This vegan scones recipe makes beautifully golden and sweet scones with no dairy! Add fruit like blueberries an easy icing drizzle.
What’s better than a fresh scone on a lazy morning? For a stellar plant-based version of this popular baked good, try these Vegan Scones! They come out golden and lightly sweet, an ideal morning treat for weekends or entertaining. Like a good scone, they’re scented with vanilla and orange zest (non-negotiable, we think). And even better? They’re endlessly customizable. Add fruit like blueberries or cranberries, or drizzle with an easy powdered sugar icing. Ready to get baking?
Ingredients for vegan scones
The ingredient list for vegan scones looks just like a normal scones recipe, with the exception of 3 ingredients. There’s no egg, there’s a vegan butter substitute and a vegan milk substitute. Here’s what to have on hand:
- All purpose flour and whole wheat flour: Adding whole wheat adds a robust flavor and a bit more golden color, which is helpful in a vegan scones recipe
- Granulated sugar: Substitute coconut sugar if desired
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- Vegan butter or coconut oil
- Oat milk (or almond milk)
- Vanilla extract
- Orange zest: This makes the flavor really pop! Don’t even consider omitting it
Vegan butter vs coconut oil: use either one!
You can use either vegan butter or coconut oil in this vegan scones recipe! It’s nice to have the ability to use either here, which is true with our vegan pie crust. (But with vegan biscuits, you absolutely must use vegan butter.) Here are a few notes on the two choices:
- Coconut oil scones: Coconut oil is very easy to work with! Make sure it’s solid, which it should be at room temperature unless you live in a hot climate. Use refined coconut oil, which has a neutral flavor.
- Vegan butter scones: We slightly preferred the texture with vegan butter for these vegan scones, but both were delicious! The exact texture and flavor that will result depends on the brand of vegan butter and what it’s made of. Check the ingredient lists and find one that is minimally processed with real food ingredients. We like Miyoko’s Vegan Butter, which is made with mostly cashews and coconut: it happens to be organic, too.
One note about texture of vegan scones
One note about the texture of this scones recipe. Vegan scones are slightly more caky than crumbly. If you want a perfectly crumbly scone, real butter is key. But our family absolutely loved these scones, so they’re still absolutely delicious. Just keep in mind, the texture is slightly less crumbly than a standard scone like our Blueberry Scones.
Tip: Chill time is essential!
When you’re making vegan scones, or any sort of scones for that matter, chill time is key. Why? If your dough is room temperature or warm, the scones will spread in the oven. Take it from us: we’ve tested many versions of them! There’s nothing worse than opening the oven to a melty, spread-out scone. Follow the chilling instructions in the recipe below closely to get the best shaped scones. You’ll thank us later!
Add 1-minute powdered sugar icing
These vegan scones are delicious on their own. But if you’d like, you can add an easy powdered sugar icing to take them over the top! We used our favorite quick icing that comes together in 1 minute. You can keep it white, or go pink with cranberry juice like we did (we styled it as a holiday recipe). Here’s what to know:
- Make 1 minute icing. This Powdered Sugar Icing is so easy to mix up: it really takes 1 minute! Use oat milk instead of milk for vegan.
- If you’d like, use cranberry juice to make a pink cranberry icing. We wanted a cranberry flavor to go with the orange zest. So we simply used 100% cranberry juice in place of the milk in the icing. It makes a beautiful vegan pink icing!
- Top with crushed nuts or sprinkles. To make them like the photo, top with crushed pistachios. Or use whatever sort of sprinkle topping you’d like!
Variations: how to customize vegan scones!
This vegan scones recipe is a template recipe. The orange and vanilla scented base is perfect for customizing to whatever you’d like. Here are some great ways to customize it:
- Vegan vlueberry scones: Add 1 cup fresh blueberries to the dough, mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar if desired. (We prefer fresh blueberries in scones: frozen melt and turn the dough purple.)
- Lemon blueberry scones: Substitute lemon zest for the orange, and add fresh blueberries. Top with plain powdered sugar icing and lemon zest.
- Cranberry scones: Add 1 cup dried cranberries; keep the cranberry glaze.
- Cherry pecan scones: Add 1 cup dried cherries and 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans.
- Chocolate chip scones: Add 1 cup dark chocolate chips.
What do you like in your scones? Let us know in the comments below.
How to store vegan scones
Last notes on this vegan scones recipe: storage! These scones are best the day of baking: let them cool to room temperature so they firm up before enjoying them. If you have some left over (which we always do), here’s how to store them:
- Store at room temperature for 2 days: Cover them with a dry towel or place in a container with the cover ajar.
- Refrigerated for 5 days (bring to room temperature or reheat before serving): You could refrigerate for up to 5 days, but they do become rather tough in the refrigerator. If you’d like to store them for longer, your best bet is freezing them.
- Frozen for 3 months: Let them cool them to room temperature (un-iced), then place them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. When you’re ready to eat, leave them on the counter for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight.
This vegan scones recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based and dairy-free.
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Easy Vegan Scones
(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Prep Time: 30 minutes -
Cook Time: 20 minutes
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Total Time: 50 minutes
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Yield: 8 - Diet: Vegan
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Pin Recipe Description
This vegan scones recipe makes beautifully golden and sweet scones with no dairy! Add fruit like blueberries an easy icing drizzle.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons cold vegan butter (not margarine!) or solid refined coconut oil
- 1/2 cup oat milk (or almond milk)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- Mix-ins: 1 cup fresh blueberries, dried cranberries or cherries, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, etc.
- 1 recipe 1 Minute Powdered Sugar Icing
Instructions
- In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and kosher salt. Cut the vegan butter into small chunks and add to the flour. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until crumbly.
- In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the oat milk, vanilla and orange zest.
- Pour the oat milk mixture into the center of the flour (and any mix ins, if using) and gently stir with a spatula until a crumbly dough just comes together.
- Turn the crumbly dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to gently pat it into a large rectangle. Fold over the rectangle, placing any floury crumbles in the middle of the fold, and continue patting. If the dough is still floury, fold one more time in the same manner. Then pat into a 7” circle about 1 inch thick. The dough should be more incorporated and fairly firm at this point, try not to overwork the dough. Carefully transfer the dough round to a cutting board and chill in freezer for 6 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- After chilling, use a large knife to slice the dough into 8 pie shaped pieces. Carefully transfer the scones slices to the tray and space evenly in two rows. Lightly brush the top of the scones with a bit of oat milk, then place the tray into the freezer and freeze additional 12 minutes.
- After chilling, add the baking tray directly to the hot oven and bake for about 17 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool on a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature. If desired, once cooled make the 1 Minute Powdered Sugar Icing and spread it on top of each scone. (Here we used cranberry juice in place of the milk to make a pink icing, then topped it with crushed pistachios.)
- Storage info: Serve immediately; scones are best the day of baking. They keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days. You also can freeze them: cool them to room temperature, then place them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. To thaw them, leave them on the counter for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight. They’re best room temperature, but if you’d like them warmed, place in a 300 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 10 minutes until warmed through.
Category: Baking
Method: Baked
Cuisine: Scones
Keywords: Vegan scones, Vegan scone recipe
A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes
(6 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
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