Pretty Scone Recipes That Will Be the Star of Your Brunch Spread
If you love indulging as much as I do in one of those eye-catching scones when you visit your favorite coffee shop or bakery, it's time to consider making homemade scones. They take just a bit more time than a batch of cookies or other similar baked goods. Plus, most scone recipes freeze wonderfully, so you can pull one out of the freezer anytime for a quick and easy treat. Choose the flavor that most speaks to you and make one of these scone recipes from scratch on a day when you have a bit more time for your future self to enjoy.
Strawberry Shortcake Scones
You don't even need a fork when you transform strawberry shortcakes into a scone recipe. This summery scone combines the elements of that classic dessert—berries, biscuit-like dough, and whipped cream—in a handheld form.
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Peppery Pear-Vanilla Scones
If you're seeking a showstopping scone recipe perfect for fall, add this idea to your brunch menu. Cranberries (fresh or frozen, you choose), pear, and walnuts add our favorite fall flavors, while vanilla bean paste and just enough black pepper to be detectable lend complexity that keeps you coming back bite after bite.
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Almond and Vanilla Bean Scones
This scone recipe with cream includes an equal amount of sour cream in the batter to make a moister scone. A sprinkling of sliced almonds on top gives a preview of the almond flavor inside, and sparkly coarse sugar makes them look gourmet.
Buy It: Sugar in the Raw Turbinado Sugar ($3, Target)
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Manchego and Brandied Cherry Scones
A little sweet, a little savory and spiked with brandy to boot! This is a scone recipe unlike any other (at least any other I've seen). They eat extra tender and a bit more crumbly than other scones, so eat this one over a plate and not as an on-the-go breakfast.
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Cranberry-White Chocolate Scones
Tart, puckery cranberries and intensely sweet white chocolate are often paired together because their flavors complement one another so delightfully. Here, we add one more flavor element in the form of an orange icing and optional orange zest in the batter for a note of citrus in each bite.
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Gluten-Free Lemon-Strawberry Cornmeal Scones
Gluten-free diet followers should certainly not be denied delicious scones. To keep this lemon-berry scone recipe free of the protein, it uses brown rice flour and gluten-free baking powder. For more sweet indulgence, you can drizzle with a powdered sugar icing instead of the powdered sugar dusting.
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Ham-and-Cheddar Scones
This savory scone recipe makes my mouth water with one glance. The combination of sharp cheddar, diced ham, and fresh dill is irresistible to this savory breakfast-lover. A biscuit cutter or cookie cutter is key to the perfectly round shape you see here.
Buy It: Fox Run Biscuit Cutter Set ($4, Bed Bath & Beyond)
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Cherry-Chocolate Scones
In my book, there's no happier pairing than dark chocolate and fruit. When you put that combination in a scone recipe, it makes it appropriate to eat for breakfast, not just dessert, and I'm even happier. These fruit-studded scones can be made and stored in the freezer for 2 months (without the icing), so get a head start weeks before you need them.
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Bacon and Dried Tomato Scones
There's no doubt this recipe falls firmly in savory scone recipe territory. Dried tomatoes, herbs, bacon, sour cream, and, yes, even mozzarella cheese all bring savory notes to these scones.
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Toasted Coconut and Chocolate Chip Scones
Coconut seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it ingredients (and I love it!), like cilantro and olives, but I think you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't like the coconut and chocolate combo in these scones. The dough uses equal amounts of each starring ingredient, but if you want to keep the coconut a secret until the first bite, skip the coconut garnish on top in favor of a chocolate drizzle.
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Double-Strawberry Scones
Strawberry fans, this may be the best scone recipe on our list for you. How can it be double strawberry you ask? We call for both chopped fresh strawberries and freeze-dried strawberries in the dough. Heck, you could even triple the berry flavor by serving them with strawberry jam or preserves.
Buy It: Good & Gather Freeze-Dried Strawberries ($6, Target)
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Roasted Grape and Rosemary Scones
Roasting fruit (like grapes) brings out deep, almost syrupy flavors that make a bold addition to these homemade scones. Simply place the grapes on a baking pan and roast for 20 minutes. While they're in the oven, you can combine your dry ingredients and get your work surface ready for kneading the final dough. With this multitasking, you'll need only about 20 minutes of hands-on time to have these scones ready for the oven.
Buy It: Calphalon Baking Sheets Set ($35, Bed Bath & Beyond)
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Apple Scones with Spiced Maple Butter
If you look forward to fall baking in every other season of the year, go ahead and make these apple scones any season. The apples, apple pie spice, and maple butter all conjure memories of crisp fall days, but you can get all the ingredients year-round, so enjoy them whenever you want.
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Cornmeal-Blueberry Scones
Cornmeal in the dough sets this scone recipe apart. Because cornmeal replaces some of the flour, there is less gluten in the dough, making it too crumbly to knead. So you get to shortcut this recipe by skipping the kneading and rolling step and simply dropping the dough by large spoonfuls onto your baking sheet.
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Cranberry Scones
If you're seeking a pure cranberry scone recipe with no flavor twists and additions, these are your scones. Almost a full cup of dried cranberries goes into the otherwise basic scone dough that gets brushed with buttermilk and sprinkled with sugar before baking to golden perfection.
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Savory Double-Walnut Scones
To amplify the walnutty flavor of these scones, the nuts get toasted briefly in the oven. Some of the nuts are finely ground to add to the dough with the flour, while the rest are coarsely chopped and added to the dough later for bigger blasts of walnut flavor in some bites. The Gruyère cheese in the mix adds its own nutty flavors for a savory scone recipe perfect for nut-lovers.
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Carrot Cake Scones
Have a little fun with your scone-making and transform a classic triangle shape into an elongated one piped with frosting to look like carrots. These scones have the flavors of a classic carrot cake and make a great addition to your Easter brunch or any springtime gathering.
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Pumpkin Scones
Pumpkin recipes are a fall favorite, but when I'm craving a pumpkin treat, canned pumpkin is always available, so I'll make a pumpkin recipe anytime of year. If you feel the same and want a savory scone recipe you can serve as a starter or side dish, these pumpkin and Parmesan scones are a great recipe to start with.
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Scones
They're no English scones recipe, but with only a half-cup of dried fruit in the dough, this is our most basic scone recipe. Leave it as is or add your favorite flavor twists to make it your own.