Ready for a truly special treat?  These Hazelnut Chocolate scones are simply amazing.  They’re chock full of toasted hazelnuts and sugar free dark chocolate chips.  Every bite is an indulgence without any guilt, because they’re gluten free, dairy free, and, best of all, sugar free. 

This recipe is based off of my classic Scones recipe which is also gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free.  This variation for Hazelnut Chocolate scones is inspired by a recipe in Sarah Clelland’s lovely and charming Book of Scones.  I recommend checking it out especially if you’re a fan of British history and landmarks.  Each recipe includes a brief history of a different landmark through the UK, and the drawings of the scones are beautifully drawn.

Hazelnuts and chocolate are a famous combination, but they’re often combined in candies and spreads that are full of sugar and all kinds of things that I can’t eat.  In this scone recipe, you get all of the delicious flavor of toasted hazelnuts mixed with chocolate but in a version that you can feel good about eating.

The trick here is to grind the hazelnuts and the chocolate chips together in a food processor before adding them to the dry ingredients for the scones.  This helps to release some of the hazelnuts’ oils and to break down the chocolate chips so that the results is a paste of hazelnuts and chocolate chips. 

A note on the chocolate chips: I use Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips, but there are so many great brands of chocolate chips out there with all different kinds of natural sweeteners.  Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips have erythritol in them which is a High FODMAP ingredient.  For me, they’re okay in small amounts in baked goods, but as always, know your body and use what works for you. 

These scones are wonderful for breakfast or with your mid-morning tea or coffee.  I don’t mean to gush, but I love them so much.  I hope you enjoy them, too!

Why You’ll LOVE this Recipe:

• Gluten Free
• Dairy Free
• Sugar Free
• Amazing hazelnut and chocolate flavor combination

Ingredients for Hazelnut Chocolate Scones:

• Hazelnuts
• Chocolate chips
• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• baking powder
• salt
• Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
• eggs
• egg yolk
• liquid stevia
• coconut milk

Notes on Ingredients:

Hazelnuts, toasted – Even if you buy hazelnuts that are already roasted, I find that giving them a quick toast in the oven brings out their flavor even more.  Toasting them also helps to get more of the skins off, which isn’t a total necessity but it’s nice if it happens.

Chocolate chips – Use the best sugar free chocolate chips you can find.  I like Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips.

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour - Scones have a lot of flour.  That’s what makes them dense and crumbly in all the right ways.  I have tried a lot of different mixes of gluten free flours over the years, and I have found that Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour works the best.  It’s easy to find and easy to use, and I’m always one for efficiency.

Baking powder - What gives a scone those distinctive layers and the incredible rise is a ton of baking powder.  Too much, though, and it can turn your baked goods bitter.  A lot of British recipes call for “Self-Rising Flour” which has baking powder already mixed in.  That’s not available in the U.S., so I need to add the baking powder separately from the flour.  I have found that 6 teaspoons is just the right amount.

Salt - Salt not only gives baked goods flavor, but it brings out the flavors of the other ingredients.  It’s like the best back-up singer in the pantry.

Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks - These vegan buttery sticks have a very neutral taste and work perfectly for delicate, tender scones.  They’re also lower in cholesterol than most other fats which is a win-win. 

Eggs - Eggs are the binder in this recipe, and they’re also providing fat, creating those biscuity layers of delicious, fluffy delight.

Egg yolk – Adding just one extra egg yolk gives the scones enough binding and structure to hold them together without being stiff and stodgy.  This one egg yolk makes the scones work without any added sweetener aside from stevia.

Liquid stevia - This is the only sweetener in this recipe.  It’s all that’s needed.

Coconut milk - Coconut milk works best of any liquid I have tried for this recipe.  Coconut milk has a high fat content, and fat makes baked goods more tender.  That’s what we want here, because without that extra fat, there’s a risk of scones being too dry.  With the right amount of fat, the result is a scone that is tender and soft but still just crumbly enough. 

How to Make Hazelnut Chocolate Scones From Scratch

First of all, preheat your oven to 425 F.  Go ahead and toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet for about 5-8 minutes.  Be careful not to let them burn.  Remove them from the oven and let them cool before putting them in the food processor.

Process the Hazelnuts with the Chocolate Chips

Put the hazelnuts in the food processor.  Process them until they’re ground down to small, coarse bits but not so much that they turn into a paste.  Add the chocolate chips and process them with the hazelnuts until the chocolate chips have broken down into smaller bits and have started to bind with the hazelnuts to make a rough paste.

Mix the Dry Ingredients

Now, in a large bowl, use a whisk to mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Next, you’re going to rub the Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks into the flour mixture.  You can use a pastry cutter, but I’m all for simplicity, and I prefer to use my hands.  If you have little ones helping you in the kitchen, this a terrific activity for building strength in their hands which improves their fine motor skills.  Rub the Earth Balance in until you don’t see large chunks of it anymore and the flour mixture resembles coarse, wet sand.

Mix the Wet Ingredients

In a separate bowl, whisk together the 2 whole eggs, the 1 egg yolk, the liquid stevia, and the coconut milk.  Set aside 2 Tbsp. of this liquid mixture to use as the egg wash later.  Don’t forget to do this, because it really makes a difference.

Combine the Wet and Dry Ingredients

Now, pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and use either a mixing spoon or your hands to incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  I usually start with a spoon and then switch to my hands.  You really just want to mix everything together until it’s just combined.  You don’t want to overwork the dough.  Even though we’re not using a flour with gluten, we still don’t want to the dough to be overworked.  Easy does it. 

Shape the Disk

Put a handful of gluten free flour on a cutting board and turn the dough out onto the cutting board.  Add just enough flour so that they dough holds together and you can form it into a disk. 

This is very important.  Don’t make the disk too thin.  Gluten free dough will NOT rise as much as regular flour with gluten.  So if you want a nice, tall scone, you have to make the disk tall, too.  I make my disk about 2 inches thick.  Make the sides even and tall, too, so that you get the most scones you can out of the first cutting.  Each time you have to reshape the dough, you will lose some of the layers, so it’s ideal to cut as many scones out in the first round as possible.

Cut Out the Scones and Bake

Get your baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat mat ready.  Get out your scone cutter and start cutting out scones. 

*Pro tip: Do not twist the cutter at all or you will lose the crenellated edges and you will squish the layers.  Just press the cutter down and pull the cutter straight up again. 

Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet.  Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the scones with the milk mixture that you set aside earlier.  This will give the scones a shiny golden top and also holds the top of the scone together so it doesn’t crack too much in the oven.

Note: This recipe makes 13 scones – more than my classic Scones recipe.  That’s because we added a lot of bulk with the hazelnuts and chocolate chip mixture. 

Bake the scones in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let them cool. 

These scones are delicious while warm, so once they’re cool enough to handle, enjoy them. 

Scones will keep for about 2-3 days in an airtight container on the counter.

More Sugar Free & Gluten Free Scones Recipes:

• Classic Scones - Sugar Free Gluten Free Dairy Free
• Lemon Scones - Sugar Free Gluten Free Dairy Free
• Cherry Almond Scones - Sugar Free Gluten Free Dairy Free