Good food is meant to be shared, and today, Melissa from Savored Grace is here to share her recipe for some delicious-looking cinnamon swirl scones! I love the story that inspired the recipe and am so grateful to feature Melissa here today. Don’t forget to visit her blog/social channels and show some love.
A few years ago, my family and I had afternoon tea at Edinburgh Castle. Surrounded by tapestries depicting queens and their gowns, we eagerly snagged tiny sandwiches and petit fours from the caddies in the middle of the table.
Every few minutes I had to rescue a spoon off the floor or remove a teacup from a small child’s reach. There wasn’t a lot of decorum in our late afternoon meal.
But there were scones.
Scones are a regular request at my house these days. My kids love flaking them apart, love the treat of sweet yet filling baked goods.
We enjoy many flavors, but by far our favorite kind of scone is studded with cinnamon. Cinnamon sones taste like comfort and love.
Since we can’t jaunt across the pond for afternoon tea whenever we want, we have started a little teatime tradition in our home. Once a week, we serve dessert in the afternoon. The kids drink milk out of teacups (and I try not to say a hundred times that those teacups belonged to my grandmother, and would they please be gentle) and fill their bellies with delicious treats.
Cinnamon swirl scones are perfect for teatime (or breakfast or brunch)!
These scones are flaky and sweet and moist and buttery. They take a little time to make, but don’t let that frighten you!
I love them fresh from the oven, so often stick the extras in the freezer unbaked. They bake beautifully straight from the freezer, and there is almost nothing better than a warm scone.
Let’s bake!
Cinnamon Swirl Scones
Ingredients
Scone Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1¼ tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, very cold
- ¾ cup cultured buttermilk*
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Swirl Ingredients:
- ¼ cup salted butter, melted
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- In a large mixer bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the scone dough.
- Ideally using an electric grater, shred the butter into the bowl. This will help the butter work through the dough quickly while staying cold. If you do not have an electric grater, cut the butter into small cubes.
- Using a pastry cutter, cut the shaven butter into the flour mixture very gently. The mixture should form crumbs, but does not need to be completely uniform. Work quickly so the butter will stay cold.
- Mix together buttermilk* and vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture. Using the whisk attachment on the mixer, stir slowly together, about 45–60 seconds. Scrape and stir again, no more than 30 seconds. Do not overmix, even if there is extra flour not mixed in—we will fold it in and make delicious, flaky layers!
- In a separate bowl, make the cinnamon swirl. Simply mix all the ingredients together with a spoon until it is thick and dough-like. You should be able to easily crumble it with your fingers.
- Turn contents of the large mixing bowl onto a clean work surface. It will still be shaggy, with lots of floury bits.
- Gather the mass together and press down once. Crumble about a third of the cinnamon swirl mixture over the dough. Carefully fold it in, gathering the floury bits together and working them into the dough (it works well to sprinkle them over the top, just like you are doing with the crumble).
- Repeat, distributing the cinnamon crumbles and folding until the dough holds together and all the flour and cinnamon swirl is worked in, probably between 6–8 folds total. Overworking the dough will produce tough scones, so be gentle and don’t stress about a few extra crumbs of flour that aren’t mixed in.
- Form the dough into a small round and slice into 8 equal triangles.
- Place scones on a parchment paper–covered cookie sheet and bake 15–18 minutes. Immediately remove to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- You can make your own buttermilk! Simply add 1 tsp. white vinegar to ¾ cup milk (I like whole milk, but low-fat is also fine) and let it stand for 10 minutes. The acid will curdle the milk, and this will help produce light, flaky scones!
- These scones are best fresh, and you may freeze them prior to baking if you want to have a fresh treat another day! To bake from the freezer, simply get them out prior to heating the oven and place them on a baking sheet. You will need to add 3-5 minutes to the baking time. Check that the edges are golden and the center soft but not squishy before pulling from the oven to cool.
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Melissa Hogarty lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and three very loud and silly children. She believes deeply in the power of reading and the love of Christ. She loves to bake, sing loudly, and make her own home décor. She blogs about food, faith, and family over at Savored Grace (www.savoredgrace.com/), and you can also find her on Instagram (@savoredgrace).
Lynn
Saturday 11th of July 2020
This recipe seems incomplete
Mary (The Goodie Godmother)
Sunday 12th of July 2020
It was! I have no idea what happened there, but it's been updated. Thanks so much for pointing it out!