These sweet cream scones are flavored with espresso and studded with dark chocolate chunks—perfect with your morning coffee or your afternoon tea.

Whether you enjoy these scones with coffee or with tea or dollops of thick clotted cream, these espresso chocolate chip scones are sure to please!

Tasked with baking two dozen scones for a tea-party themed gathering, I was stuck as to just what flavor I should make (because you should know me well enough to know that plain-ass scones just won’t do). Mired with indecision, I took it to my trusty facebook group for a vote.

As the day wore on a clear winner emerged: espresso chocolate chip. Cherry chocolate chip was a close second (perhaps I’ll make those next!)

Decision made, I adapted my favorite apricot thumbprint scones, adding a bit more flour so I could more easily shape them into wedges. With a little (ok, a lotta) espresso powder and a hearty dose of chopped dark chocolate, I’d say this recipe is a winner!

(OK, so… lest you think everything I bake comes out perfect… I fully admit to completely forgetting the sugar in my first batch. Luckily I taste tested before delivering them to the party, otherwise I’d never get invited to anything else, ever. It’s only 1/2 cup, these really aren’t overly sweet scones, but trust me when I say it’s really noticeable without the sugar. So, yeah. Lesson learned.)

These are cream scones, meaning they’re made with little more than flour and heavy cream. No butter or buttermilk here!

Personally I much prefer the even sweetness and tender texture of a cream scone. I find cream scones to be lighter and fluffier, so if you tend to think of scones as dry, dense pucks, I suggest giving this recipe a try—you’ll be shocked at the difference! (That said, if you love butter and buttermilk scones, give this strawberry almond scone recipe a try—it’s anything but dry!)

No butter also means these scones come together lickety split, with just a fork and your hands—no finicky pastry cutter or food processor necessary.

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