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Light and flaky apple cinnamon scones filled with fresh apples and warm cinnamon spices. These scones come together quickly with minimal ingredients and are perfect for grab and go breakfasts, or for mid morning/afternoon treats.
Step-by-step photos and instructions are below!
Apple Cinnamon Scones
These apple scones are the real deal, folks. Flaky and sweet but light and fruity – they are perfect to go with your morning coffee or your afternoon tea.
Served warm, or room temperature, these are a yummy treat
They are super simple to make (check out the notes and tips below) and done in under 30 minutes. What are you waiting for?
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are finding your scones turn out dense and tough, this is probably the result of over mixing. Be sure you are mixing just until the wet and dry ingredients have formed a shaggy scone dough, and only knead it 2-3 times until it holds together.
If the scones did not rise it is usually because either the butter was not cold enough, or the baking powder was old. As baking powder ages it loses some of its potency.
If the butter is not cold enough it will not create the steam as it melts which contributes to the rise.
These scones will keep well for about 3 days. Storage can be extended to several months if stored in an airtight container in the freezer.
Hungry for more? You’ll also love my my Blueberry Scones Recipe, these Apple Cinnamon Waffles or my Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Apple Cinnamon Scones are super easy to make.
- Common ingredients – found in any grocery store.
- Delicious (did that really need to be said?)
I have included step-by-step photos and instructions, as well as tips and tricks in the post. If you’d rather skip all that, scoot right on down to the full recipe card located at the bottom of the post.
Recipe Ingredients and Possible Substitutes
The full list of ingredients and quantities is found in the printable recipe card below.
- Apples. I use a granny smith apple, but any variety can be used.
- Flour. All purpose flour can be replaced all or partially with whole wheat flour, though you may need to increase liquid by a few tablespoons.
- Butter. It is important to use cold butter vs room temperature butter as this improves the flakiness and rise of the scones.
- Brown sugar. Light brown sugar may be use in place of dark brown sugar.
- Cinnamon. You could replace the ground cinnamon with apple pie spice (from Sugar Spice & Glitter).
- Milk. I use 2% milk for this recipe, but have used skim, whole milk and heavy cream and they all work equally well.
How to make this recipe
Scroll for Recipe
The full list of ingredients, quantities and instructions can be found in the printable recipe card below.
Get prepped
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray. Peel, core and dice the apple.
Make the scone dough
- In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Add the butter.
- Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs (you can do this with a food processor too!)
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add 1 cup of milk.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the milk and gently stir just until mixed. You are looking for it to resemble a shaggy dough. It may still seem a bit dry.
- Add the diced apple and fold into the dough.
Shape and cut
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface or pastry mat and bring it together with your hands kneading 2-3 times to form a ball. Press the dough out to an 8-inch circle with your hands.
With a sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges. Move the wedges to the prepared baking sheet leaving at least an inch of room between them for expansion.
Beat the egg with 1 tsp of milk and brush over top of the scones.
Bake
Remove from the oven and move to a wire rack until completely cooled.
Place on the center rack of your oven and bake for 20 minutes until scones have risen and are lightly golden brown.
Make the glaze
Whisk the powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk and drizzle the glaze over the scones.
Kylee’s Notes
If you are not going to bake the scones immediately, store them in a cool place, such as the fridge until ready to bake to prevent the butter from melting.
You can skip the glaze if you wish and sprinkle coarse sugar over the scone dough before baking instead.
How to store scones
These scones will keep well for about 3 days. Storage can be extended to several months if stored in an airtight container in the freezer.
Substitutions/Additions
- Light brown sugar may be use in place of dark brown sugar.
- You could replace cinnamon with apple pie spice.
- I use granny smith apples, but any variety can be used.
- All-purpose flour can be replaced all or partially with whole wheat flour, though you may need to increase liquid by a few tablespoons.
- Add ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon to the drizzle for extra cinnamon flavor.
- Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the dough, or add a little to the glaze.
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Apple Cinnamon Scones
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold (salted butter (cubed))
- 1 cup milk
- 1 medium apple (peeled and diced (about 1 cup))
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1 teaspoon milk
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Add the butter and, using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles course crumbs.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add 1 cup of milk. Push the dry ingredients into the milk and gently stir just until mixed. You are looking for it to resemble a shaggy dough. It may still seem a bit dry.
- Add the diced apple and fold into the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface or pastry mat and bring it together with your hands kneading 2-3 times to form a ball.
- Press the dough out to an 8-inch circle with your hands.
- With a sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges.
- Move the wedges to the prepared baking sheet leaving at least an inch of room between them for expansion.
- Beat the egg with 1 tsp of milk and brush over top of the scones.
- Place on the centre rack of your oven and bake for 20 minutes until scones have risen and are lightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and move to a cooling rack.
- When scones have cooled, whisk the powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk and drizzle the glaze over the scones.
Notes
These scones will keep well for about 3 days. Storage can be extended to several months if stored in an airtight container in the freezer. Substitutions/Additions
Light brown sugar may be use in place of dark brown sugar. You could replace cinnamon with apple pie spice. I use granny smith apples, but any variety can be used. All-purpose flour can be replaced all or partially with whole wheat flour, though you may need to increase liquid by a few tablespoons. Add ¼ tsp of cinnamon to the drizzle for extra cinnamon flavor. Why didn’t my scones rise very much?
If the scones did not rise it is usually because either the butter was not cold enough, or the baking powder was old. As baking powder ages it loses some of its potency.
If the butter is not cold enough it will not create the steam as it melts which contributes to the rise. Why are my scones so tough?
If you are finding your scones turn out dense and tough, this is probably the result of over mixing. Be sure you are mixing just until the wet and dry ingredients have formed a shaggy dough, and only knead it 2-3 times until it holds together.
Nutrition Facts
Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Ida says
Made these as a Sunday treat and hubby said put them on your to make again list!! Thank you