I Made Ina Garten’s Chocolate Pecan Scones—and I Can’t Wait to Make Them Again

When it comes to simple, flavorful food that will help your guests feel right at home, no one does entertaining like Ina Garten. She makes the perfect roast chicken to serve at dinner parties, cool salads for summer gatherings and elegant desserts like coconut cake.

Here’s another one of the Barefoot Contessa’s favorite recipes: Chocolate Pecan Scones . It’s perfect for brunch or to serve with afternoon tea. The scones are tender and loaded with chocolaty flavor, plus they’re a cinch to make!

A Note on the Salt

In her recipe, Ina Garten calls specifically for Diamond kosher salt. Because this is a very coarse salt with large flakes, she can get away with using 4 teaspoons and have her scones taste perfect. But if you try to use this much Morton kosher salt or table salt (which have smaller crystals,) your scones will taste way too salty.

Use Diamond kosher salt if you can—otherwise, see the Tips below the recipe to learn how to convert your salt.

How to Make Ina Garten’s Chocolate Pecan Scones

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

Ina Garten’s recipe will make 16-20 scones.

Ingredients

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

• 8 ounces (about 1-1/2 cups) coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate, like Lindt or Ghirardelli
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons plus 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for dusting
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 4 teaspoons Diamond kosher salt (If you don’t have Diamond kosher, see the Tips below.)
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 cup cold heavy cream
• 4 extra large eggs, lightly whisked
• 1 extra large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or cream, for the egg wash

Directions

Step 1: Make the filling

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stir together the chopped chocolate, pecans and 3 tablespoons of flour in a medium bowl. Hold this aside.

Step 2: Combine butter with dry ingredients

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

Mix together the baking powder, salt, sugar and 4 cups of flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the cubes of butter; run the mixer on low speed until the butter is processed into pea-sized pieces.

Step 3: Add wet ingredients and the filling

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

Add the cream to the beaten eggs and stir to combine them. Pour the cream-egg mixture into the mixer bowl, and run it on low speed to blend it with the butter mixture, just until they come together. Stir in the chocolate-nut mixture. (The dough will be very sticky.)

Step 4: Cut out scones

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, and sprinkle more flour over the dough. Use your hands to knead the dough a few times so the nuts and chocolate are evenly distributed. If possible, wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before rolling.

Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough to 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick. (Pieces of butter will be visible in the dough—that’s OK.) Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut scones from the dough; place them on the lined baking sheet. Reroll the scraps; cut out more scones.

Brush the tops with egg wash. You can also add a sprinkle of sugar if you’d like.

Step 5: Bake

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

Place the pans in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. The scones should be puffed and lightly browned on the tops. Serve the scones while they’re still warm or at room temperature.

Here’s What I Thought

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

These scones are buttery, tender and wonderful to eat. They have the lightest sweetness in the dough, just enough to pair well with the bittersweet chocolate and toasty pecans. The recipe is easy enough to make for breakfast or brunch any day. Enjoy the scones served with butter at room temperature or warmed for just a minute in a toaster oven.

Tips for Making Scones Like Ina

• The recipe called for 4 teaspoons of Diamond kosher salt. If you’re using Morton kosher or table salt, you have two options: use a kitchen scale to weigh out 12 grams of salt. Or, reduce the amount as follows:
  • Morton kosher salt: 2-1/2 teaspoons
  • Table salt: 2 teaspoons
• The recipe makes a lot of dough. It completely filled my 4-1/2 quart stand mixer! If you have a smaller mixer, consider cutting the recipe in half to keep it manageable.
• I added an extra step to Ina’s recipe to chill the scone dough for 30 minutes before cutting and baking. This helps the scones bake up taller and lighter.

For another one of Ina’s pecan dessert recipes, try out one of her favorite Thanksgiving desserts—bourbon chocolate pecan pie!