Cinnamon Scones – 🙌🏻🧡 If you’ve been looking for a scones recipe that’s NOT DRY and full of rich buttery flavor, this is the recipe for you! Loaded with cinnamon chips to create bold cinnamon flavor and glazed to perfection, these EASY scones are perfect for breakfast, brunch, holiday mornings, or an afternoon treat! No food processor and no mixer needed.
Easy Cinnamon Scones Recipe
One of my popular baking recipes is a recipe I created in the spring of 2014 for Mixed Berry Scones. It was intended as an Easter or Mother’s Day brunch recipe but it’s become a year-long hit!
Spoiler alert: If the truth be told, I was not really a scones person because I always found them to be dry and boring.
But I wanted to love them so came up with my own recipe that’s not dry, not boring, not dense or heavy. And here we are almost 11 years later, and I have created a cinnamon scones version. In the meantime, I also created Apple Cinnamon Scones and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips Scones.
Why you’ll love these easy glazed cinnamon chip scones:
- Easy, not fussy, no need for a food processor or mixer of any kind! Just a large bowl to stir everything together and you’re set.
- Perfect for a cozy breakfast, brunch recipe, or a delightful afternoon dessert.
- The cinnamon in the dough and the cinnamon chips really give all the warm and fuzzy vibes. If you like cinnamon desserts, you’re going to love these scones offer a delicious blend of cinnamon and buttery goodness in every bite.
- Moist, light, anything but dry or overly dense. The flaky layers in these buttery scones will have you hooked!
Ingredients in Glazed Cinnamon Scones with Cinnamon Chips
- All-purpose flour – The recipe calls for 2 cups, plus more for dusting your hands and work surface. Scone dough, by nature, is shaggy and wet. Resist the urge to add more flour because later on your scones will be more dense and dry.
- Granulated sugar – I use 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. Although you can use 1/4 cup each of granulated and light brown sugar, if you prefer.
- Baking powder – A full tablespoon (not teaspoon) is needed to make these beauties rise. Make sure yours is fresh and not expired.
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt – If using salted butter, omit. If not, make sure to add it because it’s necessary to balance the dough and overall flavor so the scones aren’t bland.
- Butter – I used salted butter here and didn’t add additional salt. But you can use unsalted and then add salt. The butter must be COLD!
- Egg
- Sour cream – This is the secret ingredient to scones that aren’t dry AND that rise up nice and fluffy! Greek yogurt can be subbed. Make sure your dairy products are full fat for best results.
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon chips – They boost the overall cinnamon flavor of the scones although if you can’t find them, you can omit them. You can sub with another type of baking chip (milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips) but to stay true to the recipe as I wrote it, look for cinnamon chips.
- Turbinado sugar – Optional for sprinkling the tops of the scones before baking for added sweetness and a bit of texture.
- Confectioners’ sugar – For making the glaze, you’ll need a bit of powdered sugar. Although this is optional if you’re not going to glaze your cinnamon chip scones.
- Cream – Half-and-half is what I use for the glaze although milk or heavy cream will work.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Glazed Cinnamon Scones
Making cinnamon chips glazed scones is easier than you think! Here’s an overview of the recipe:
- In a large mixing bowl, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients consisting of flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. I use a pastry cutter or pastry blender (or you can use two forks) and then use my hands near the end if I need to.
- Add the wet ingredients (sour cream, egg, vanilla) into the dry butter mixture. Stir in the cinnamon chips and fold to combine.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and pat into an 8-inch round OR into a 9×3-inch rectangle, as shown in the photos below. Tip – The dough should be slightly sticky but not wet, and should hold its shape when pressed together. Add more flour a little at a time, until you achieve this consistency.
- Cut into equal-sized pieces and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Optionally, sprinkle with turbinado sugar; or use granulated sugar if that’s what you have. Also optional, brushing the scones before baking with cream will create more golden tops.
- Bake until very lightly golden and cooked through. Remove them from the cookie sheet and then allow scones to cool on a wire rack. Whisk together the powdered sugar and cream and drizzle over cooled scones and serve.
what to serve with scones
Recipe FAQs
Scones are best fresh, but will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. I’m comfortable storing glazed items at room temperature, but if you’re not, glaze only the scones you plan to consume at that moment. I don’t recommend refrigerating them because they will dry out. I’ve never frozen them so can’t say how that will work (or not). This is definitely one of those “fresher is better” recipes.
Not really if you want them to be at their best taste and texture. The night before a brunch event, sure. Although, that’s about as far as I’d stretch things.
The recipe I’ve shared in here is an American scone recipe. American scones are triangular in shape and are much denser than British scones. American scones are also often flavored or contain mix-ins, like fresh fruit, baking chips, or nuts.
British scones are circular, and rise up taller and fluffier than American scones. If a British scones contains mix-ins, it’s most often some form of dried fruit like raisins. British scones are also made with less butter and sugar, but are intentionally plainer in flavor so that jam and clotted cream can be spread on top before eating.
One of the most magical things about this recipe is that you can get wonderful results without chilling the dough! That being said, make sure you use cold butter straight from the fridge, don’t overwork the dough or allow it to get warm, and bake the scones off right after you’ve shaped them.
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Cinnamon Scones
Equipment
- pastry blender (or you can use two forks for cutting the butter)
- Silpat baking mats (or parchment paper)
Ingredients
Scones
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus about 2 to 4 tablespoons for work surface and hands
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, or to taste (use 2 tsp if you want extra cinnamon flavor)
- ½ teaspoon salt, omit if using salted butter
- ½ cup butter, cold (I used salted butter and did not add salt, unsalted butter is also fine and then omit the added salt)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup sour cream, use full-fat, Greek yogurt may be substituted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- â…” cup cinnamon chips, (start with 1/2 cup and add more, as desired; other flavors of baking chips may be substituted)
- turbinado, raw, or coarse sugar, optional for sprinkling before baking (granulated sugar may be substituted)
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon cream or milk, or as necessary for glaze consistency
Instructions
- Scones – Preheat oven to 400F. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper; set aside. Tip – If you're making 8 scones, use 2 baking sheets. If you're making 6 scones, you can likely get them all on one baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, add 2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, optional salt, and whisk to combine.
- Add the butter, and with a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter in. You can use a food processor, but I find not having to wash it is a big time-saver. I smoosh the butter with my pastry blender or forks and when it’s the size of large marbles, I use my hands and knead it in. It will feel like semi-wet, cool sand. Some larger pea-sized butter clumps are okay; set bowl aside.
- In a small bowl, add the egg, sour cream, vanilla, and whisk to combine until smooth.
- Pour wet mixture over dry, and fold until just combined with a soft-tipped spatula; don’t overmix or scones will be tough. Dough will be wet and shaggy.
- Add the cinnamon chips, starting with 1/2 cup, and depending on how "full" your dough looks, add more, up to 2/3 cup or so. Fold in with your spatula or hands, until just incorporated, taking care not to overwork the dough. Dough Tip – The dough should be wet and shaggy, however; you want it to be dry enough to work with. If it's simply just too wet, add additional flour, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together.
- Shaping – Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons flour over a clean work surface and lightly coat your hands.
- Turn dough out onto surface and knead it into approximately an 8-inch round OR a 9 inch long by 3 inch wide rectangle (shown in the photos). Tips – If I am making 8 scones, I use a round shape. If I am making 6, I use the rectangle, although you can also get 8 scones from the rectangle based on how you slice.Dough is very moist, wet, sticky, and tacky, but if it’s being too stubborn or too wet to come together, sprinkle with flour 1 tablespoon at a time until you get it to come together and into a round or rectangle.
- With a large knife or bench scraper, slice round into 8 equal-sized wedges (or 6 wedges).
- Using a flat spatula or pie turner, transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet spaced at least 2-inches apart. Do not crowd because scones puff and spread while baking. Optionally, sprinkle each wedge with a generous pinch of turbinado sugar, about 1 teaspoon each.
- Baking – Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until scones are very lightly golden and cooked through. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Baking Tips – Because they’re baking in quite a hot oven, watch them closely starting after about 13 minutes to ensure the bottoms aren’t getting too browned. I rotate my pans during baking. If you're making 6 rather than 8 scones, they'll bake for a few more minutes. If you're baking on two pans, make sure to rotate top and bottom pans since the pan underneath in the oven will always bake paler and lighter. Judge doneness by how your scones look, not what the time on the clock says. Bake until done in your oven, whatever that number is.
- Cooling – Allow scones to cool on baking tray for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling. While the scones cool, make the glaze (optional but recommended).
- Glaze – To a small bowl, add the confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon cream, and whisk to combine. Depending on desired consistency, you may need to play with the cream and sugar ratios slightly.
- Evenly drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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