Chocolate chip cookies are such wonderful things that I feel lucky, at times, to have a child in the house as an excuse to consider them every bit as much a staple of existence as milk or bread.

Of course, the having of a child often deprives me of the time needed to make these little gems. And sometimes -- the day after Halloween, say, when his treat-sack is bursting with goodies -- there's no way even I can pretend that it's my son who needs a batch of warm homemade cookies.

And sometimes, when it's just for me, I frankly can't wait as long as a batch of cookies would take to bake.

Which is one reason I'm grateful for cream scones.

These are scones that have cream, rather than buttermilk and butter, as their base. That means that there is no tedious waiting about for butter to soften, and no forcible persuading of the flour to buddy up with it. Pour and stir -- that's all there is to it. They're ready for the oven in a fraction of the time cookies take.

And it turns out that chocolate-chip scones smell just as good as chocolate chip cookies while they're baking.

In the autumn, I like to add dried fruit to these. But if you're a purist, you don't have to bother.

Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Most scone recipes specify something hotter, and these scones end up being burnt on their bottoms and still raw on top, at least when attempted by me.

Using a fork, stir together two cups all-purpose flour, one tablespoon baking powder, one-fourth of a teaspoon salt, and a quarter cup of sugar.

If you want dried-fruit chocolate-chip scones, add a half a cup of each. If it's just chocolate chips you want, add a cup of them.

Pour one and a quarter cups of the best-quality cream you can find into the flour mixture. Stir just until the mixture can be called dough.

Most scone recipes tell you to knead the dough at this point. Again, most scone recipes are nuts. Never knead baked goods that don't have yeast.

Instead, turn the scone dough onto a lightly floured board. Pat or roll it out about an inch thick. Use a glass or cookie cutter about 2 ½ inches in diameter (dipped in flour each time) to cut out your scones.

I probably don't need to tell you this, but use something a little smaller than you want your scones to be, since they'll puff up while they bake. After you've cut out as many scones as you can, gently scrunch the leftover dough together and pat it out again to cut out some more.

If you're in a hurry, throw them onto an ungreased cookie sheet and get them right in the oven. If you have time for a little fanciness, brush their tops with melted butter and sprinkle a little sugar over them.

Bake for about fifteen minutes -- start checking at ten. When done, the scones should be brown on the bottom and just beginning to lose their winter pallor on top.

Put the pan on a wire rack to cool. After a few minutes, use a spatula to transfer the scones directly to the rack. Once cool, you can keep them in a zip-top food storage bag for several days at room temperature, or freeze them against a future afternoon when you can't wait even as long as the baking of a batch of cream scones for your fix.