These deliciously spiced apple cinnamon scones are a quintessential fall treat, perfect with a warm cup of tea. Theyโre buttery soft with flaky centers, crisp-crumbly edges, and loaded with bits of sweet-tart juicy apples. Crunchy coarse sugar and caramel sauce are the perfect finishing touches!
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
I learned how to make absolutely delicious scones 10 years ago when I attended a cooking event in a test kitchen. Turns out that I had been making all the wrong scones up until that point! Since that fateful afternoon, I’ve perfected chocolate chip scones, blueberry scones, and even ham & cheese scones.
I use the same basic recipe for each flavor and you can find that base recipe here: scones recipe. It’s my trusted formula to produce the tastiest scones. Readers have loved it for years.
One reader, Lindsey, commented: “Iโve made a lot of different scones (including your basic scone recipe, which is also excellent!) and these are by far the most requested! The homemade salted caramel is also 100% worth the effort. My MIL loved it so much, she just eats it by the spoonful. Excellent recipe! โ โ โ โ โ โ
Today we’re making apple cinnamon scones, a top choice year round, and especially when the fall season arrives. Here’s why you’ll love them, too:
- Sweet crisp-crumbly edges
- Soft and moist yet flaky centers
- Crunchy golden brown exterior
- Cinnamon & brown sugar flavors
- An overflow of juicy apples
- Drizzles of salted caramel on topโjust how we like our apple turnovers, too!
Grab These Ingredients:
Here’s how all of the ingredients work together to make these scones a delightful success:
- Flour: 2 cups of all-purpose flour is my standard amount for homemade scones, but set aside some extra for the work surface and your hands.
- Brown Sugar: I use either white granulated or brown sugar in my scone doughโit depends on the add-ins. I love brown sugar with apples. Stick with about 1/2 cup. Feel free to slightly decrease, but keep in mind that the scone flavor and texture will slightly change.
- Baking Powder: Adds lift.
- Salt, Cinnamon, & Vanilla Extract: These 3 ingredients add flavor.
- Frozen Butter: Besides flour, cold butter is the main ingredient in apple scones. It adds flavor, flakiness, crisp edges, and rise.
- Heavy Cream: For the best-tasting pastries, stick with a thick liquid such as heavy cream or whole milk buttermilk. For a nondairy option, try using full-fat canned coconut milk. Avoid thinner liquids such as milk or almond milkโthe result is often dry, bland, and flat scones.
- Egg: Adds flavor, lift, and structure.
- Apples: Use your favorite apple variety. I love Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Fuji here. Whatever kind of apples you enjoy in your apple pie or apple cobbler, you’ll enjoy here.
Frozen Grated Butter
I’ve learned that frozen grated butter is key to scone success.
Like when we make pie crust, work the cold butter into the dry ingredients. The cold butter coats the flour. When the buttery flour crumbs melt as the scones bake, they release steam, which creates pockets of air. These pockets add a flaky center, while keeping the edges crumbly and crisp. Refrigerated butter might melt in the dough as you work it, but frozen butter will hold out until the oven. Timing is KEY! And the finer the pieces of cold butter, the less the scones spread and the quicker the butter mixes into the dry ingredients. Remember, you don’t want to over-work scone dough.
I recommend grating the frozen butter with a box grater.
In Photos: How to Make Apple Cinnamon Scones
Because there’s no yeast, these apple cinnamon scones go from the mixing bowl to the oven relatively quickly. First, mix the dry ingredients together. Second, cut shredded butter into the dry ingredients. You can use a pastry cutter, 2 forks, or your hands for this step. A food processor works too. To avoid overly dense scones, work the dough as little as possible. I always use a pastry cutter.
Next, whisk the wet ingredients together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the apples, then gently mix together.
Form the dough into a disc, then cut into 8 wedges.
To obtain a flaky center and a crumbly exterior, scone dough must remain cold. Cold dough won’t over-spread, either. Therefore, I highly recommend refrigerating the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes prior to baking. You can even refrigerate overnight for a quick breakfast in the morning.
Before baking, brush the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. These extras add a lovely golden sheen with a bakery-style crunch. After that, bake the scones until golden brown.
The scones are INCREDIBLE right out of the oven, but taste even better with salted caramel on top. ๐ What doesn’t?!
Other topping options: You can certainly keep the scones plain or dust with confectioners’ sugar. Or try the maple icing from these maple brown sugar cookies, the brown butter icing from these pumpkin oatmeal cookies, or simply vanilla icing.
More Apple Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Apple Crumb Cake
- Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Apple Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
- Easy Baked Apples
- Apple Bundt Cake & Apple Cake
Apple Cinnamon Scones with Caramel
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These apple cinnamon scones are buttery and moist with crisp-crumbly edges and soft flaky centers. Crunchy coarse sugar and salted caramel are the perfect finishing touches. Read through the recipe before beginning. Refrigerate the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes before baking, to help prevent the scones from over-spreading.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoonsย baking powder
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ยฝ teaspoonย salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream, plus 2 Tbsp for brushing
- 1 large egg, cold
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup (125g) peeled and chopped apple*
Optional Toppings
- coarse sugar
- 1/2 cup (145g) store-bought or homemade caramel sauce*
Instructions
- Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter using a box grater. Add it to the flour mixture and combine with a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Place in the refrigerator or freezer as you mix the wet ingredients together.
- Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the apples, then mix together until everything appears moistened.
- Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Pour the dough mixture on top and, with floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add 1 more Tablespoon of heavy cream. Press into an 8-inch disc and, with a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges.
- Brush scones with remaining heavy cream and if desired for extra crunch, sprinkle with coarse sugar. (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.)
- Place scones on a plate or lined baking sheet (if your refrigerator has space!) and refrigerate the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 day.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400ยฐF (204ยฐC).
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. After refrigerating, arrange scones 2โ3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
- Bake for 22โ25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before topping with optional caramel sauce.
- Leftover scones keep well at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- 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. Or thaw overnight, then bake as directed.
- Freeze After Baking: Freeze the baked and cooled scones before topping with caramel. I usually freeze in a freezer-friendly bag or container. 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 300ยฐF (149ยฐC) oven for 10 minutes.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare scones through step 5. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Continue with the recipe the following day.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Box Grater | Pastry Cutter | Silicone Spatula | Bench Scraper |ย Brush | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Coarse Sugar
- Over-spreading: Start with very cold scone dough. Expect some spread, but if the scones are over-spreading as they bake, remove from the oven and press back into triangle shape (or whatever shape) using a silicone spatula.
- Apples: I say 1 “heaping” cup because this amount does not need to be terribly accurate. Anything from 1 cup to 1 and 1/4 cups works. Don’t use too much or else the scones won’t hold their shape.
- Caramel Sauce: If using my homemade caramel sauce, please keep in mind this is aย saltedย caramel. For a sweeter caramel, reduce salt to 1/2 teaspoon. You can make the caramel sauce in advanceโsee make-ahead tip in the caramel recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made the apple scones. I doubt Iโll make them again. They took too much work. Iโll have to judge better after Iโve eaten one
Can you use dehydrated apples, if so measurements?
Hi Denise, that should work in a pinch. The scones may taste a bit drier without the moisture from the fresh apples.
They come out so bland it did everything exact. My mom tried them and they still came out bland. They dont have enough flavor They dont taste like appleyor cinnamony
So delicious and a bang on recipe! Brought to my friends on parent council and the office staff, it was a hit! Did not try the caramel icing, but used plenty of coarse sugar on top to make a delicious crunch. Love your site, it is always my go to for my baking.
I’m making these for a teacher’s appreciation Day. I have to bring them in the day before, can I add the caramel sauce the evening before for them to eat the next morning? Or will that make the scones soggy?
Hi Ashley, you can top them the evening before. They won’t get soggy, and the caramel will set. Hope they’re a hit!
Just made these this morning!
Easy instructions as always. Added some nutmeg, cloves and ginger to amp up the spices.
These are the best apple scones I’ve ever tasted! I added a little bit of clove to my flour mixture to bump up the fall flavor and it did not disappoint. As always, Sally’s instructions are clear and easy to follow.
So delicious and very tender
These are awesome, perfect for the first chilly days of fall! I made your blueberry-lemon scones also, and said, “Where have you been all my life?” Amazing how much better your scones are than store-bought!
Hi Sally,
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes. I made those apple scones this morning, and for a reason I donโt know, they were flat. What did I do wrong?
Thanks!
Hi Annie, was your butter a bit too warm by chance? You can try chilling the scones for longer before baking or adding a tiny bit more flour. If you notice the scones spreading while they bake, you can use a spatula to gently press them back into shape. We hope this helps for your next batch!
Can you make 10 scones instead of 8? Does it change the cooking time?
Hi Tina, if making more, smaller scones, bake time should be just slightly shorter. Keep a close eye on them!
These look delicious! Will the caramel sauce set up on the scones or will it remain soft and sticky?
Hi Mina, it will set up a little as it cools, but not completely.
What recommendation do you have to use a mini scone pan? I tried the cinnamon chip scone in my mini scone pan (couldn’t leave a comment on that post) and while they were delicious, they came out of the pan in crumbles. The pan was well greased, and the scones didn’t stick, they just fell completely apart.
I have several of your scone recipes I would like to try, using my scone pan.
Thank you
Hi Ann, we haven’t used a mini scone pan before, but if they were overly crumbly it sounds like they were either overbaked, or that there was too much flour in the dough. How are you measuring your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can dry out the scones and leave the dough crumbly. We also have lots of scone troubleshooting tips in our Master Scone post, which may be helpful to review. Let us know if we can help troubleshoot further!
Thank you. I always scoop and level; one of the very first things I learned way way back in home ec. Next time I will weigh the flour too, and I will also monitor the baking time and check it before the time is up.
Can you post the nutrition facts please
Hi Maya, We donโt 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
Yum! Best scones ever. Didnโt know a scone could be moist. Iโve always liked the idea of a scone but am usually disappointed by the lack of flavor and moisture. These are what scones should be. The bits of apple are a perfect way youโre welcome add more moisture so donโt skip that step.
Have you ever tried to use sprouted flour?
Hi Julie, We have never tried it. If you want to experiment with it, you may have to adjust the liquid content in the recipe and expect a different texture. Let us know if you try anything.
I made these today. They came out wonderful. I did change two things. I used buttermilk instead of heavy cream for an added kick. I also added cinnamon and cloves to the homemade caramel sauce. I didn’t measure the spices. It was to taste. These were a hit with my neighbors. Thank you for another great recipe.
What kind of apples are best to use to keep texture?
Hi Carol, here are all the best apples for baking.
Hi! Just tried the apple cinnamon scones. The first time I made your original recipe they got burned on the bottom. For the apple cinnamon ones I used the minimum 22 minutes and they came very close to burning. I am using the middle rack, a dark cookie sheet with parchment paper. Thinking I should use a stainless steel sheet instead. Any thoughts? They were delicious!!! The box grater was difficult for me. Bought a flat one which significantly decreased my time grating the frozen butter. Doing the butter the night before and freezing it made it easier to make the scones in the morning.
This recipe has to be wrong. I added so. much. extra flour and the dough was still impossibly sticky. Tossed it on the pan to cook after a 30 min refrigeration and it spread like a cookie. I measure everything with a kitchen scale.
I made these scones. They were really wet when putting it on cutting board, added flour as you mentioned, still a little sticky, but didn’t want to work it too much. Put them in the freezer while the oven was heating up. Left them in the oven for at least 10 min. longer than suggested, still a little doughy. I’m wondering if the gala apples, made the difference of being so moist.
I have made your cranberry orange scones and they are perfect every time. Yummy! Thank you.
Nancy
Oh my g*d. So goooddddd!!!!!! Entire family loves them lol, my grandmother said that she used to eat scones as a kid but ‘they were never this good’. Definitely will be making again!
I made these when my brother and sister-in-law came to visit. They loved them. My husband, other brother and neighbors and me loved them. So moist and really yummy.
Is it ok to use full fat buttermilk in place of the heavy cream? Thanks!
Hi PCT, buttermilk works well here, yes. Enjoy!
Horrified at the almost 2 cups of additional flour this took to finish frozen flour mixture! Turned out well, but would definitely add baking powder to the extra flour.
These were really good. I used sour cream instead of heavy cream because that’s what I had and always use it in scones. Sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and dipped the tops after baking with a glaze of butter, cinnamon, confectionary sugar and vanilla. So good!
OMG!
My daughter made these and they were like no scone I’ve ever tasted! A little bit of crunch on the outside and the inside was heavenly! So moist yet fluffy. They melted in my mouth! I could eat them all myself! Another hit Sally! I’ll be making these myself.