Meet your new fall favorite: these Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Scones are tender, flavorful, and simply irresistible. Made with caramelised apples and toasted pecans, the dough for these simple scones comes together easily. Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post!
I am a scone girl, for sure. I first fell in love with gluten-free vegan scones when I started testing recipes for my baking cookbook, Bakerita. In the book, I have a recipe for Raspberry Lavender Lemon Scones, and at the last minute, I added an Everything Bagel Scone, too (try it warm with butter and you’ll be in heaven).
That quickly led to me sharing all sorts of scones on my site, too – from these Chocolate Chip Scones, to the Maple Pecan Scones, Cranberry Orange Scones, annddd even these Lemon Blueberry Scones. It’s fair to say that I, along with lots of you, became scone lovers. These new Apple Cinnamon Scones (and all the rest of them) are far removed from the dry, crumbly scones of coffee shop’s past.
These are easy scones, they are flaky scones, and they are absolutely delicious scones. How many times can I say scones in one sentence?? :P
Now that we’re heading into autumn, it was time for a Fall-inspired scone recipe. One that is perfect for eating for breakfast with your coffee or tea, warmed up and slathered with a little butter or jam. It also makes a fabulous dessert – may I recommend a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top? Now that you’re drooling…
Let’s make Apple Cinnamon Scones!
First, let’s go over the ingredients list:
- Bob’s Red Mill Blanched Almond Flour – this gives the scones such a delicious texture and flavor!
- Bob’s Red Mill Arrowroot Flour – helps with the scones texture and makes it light and fluffy. With just almond flour, it can turn out a little bit dense. Tapioca flour works well as a replacement here!
- Baking Powder – for the lift!!
- Cinnamon, Sea salt, Nutmeg – for the flavors of fall! If you’re not a nutmeg fan, you can skip it. Alternatively, if you like a lot of spices, add more!
- Coconut Oil – this acts like butter for our scones. We cut it into the dry ingredients while cold to help make things *flaky*
- Coconut Milk – our cream replacement to help bring things together and make them super luscious.
- Coconut Sugar – for sweetness, and for caramelising our apples (if you want)
- Maple Syrup – for more sweetness and that ~maple flavor~
- Flax egg – helps us bind things together! You can swap a regular egg if you’re not vegan.
- Honeycrisp Apple – any apple will do, but I loveeee Honeycrisps, so that’s what I use here. I recommend a firmer apple with a flavor you love.
- Pecans – for a little bit of crunch! I prefer with them, but if you’re anti-nuts in your baked goods, skip them.
The process to bring the dough together for these Apple Cinnamon Scones is pretty easy, but first, decide whether or not you want to caramelize your apples! I tested both ways, and they were both delicious. The apple caramelisation just takes a few extra minutes + cooling time, and I personally think it’s worth it, BUT you do you. The flavor is great either way.
If you want to caramelise your apples, you’ll cut the apple into small pieces and cook them over low-medium heat with 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar until the sugar is dissolved and has formed a caramel-like film around the apples, but you don’t want to apples to start releasing their juices. It should only take three to five minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
Mix together all of your dry ingredients – the Bob’s Red Mill almond and arrowroot flours, the spices, coconut sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix, mix, mix. Then, use a pastry cutter, forks, or your fingers to work the cold coconut oil into the dry flour, similarly to how you would for a pie crust. You want small bits, no big chunks, and you don’t want the coconut oil to disappear completely either. You can use a food processor for this too, if you prefer.
Then, stir together your coconut milk, maple syrup, and flax egg. Pour over your dry ingredients and stir until a dough forms. Stir in the apples (caramelised or not) and the pecans, if you’re using. Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap or beeswax wrap and press into a thick circle. Wrap it up, and into the fridge it goes for at least an hour to firm up.
Once chilled, cut your apple scones into wedges, brush with coconut milk (this helps with browning) and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar or coconut sugar for some ✨ sparkle ✨! Bake them, and resist eating them all warm. Do try one warm though. You’ll be a happy camper.
These Apple Scones store great in the freezer to heat up for a quick breakfast, snack, or dessert. They are SO tasty slathered with a little bit of apple butter, ghee, or regular butter. I love enjoying them with tea or coffee. You’re going to love them! Enjoy 🍎❤️️
Print clock clock icon cutlery cutlery icon flag flag icon folder folder icon instagram instagram icon pinterest pinterest icon print print icon squares squares iconGluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Scones
- Author: Bakerita | Rachel Conners
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 scones 1x
Description
Meet your new fall favorite: these Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Scones are tender, flavorful, and simply irresistible. Made with caramelised apples and toasted pecans, the dough for these simple scones comes together easily.
Scale
Ingredients
For the caramelised apples
- 1 small Honeycrisp apple, peeled and diced (about 1 cup diced apple, about 1/4″ pieces)
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
For the scones
- 2¾ cups (264g) Bob’s Red Mill blanched almond flour
- 1 cup (128g) Bob’s Red Mill arrowroot or tapioca flour
- 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup (100g) refined coconut oil, firm
- ¼ cup full-fat canned coconut milk, plus extra to brush on top of the scones
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 flax egg, see notes
- ¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted
- Raw Turbinado sugar, to sprinkle on top
Instructions
For the caramelised apples
- Combine apples and coconut sugar in a pan over low-medium heat. Saute until apples are soft and tender and the sugar has dissolved and coated the apples, about three to five minutes. Let cool completely. You should have about 1 cup.
- If you’d rather not caramelize your apples, use 1 cup diced raw apple and skip this step.
For the scones
- In a food processor or large mixing bowl, combine the blanched almond flour, arrowroot flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Pulse or whisk together.
- Add in the coconut oil and pulse or use a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands to work the coconut oil into the dry ingredients until only small chunks of coconut oil remain.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and flax egg. Add to the dry ingredients and stir or pulse until completely combined. Stir in the cooled apples (or raw if you opted not to caramelise) and pecans, if using.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and dust with arrowroot flour. Put the dough on top of the parchment and press into a circle, about 1 1/2” thick and 8” across. Place in the refrigerator for at least one hour to chill.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F. Cut the circle into 8 scones and separate from each other so they’re not touching. Use a pastry brush to brush on some coconut milk and then sprinkle with raw turbinado sugar, if using. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve warm. They’re delicious with apple butter and/or butter (use vegan butter or ghee for dairy-free). Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in freezer-safe containers in the freezer for up to six months.
Notes
For the flax egg
Combine 1 tablespoon flax meal with 2½ tablespoons water. Whisk to combine and let gel before using, about five minutes.
Keywords: apple, cinnamon, scones, gluten-free, vegan
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