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Author: Sally
Published: 02/16/2018Updated: 10/08/2021
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These birthday cake-inspired sweet scones are bursting with rainbow sprinkles as well as white and semisweet chocolate chips. Colorful rainbow sprinkle chip scones are buttery and moist with crisp, crumbly edges and soft, flaky centers. Creamy vanilla icing and sprinkles are the perfect finishing touches on these fun coffeehouse treats.
I have a master recipe for sconeswhich serves as the delicious base for several different flavors including strawberry lemon poppy seed scones,my favorite blueberry scones, chocolate chip scones, cinnamon scones,and apple cinnamon scones. Each scone seems better than the last, which brings us to these mouthwatering rainbow sprinkle chip scones. Adults and kids alike will love the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and rainbow sprinkles loaded in each bite. An ode to my popularcake batter chocolate chip cookies,no one will turn down these scrumptious scones!
Tell Me About These Rainbow Sprinkle Scones
- Texture: What you’ll love most about sprinkle scones is the varying texture in each bite. They’re soft and moist on the inside with crumbly corners, crisp edges, and endless layers of flaky goodness. The icing is extra creamy and seeps into every crack and crevice. (Might just be the best part.)
- Flavor: You’ll enjoy the birthday cake-inspired sweet and buttery flavors with pops of melty chocolate (eat while warm!).
- Ease: These scones are pretty simple and most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry. You’ll find a helpful video tutorial below. Although we’re making blueberry scones in the video, the process and base recipe are exactly the same.
- Time: Set aside a little less than an hour to make these sprinkle scones. You can make them before breakfast for fresh warm scones or make them ahead of time (see Note below).
Video Tutorial
If you’re interested, I have a 5 minute video demonstrating the scone recipe. I’m making blueberry sconesin this video, but the base recipe and process is exactly the same.
Here are 6 Success Tips
- Use frozen butter. As your sprinkle-loaded scones bake, frozen butter will melt and release steam, which creates all those signature pockets of flakes. Butter that hasn’t been frozen could melt before the batter makes it into the oven and you’ll lose all that flaky texture. Best to start with the coldest butter possible.
- Grate the butter. Fine shreds of cold butter make for an even mix into the dry ingredients (check out my scones page for more detail if you’re interested). If you don’t own a grater, simply use a sharp knife to cut the butter into small pieces.
- Use heavy cream or buttermilk. As you may have caught on by now, scones are all about texture. Either heavy cream or buttermilk work wonderfully in this recipe and promise the richest, flakiest scone. Don’t substitute low fat or thinner milk/cream.
- Don’t over-mix the dough. After you add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix until just combined. Just like pie crust, over-mixing the scone dough results in a tough and uniform texture. (We want varying textures.)
- Big or small. This scone recipe yields 8 large scones or 16 smaller scones. We’re showing small scones in these photos, but the size you make is entirely up to you. Shape the dough into 1 large disc or 2 smaller discs depending on your preferred size. Just remember they puff up in the oven, so leave enough space between each scone.
- Give the scones a brush. Brush the scones with extra heavy cream or buttermilk, then sprinkle with a little coarse sugar before baking. This ensures that sweet, crisp exterior.
Start your day with these scones and end it with confetti cake or confetti sprinkle cheesecake for dessert. Because you can never have too many sprinkles in one day 🙂
More Breakfast or Brunch Recipes
- Star Bread
- Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- Breakfast Pastries
- Crumb Cake Donuts
- Homemade Crepes
Rainbow Sprinkle Chip Scones
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 9 reviews
- Author: Sally
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 large scones or 16 smaller scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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Description
Iced, crumbly, and sweet sprinkle chip scones with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and plenty of sprinkles. Top with thick vanilla icing for an extra breakfast treat. Read through the recipe before beginning. You can skip the chilling for 15 minutes prior to baking, but I highly recommend it to prevent the scones from over-spreading.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (), plus more for hands and work surface
- 1/2 cup (100g)granulated sugar
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoonsbaking powder
- 1/2 teaspoonsalt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream(plus 2 Tbsp for brushing)
- 1 large egg
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but tasty!)
- 1/2 cup (90g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup (80g) rainbow sprinkles
Vanilla Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2–3 Tablespoons (30-45ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt, if desired
Instructions
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter using a box grater. Add it to the flour mixture and combine with a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. See video above for a closer look at the texture. Place in the refrigerator or freezer as you mix the wet ingredients together.
- Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and sprinkles, then mix together until everything appears moistened.
- Pour onto the counter and, with floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add 1-2 more Tablespoons heavy cream. Press into an 8-inch disc and, with a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges. To make smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 equal wedges.
- Brush scones with remaining heavy cream. (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.)
- Place scones on a plate or lined baking sheet (if your fridge has space!) and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Line 1 or 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat(s). If making mini scones, use 2 baking sheets. After refrigerating, arrange scones 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
- Bake the larger scones for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. If you made 16 smaller scones, bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes as you prepare the icing.
- Make the icing: Whisk the icing ingredients together. Add little more confectioners’ sugar to thicken or more milk/cream to thin out. Taste and add a pinch of salt if desired. Dunk each warm scone in the icing or drizzle on top. You can finish the scones with a few more sprinkles on top, too.
- Leftover iced or un-iced scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Freeze Before Baking: Freeze scone dough wedges on a plate or baking sheet for 1 hour. Once relatively frozen, you can layer them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time. Or thaw overnight, then bake as directed.
- Freeze After Baking: Freeze the baked and cooled scones before topping with icing. I usually freeze in a freezer-friendly bag or container. To thaw, leave out on the counter for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds or on a baking sheet in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes. When ready to serve, top with lemon icing.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare scones through step 3. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Continue with the recipe the following day.
- Special Tools (affiliate links):Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Box Grater |Pastry Cutter | Bench Scraper |Baking Sheet |Silpat Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush
- Over-spreading: Start with very cold scone dough. Expect some spread, but if the scones are over-spreading as they bake, remove from the oven and press back into its triangle shape (or whatever shape) using a rubber spatula.
