These banana nut scones are deliciously moist, flaky, and crumbly. Combining the flavor of banana bread and the texture of scones, this banana scone recipe is everything you crave for breakfast. Don’t skip the maple icing because it’s one of the best parts!
These banana scones were a complete spur-of-the-moment recipe. When I have a bounty of extra ripe bananas, I usually bake a couple loaves of banana bread or my favorite banana muffins. My mom was visiting, so I decided to try something new and special. We both love scones and banana bread, so I decided to combine the two.
We ended up LOVING them, especially the walnuts in each bite. I tweaked the recipe a few times after that and I’m confident these are the best banana scones. They’re crumbly and flaky on the outside, but have that deliciously soft banana bread texture inside. We topped them with crunchy coarse sugar and a generous drizzle of maple icing.
These banana nut scones turned out 19385x better than I dreamed and instantly climbed to the top of my favorite scone list. Admittedly, I have about over a dozen favorite scone recipes!
Banana Bread & Banana Muffins Vs. Banana Scones
What banana scones have that banana bread and banana muffins do not:
- Crackly crunchy top
- Irresistible crispy crumbles
- Nooks & crannies for delicious icing absorption
- Flaky center
Banana bread and banana muffins will never be banana scones!!!
Banana Scone Ingredients
You need a handful of basic ingredients for banana scones including flour, brown sugar, bananas, egg, butter, and a few others. The best performance award goes to the following 4 power ingredients: mashed bananas, yogurt, frozen butter, and brown sugar.
- Bananas: You need about 3 medium or 2 large ripe bananas. Make sure they are spotty brown. When mashed, they should yield 1 cup (230g). The most efficient way to mash bananas is to use your handheld or stand mixer. Try to rid all those banana lumps!
- Greek Yogurt: The first time I made these banana scones, I used heavy cream. Heavy cream is my favorite standard scone ingredient. The scones were good, but they spread all over baking sheet even though I increased the flour. Rather than add even more flavorless flour, I swapped the cream for yogurt. The yogurt helps keep the scones moist, a far cry from the cardboard scones we’ve all tasted before.
- Grated Frozen Butter: Not just cold butter—frozen butter. Why? It’s important to use cold butter in scone baking. When the little bits and pieces of butter melt as the scones bake, they release steam and create little pockets of air. As a result, the scones are a little airy on the inside while remaining crisp on the outside. You want the butter to melt in the oven, not before the scones even hit the oven. Frozen butter is easy to grate and grated butter is easy to cut into the dry ingredients. You’ll use frozen butter in these ham & cheese scones, too.
- Brown Sugar: Why use flavorless white sugar when you can use deliciously moist and rich-tasting brown sugar? I have the same mindset when making banana bread!
I call these power ingredients because they make a POWERFUL difference in how the scones taste. For mega banana scone success, I recommend you follow this recipe closely.
How to Make Banana Scones
- Mix the wet ingredients. This includes the mashed bananas.
- Mix the dry ingredients.
- Cut in the butter. You can use a pastry cutter, two forks, or your hands.
- Mix the wet & dry ingredients together.
- Spoon dough onto baking sheets. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup.
- Brush with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake. Then drizzle with icing!
This banana scone recipe yields about 12 palm-sized scones. Expect a sticky and craggily dough. Like biscuits, avoid overworking the dough. You’ll notice that I brush the scones with milk before baking. This is an essential step! This layer of liquid “sets” on top and drizzles down the sides as the scones bake, creating an even crispier exterior.
Can I Use Frozen Bananas?
Yes and I do this often. Thaw the frozen bananas at room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
My #1 Scone Trick
My #1 tip when making any scones is to keep the scone dough as cold as possible. If the scones are room temperature or warm going into the oven, they will overspread and the texture will be ruined. Don’t be afraid to refrigerate your wet ingredients as you’re working on the dry ingredients. And you can refrigerate the scone dough prior to baking too.
The Best Finishing Touch: Maple Icing
These banana scones have all the flavor from banana bread including cinnamon spice, brown sugar, and banana. Maple icing is the BEST finishing touch… because everything is better blanketed with maple!! Simply melt butter and maple syrup together, then whisk in sifted confectioners’ sugar. The icing seeps into all the cracks and crevices. That top maple-soaked surface is the best part!
This banana scone recipe yields such a unique texture—an incredible mash up of banana bread and scones. Get those bananas browning and start pre-heating your oven!
More Favorite Banana Recipes
- Banana Cake & Banana Cream Pie
- Banana Bread & Banana Muffins
- Banoffee Pie
- Chocolate Banana Muffins & Banana Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins
Banana Nut Scones with Maple Glaze
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: English
Description
Deliciously moist, flaky, and crumbly banana nut scones with maple glaze. Not quite banana bread or banana muffins, but everything you crave for breakfast!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (230g) mashed bananas (about 3 medium or 2 large ripe bananas)
- 1/4 cup (60g) plain Greek yogurt (or any plain yogurt or sour cream)
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1 cup (125g) chopped walnuts (optional)
- top before baking: 3 Tablespoons (45ml) milk and coarse sugar
Maple Glaze
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 cup (112g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer or medium bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the mashed bananas, yogurt, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together. Grate the frozen butter (I use a box grater to grate it; a food processor also works for grating). Toss the grated butter into the flour mixture and combine it with a pastry cutter, two forks, a food processor, or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
- Drizzle wet ingredients over flour mixture, add the walnuts, and then toss the mixture together with a rubber spatula until everything appears moistened. Try your best to not overwork the dough at any point. Dough will be sticky and a little wet. Drop scones, 1/4 cup of dough each, at least 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Brush scones with milk, then top with a little coarse sugar if desired for extra crunch. Tastes great!
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven and cool as you make the icing. The scones taste even better after they cool down!
- Make the icing: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and maple syrup together, whisking occasionally. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar. Drizzle over scones.
- Scones are best enjoyed right away, though leftover scones keep well at room temperature or in the refrigerator for about 3-5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Some options here. The baking powder is initially activated once wet and if you hold off on baking, the scones won’t rise as much in the oven. However, the decrease in rise is so slight that it doesn’t make a noticeable difference. That being said, you can shape this scone dough into wedges and refrigerate overnight before baking. You can also freeze before baking. Freeze scone dough wedges on a plate or baking sheet for 1 hour. Once relatively frozen, you can layer them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time in the recipe below. Or thaw overnight, then bake as directed. You can also freeze the baked and cooled scones before topping with icing. To thaw, leave out on the counter for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds or on a baking sheet in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Box Grater | Pastry Cutter | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush | Coarse Sugar (optional)
- Frozen Bananas: You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
Keywords: scones
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I want to try this recipe can you tell me how much heavy cream to use instead of yogurt ? I don’t have yogurt on hand
Hi Denise, heavy cream will be too thin for these scones. Yogurt or sour cream is really needed to keep these scones from over-spreading!
Great recipe; well laid out directions with helpful tips align the way! Start to finish 1hr!
★★★★★
This recipe was super easy to follow and was amazing!! They looked so professional and they were delicious. Yet another magnificent recipe from this blog! Getting ready for fall, I wondered if this recipe would work with pumpkin puree instead of mashed bananas. What are your thoughts on that, Sally?
★★★★★
Hi Giuliana, here is our pumpkin scone recipe instead! Hope you love it just as much.
I have made a number of your recipes and they have all turned out great. Last week blueberry scones and today banana scones. Thanks
Scrumptious! What a fun riff on banana bread, the world’s most popular recipe for a reason! These are great! They taste healthier than they are, with the hearty texture (I used walnuts), and they’re comforting and yummy. My husband thought they were delicious!!! Definitely a repeat, and I’ll be sharing this recipe with my banana bread loving friends! Sally, your recipes never disappoint!
★★★★★
Delicious. The most professional looking/tasting scones I’ve ever made, thanks to this recipe!
★★★★★
I was a bit disappointed. I couldn’t taste banana so would probably add one more if I make the scones again. Would also add a little more sugar and reduce the cinnamon, which was overwhelming. I cooked them at 375 for 20 minutes as my gas oven burns hot but they still browned too much on the bottom.
These were ok. Not a typical scone texture or taste. More like banana bread. Definitely didn’t hit the nail on the head for the scone I was craving.
Incredibly delicious! I’ve made these several times now, and they are consistently great. I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit for my own preference: I use three bananas instead of two; I don’t like walnuts, so I use pecans, ground up fairly fine in a mini-food processor; also, I use muscovado brown sugar instead of regular brown sugar. Gives the scones a super deep, rich flavor.
I often eliminate the crunchy stuff on top – – they are just fine as they are. And I use less powdered sugar in the glaze. 20 minutes is fine for baking in my oven; I swap the cookies sheets to a different level after ten minutes to make sure they don’t burn on the bottom. (Had this issue a couple of times.) Everyone I’ve made these for has RAVED.
★★★★★
The scones have great flavor and it was quick and easy to come together. I added some more spices (ginger and cloves) and my cooking time was only 15 minutes so I just recommend watching them closely. Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★
These turned out great. So delicious!!
★★★★★
I’m wondering if thawed frozen bananas would be ok in this recipe? When mine get too brown I toss them in the freezer and usually make bread or muffins at a later time but they tend to be wetter after they are frozen.
Definitely! Bananas that have been frozen and thawed can sometimes be too wet – give them a quick dab with a paper towel to soak up any excess moisture before beginning.
Thank you!!
I didn’t care for them. I wanted a crisp, dense scone, these were soft. I like Panera Bread scones, they aren’t like that!
★★
Actually so good, definitely recommend using the Walnuts. I would trust Sally with any major life decision at this point.
★★★★★
This one is a winner. I only had 1 banana on hand so I halved the recipe and it still worked out wonderfully!
I did cut back a little on spices as I usually make my banana walnut bread with none.
I did not have any coarse sugar to add crunch, but I like that these are not overly sweet.
In fact next time I might sprinkle
the icing with a little coarse SALT to bring out all the flavors.
Also want to try subbing in some almond flour for a lower carb version.
★★★★★
I made them with a gluten free flour blend (King Arthur) and they are delicious.
★★★★★
I just made the banana scones with maple glaze, and the sugar and milk add a little crunch. The flavor of the bananas was perfect. The maple glaze is easy to prepare and is a hit. Thank you, Sally, for the recipe.
Just made ’em. Am I allowed to cuss here? I don’t think so. Cussin’, however, is the only way I think I can express how good these are. So…pick your favorite good-time four-letter phrases and apply them to what you think these will look like if they come out exactly as Sally would want them to if she were really trying to impress someone, but that someone was married and had to grab the tray of scones and hit the door, saying, “Sorry, girl, I’m too old to start steppin’ out now, but these are DOPE!”, shoveling a scone down as he Segwayed into the sunset. Yeah, they’re that good. I can’t believe I made these with my own hands.
★★★★★
Finally tried this recipe and love the scones. I didn’t see the nutritional info for this though. How many calories are in one scone? In trying to keep the calories down I didn’t put the glaze on them and still thought they were great. One thing I did was toast the walnuts to bring out a bit more flavor. These may be going with me on a upcoming hike!
★★★★★
Hi Lela, we’re so glad you loved these scones! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Delicious! Even without the frosting. Only baked 15 minutes, I think 20-25 too long at least for my oven.
★★★★★
I love these. I am so tired of banana bread! These are lovely as a snack or with breakfast. I made too many to eat so I froze the baked scones. When I got them out of the freezer I let them thaw. I put on a fresh sprinkle of sugar. Then I put them in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes. They were delicious! I had planned on making another batch of the maple glaze but I decided they tasted just fine as is. Now I have two more rotten bananas, I’m going to make more!
Wonderful scones! I swap the nuts for mini cinnamon chips and they are so yummy! I also add a touch more flour and carefully form the dough into a rectangle on parchment, and freeze. I cut into triangles before baking and end up with a traditional scone shape. The freezing helps them spread less and they look truly beautiful!
★★★★★
Genius. I was coming to comment that one cup of walnuts was WAY too much (and was going to suggest 1/2 or 1/4 cup). But using cinnamon chips instead is so much better.
★★★★★
We had overripe bananas and I was tired of making our go-to banana muffins (even though they’re my kids favorite)! Came straight here to browse banana recipes and I’m so glad I did… these scones are divine! The flavors of the banana bread and the texture of the scone combined have me wanting to eat every single one NOW! Thanks for another perfect recipe!
★★★★★