredients, then tossed with the dried cranberries and dark chocolate. I highly recommend Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips.
The wet ingredients are whisked together in a separate bowl, then slowly added to the dry ingredients until just mixed.
Bring the dough together on a floured surface using a bench scraper if necessary.
Prepare the Scones for Baking
For mini scones, spray the mini scone pan with a baking spray that contains flour. Divide the dough into thirds. Take two of the portions and press the dough evenly into the wells of the pan. The remaining third will be baked in the next round in half of the pan.
For regular sized scones, divide the dough into portions. Shape each into a disc. Cut each disc like a pizza into 6 wedges. Arrange the wedges on a parchment lined baking sheet.
For either type of scone, brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake the Scones
For mini scones, bake until the scones are light brown and baked through, about 9 to 12 minutes.
For regular sized scones, bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove scones from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Gluten Free Option
Substitute a gluten free measure-for-measure flour, like Bob's Red Mill, in place of the all purpose flour. Note that the scones may be slightly drier and more crumbly with gluten free flour.
Other Scone Recipes
Classic Cream Scones
Blueberry Scones
Dark Chocolate Chip Scones
Skinny Chocolate Chip Scones
Cheddar Dill Scones
Pumpkin Scones
Cheddar Bay Biscuits
📖 Recipe
Dark Chocolate Cranberry Scones
Equipment
- 1 mini scone pan
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter (1 stick, chilled and cut into ¼-inch cubes)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- ¾ cup bittersweet chocolate chips (recommended: Ghirardelli)
For the topping:
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
Make the dough:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender or a fork, until crumbs the size of peas form.
- Toss the cranberries and chocolate with the dry ingredient mixture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently fold together with a rubber spatula until dough just forms. Do not overmix.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and bring it together with your hands.
If using a mini scone pan:
- Spray with cooking spray containing flour (or grease with shortening and dust with flour per pan instructions). Press dough evenly into the wells of the pan.
If making regular sized scones:
- Divide the dough into two equal portions. Flatten each portion into a disc. Cut each disc into 6 even wedges.
- Arrange the wedges on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake the scones:
- Brush the top with heavy cream. Sprinkle with the sugar, if using.
- For mini scones, bake until the scones are light brown and baked through, about 9 to 12 minutes. For regular sized scones, bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Remove scones from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
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