These deliciously spiced apple cinnamon scones are a quintessential fall treat, perfect with a warm cup of tea. They’re 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: “I’ve 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! ★★★★★”
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 top—just 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 dough—it 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 milk—the 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. 🙂 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 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon 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 400°F (204°C).
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. After refrigerating, arrange scones 2–3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
- Bake for 22–25 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 300°F (149°C) 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 | 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 a salted caramel. For a sweeter caramel, reduce salt to 1/2 teaspoon. You can make the caramel sauce in advance—see make-ahead tip in the caramel recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This is my favorite scone recipe!! Now, I do make one slight change, and that’s instead of cutting the apples in pieces I just shred them. I feel like this makes it a bit easier for anyone that doesn’t like peeling apples
This is the vesy best scone recipe —- and I’ve tried many!!!! I recently made the blueberry one and I knew trying the apple would be fantastic!! Both are super! I will never make another scone recipe— JUST THIS ONE! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
never mind on the apples-just saw your recommendations. 🙂 Still need to know about the salted caramel application
What type of apples do you recommend? Also is the salted caramel drizzled or brushed on to them?
Hi Mimi, we drizzle the caramel, but you can do either!
I love your master scone recipe and tried the apple cinnamon variety today for Fall. YUM. I didn’t have time for the caramel drizzle so I just made a powdered sugar/cinnamon glaze which was also delicious. These always turn out so nice and the recipe is easy and doesn’t make a huge mess. The results always taste like more effort was required. THANKS for this lovely recipe.
I tried this recipe and it turned out amazing! It was the second scone recipe that I’ve ever tried. The first one turned out terribly dry and crumbly and were absolutely awful. It was a blueberry scone recipe. I was a bit sceptical about using chunks of apple but it all turned out wonderful. I tried your recipe exactly as written. I’m so happy that I found a scone recipe as I just love scones, but hate paying the price at a specialized bakery. Thank you for this delightful recipe.
Had to add lots more flour when rolling into ball, again when shaping to cut and move wedges, 1/2 cup or more, and apple chunks were already floured! But delicious sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with caramel, taking to the cancer center tomorrow.
Hi Pamela, thanks so much for giving these a try! Adding more flour is always the fix to a sticky scone dough. Work in 1/4 cup or even 1/2 cup more when needed. We hope they’re a hit!
This recipe is awesome. I didn’t have cream so used 1% milk and they turned out great!
These scones are delicious. I made them mini and didn’t use the caramel. I may add a glaze when I serve them again.
This has become my favorite recipe to bake for my coworkers at the Post Office! They love them. Thank you for sharing!
What a great recipe. Easy to prepare. So delicious.
Did everything per recipe. Froze butter, cold flour. Refrigerated overnight. Still spread. Way too rich for a scone. More like a rich cookie. Been making scones for a long time not an inexperienced bake/cook but wanted to try new. Won’t make again.
I am wanting to make these scones and wondering if I can substitute Greek yogurt for the heavy cream? Thanks
Hi Julie, For best results we recommend using either heavy cream or buttermilk. You could substitute some of the heavy cream/buttermilk for Greek yogurt or sour cream, but we don’t recommend substituting out ALL the liquid. Some Greek yogurt/sour cream + regular milk would be OK, too. We haven’t tested exact measurements, though. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Could you use a box grater to shred the apples instead of chopping?
Hi Nell, chopped apples work best for this recipe. They act more like an add-in, whereas shredded apples act more like a wet ingredient, so the recipe would need to be tweaked to account for the added moisture from shredded apples. Hope this helps!
We have a variety of apple trees so I peel, slice or chop apples and freeze them. If I use my frozen chopped apples do I need to unthaw them first?
I wouldn’t thaw the frozen apples. They will help keep the dough extra cold.
Can a three inch round cutter be used instead of cutting into rectangles
Hi Elizabeth, instead of cutting into triangles, you could make them drop-style like these banana scones.
I know these will be delicious as I’ve made your other scone recipes. Since I am trying to watch my carbs a little, I plan to use white whole wheat flour and I’d like to make “mini” scones – 16 instead of 8. Would the baking time vary because of the smaller scones? Thank you!!!
Hi Eileen, yes, bake time will be shorter for smaller scones. You can use the baking time from these mini sprinkle scones as a guide. Hope they’re a hit!
So funny…I just made this recipe yesterday for breakfast. I bake every Sunday morning and share with my neighbors. It is a fun tradition we fell into during the pandemic.
That said, i love your scone recipes and your site was the first I checked once I decided on an apple themed bake. I always make scones the evening prior and refrierate the disk over night. In the morning, I divide, brush and sprinkle while the oven is preheating. I happened to have some salted caramel in the ‘fridge so I did drizzle half of them. The drizzle was the perfect added touch.
This site is truly my “go to” whenever I am looking for a recipe. I always check here first and usually find what I am looking for. Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes and great, information and advice.
Can half and half be substituted ?
Hi Estelle, that should work in a pinch, or you can use buttermilk (or a buttermilk substitute).
These scones are delicious! I want to make ahead and freeze. Do you recommend brushing with cream and sugar sprinkle prior to freezing or just before baking? Thank you!
Hi Rene, A sprinkle of coarse sugar and cinnamon right before baking would be great!
Don’t the apples stay a little hard seeing as the baking time is much shorter than baking a pie? Just worried about trying this recipe only once I end up with hard apple chunks.
Hi Cindy, the scones bake about the same amount of time as apple muffins, so the apples do soften but still keep their shape.
These scones were absolutely wonderful. Mine did turn out dense and tough, but that was my mistake. I drizzled them with her Homemade Salted Caramel sauce, and it added a wonderful sweetness.
After 8 minutes of baking time, I checked the scones. Wow… they were doing a great job of over-spreading! I had to remove baking sheet from oven, and re-shape.
The prepared dough was cold…the butter/flour mixture had been in freezer for several hours, before I mixed it with wet ingredients. Refrigerated shaped scones (on the baking sheet they were baked on) for 15 minutes while oven preheated. Would it be better to completely freeze the shaped scones before baking? I will not make this recipe again, unless I find a solution to the over-spreading. I’ve made other scone recipes, and they did not spread like these did.
Hi Dianne! Yes, the key is to keep everything very cold. Freezing them before baking doesn’t hurt. Here’s our base scone recipe with more tips and tricks included in the post.
Trying to write as the deliciousness crumbles on the screen. I’d talk text but with a mouthful of these scones….well you get it! These are the most perfect scone EVER. Easy to make and they are so incredibly delicious. I can think of a skillion occasions to gift these top one of course is waking up in the morning. Thank you so much for sharing
After comparing MANY recipes for a good autumn apple scone, I decided on these and am so glad I did. I added a little bit of nutmeg with the cinnamon, a touch of maple syrup with the liquid ingredients, and swapped out the caramel for a maple glaze. I used honeycrisp apples as that’s what I had on hand. I found mine were perfect at 19 minutes. Thanks for the excellent recipe that is now going into my regular scone rotation! These were a delight.
Made both bread and muffins. Best zucchini recipe.moist, not too sweet, not overwhelmed with spices.
I make these every year. These were my first scones as a beginner baker and the recipe is so easy! Thank you for this!!
Awesome recipe!
I have made your other scone recipes and am so excited to try this one out! General question though; I’d love to freeze these in advance, but how long can they be kept in the freezer before baking them?
Hi Yui, you can freeze the scone dough for up to 3 months. Enjoy!
Any other method to grate the butter besides a box grater? Can you use a foid processor?
Hi Rochelle, if you have grater/shredder plate for your food processor, feel free to use that instead. If you find the butter is a bit warm after doing so, stick the grated butter back in the freezer for a bit to ensure it’s nice and cold going into the dough.
My co workers and I ADORE this recipe! Thabk you for all the extra tips.. Im in the process of making a triple batch again for my work colleagues!!