Tender and flaky cinnamon raisin scones with brown sugar, cinnamon, plump raisins, and drizzled with a sweet cinnamon glaze. Prepped in just 15 minutes, and perfect for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea!
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My fall baking adventures have begun! And because scones are often underappreciated in the breakfast pastry world, I wanted to create a homemade scone recipe that was worthy of admiration.
When a scone is made correctly, it is light and flaky, with a rich buttery crumb. Of course, they are made even more delicious when served with clotted cream or butter, but it's not always necessary.
This cinnamon raisin scone recipe achieves that biscuit-like tender crumb, with the added bonus of a lightly sweet glaze. Warm cinnamon and plump raisins make these scones hard to put down, and they pair perfectly with your morning coffee.
For more breakfast recipes, try buttermilk maple biscuits, dutch apple cake, and almond poppy seed muffins with almond paste streusel.
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⭐️ Why This Recipe Works
Taste - Warm cinnamon lends so much flavor to these slightly sweetened scones, with deep molasses flavor from brown sugar and plump raisins.
Texture - A light and flaky crumb with a rich buttery element.
Convenience - If you want to make these scones in one go, they can be made in less than 30 minutes! But you can also freeze your scone wedges and bake them at a later date.
Versatile - If you don't like raisins, swap them for dried figs, currants, or dried apricots. Similarly, add a dash of cardamom or a handful of chopped pecans; make them your own!
Gift-giving - Scones make an excellent gift! Who doesn't love homemade scones?? For a beautiful presentation, place scones on a platter, wrap in cellophane, and tie with a pretty ribbon.
🌾 Ingredient Notes
- All-purpose flour & whole-wheat flour - I use a mixture of flours here for added nutrition and flavor.
- Brown sugar - adds rich flavor from molasses (you can use light or dark brown sugar).
- Cinnamon - I love the warm spice of cinnamon. If you are a lover of cinnamon, be sure to try my gooey cinnamon rolls!
- Confectioner's sugar - Cornstarch is added to powdered sugar to make it smooth (not gritty like granulated sugar).
📝 Variations and Substitutions
- Make vegan/dairy-free: Substitute vegan butter and plant-based milk. I've made them several times using almond milk and vegan butter, and they are delicious!
- Add your favorite spice. Add a pinch of cardamom, nutmeg, or cloves.
- Add nuts. Throw in a handful of chopped walnuts, pistachios, or almonds for some crunch.
- Use golden raisins. They aren't quite as sweet as red raisins, but sweet enough for this recipe.
🔪 How To Make Cinnamon Raisin Scones
*See recipe card below for printable instructions.
Make the Scones
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place parchment paper onto baking sheet and set aside.
In a medium bowl, add the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and whisk to combine.
Use a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands to press and squish the butter into the dry mixture, until it resembles pea-sized crumbs.
Add the raisins and stir to combine.
Add vanilla extract and 1 cup of milk, and stir just until combined. If dough is still really dry, add more milk 1 Tablespoon at a time (you want dough that is tacky, slightly sticky, and not dry).
Place a piece of parchment on the counter and lightly dust with flour. Turn the dough out onto the counter and use your hands to bring it together.
Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and use a rolling pin to roll out your dough to make a 9-inch circle. Use a sharp knife and cut dough into 8 wedges.
Place wedges onto parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with 1 tablespoon of milk. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Transfer scones to a cooling rack.
Make the Cinnamon Icing
In a small bowl, stir together the confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, milk, and salt. Drizzle over cinnamon raisin scones after they have cooled for at least 15 minutes.
👩🏼🍳 Expert Tips
- Start with very cold butter. This helps to create that lovely flaky texture in your scones.
- Use a cheese grater. One of my favorite hacks for working in cold butter to scones or biscuits is to use a cheese grater. It creates smaller pieces of butter, leaving you with very little work mixing it into your flour mixture.
- Don't overwork the dough. Mix it just enough to bring it together (it will still look a bit shaggy). If your dough is overworked, your scones will be tough, and we don't want that.
- You want dough that is slightly sticky and wet. This allows the scones to rise more when baking and ensures moist scones.
- Serve with cheesy spinach and mushroom quiche, goat cheese frittata with asparagus and tomatoes, and/or a steaming mug of creamy oat milk hot chocolate for a festive brunch.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- How to freeze: Place cinnamon raisin scones in a freezer bag and store for up to 3 months.
- Roll out your dough on parchment paper. This prevents your dough from sticking to the counter and also makes for easy clean up.
- You can freeze your unbaked scone wedges and bake later. Just store them in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months and bake them straight from the freezer (add an additional 5 minutes to the baking time).
- If your kitchen is warm, refrigerate your scone wedges for 30 minutes before baking. You want your butter and milk to remain cold up until bake time.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
There are a few tricks to making great scones, including using very cold butter and not overworking the dough.
Using cold butter and milk will prevent your scones from spreading in the oven and losing their flakiness and moisture.
Dry scones are often caused by overworking the dough, which builds up gluten and creates a tough and chewy texture. Mix dough just until it comes together (it should still look a bit shaggy).
☕️ Related Recipes
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Cinnamon Raisin Scones Recipe
Ingredients
For the Scones:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1-½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 ½ cups + 1 Tablespoon whole milk, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Icing:
- ½ cup confectioner's sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon whole milk
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Make the Scones
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place parchment paper onto baking sheet and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Use a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands to press and squish the butter into the dry mixture, until it resembles pea-sized crumbs.
- Add the raisins and stir to combine.
- Add vanilla extract and 1 cup of milk, and stir just until dough comes together. If dough is still really dry, add more milk 1 Tablespoon at a time (you want dough that is tacky, slightly sticky, and not dry).
- Place a piece of parchment on the counter and lightly dust with flour. Turn the dough out onto the paper-lined counter and use your hands to bring it together.
- Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and use a rolling pin to roll out your dough to make a 9-inch circle. Use a sharp knife and cut dough into 8 wedges.
- Place wedges onto parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with 1 tablespoon of milk. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Transfer scones to a cooling rack.
Make the Cinnamon Icing
- In a small bowl, stir together the confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, milk, and salt. Drizzle over scones after they have cooled for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Start with very cold butter. This helps to create that lovely flaky texture in your scones.
- Don't overwork the dough. Mix it just enough to bring it together (it will still look a bit shaggy). If your dough is overworked, your scones will be tough, and we don't want that.
- Use a cheese grater. One of my favorite hacks for working in cold butter to scones or biscuits is to use a cheese grater. It creates smaller pieces of butter, leaving you with very little work mixing it into your flour mixture.
- You want dough that is slightly sticky and wet. This allows the scones to rise more when baking and ensures moist scones.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- How to freeze: Place them in a freezer bag and store for up to 3 months.
- Roll out your dough on parchment paper. This prevents your dough from sticking to the counter and also makes for easy clean up.
- You can freeze your unbaked scone wedges and bake later! Just store them in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months and bake them straight from the freezer (add an additional 5 minutes to the baking time).
- If your kitchen is warm, refrigerate your scone wedges for 30 minutes before baking. You want your butter and milk to remain cold up until bake time.
Janelle
I made these for a breakfast meeting a few weeks ago, and they were a hit! I used golden raisins since it's what I had in my pantry. Next time I will double the recipe and put some in my freezer!
Gastronotherapy
So happy to hear that they were a hit, Janelle! I love making these scones with golden raisins. I've also made them with just a pinch of cardamom. And they do freeze well, so you should for sure double the batch next time! 🙂
faith
do i have to use wheat flour? or can i use regular flour in place of wheat? =)
MaryAnne
Hi Faith - you can use all-purpose flour in place of whole wheat and they will turn out great!