This is my favorite scones recipe with buttermilk, juicy raspberries, flavorful almond extract, toasty almonds, and raspberry icing. These raspberry almond buttermilk scones are crumbly, yet moist and perfect for brunch, tea parties, bridal showers, Mother’s Day, and so much more! For best results, follow all my scone success tips.
All Scones Begin with my Base Recipe
I’ve been on a scone mission for the past couple of years. While “delicious” all depends on your tastebuds, I can honestly say that I have one REALLY GOOD base scones recipe. With virtually any add-in (chocolate chip scones, blueberry scones, pumpkin scones, and even ham & cheese scones), we can all make a new variety every weekend. It’s the kind of versatile and satisfying coffee treat that makes us jump out of bed each morning.
I usually make the scone dough with heavy cream, but decided to use tangy buttermilk to pair with the raspberries and almonds. It’s what I use for my lavender scones, too! The centers are even more tender and the flavor is even more buttery. They’re bright-flavored and rich on the inside while the exterior is golden brown and crisp—delicately crumbling as you take that first berry bite.
Scones are one of those treats that if you do it right, they’ll have a permanent (and frequent) spot in your breakfast rotation. But if you mess up along the way, you’ll end up with sad rock cakes instead of tender sweet goodness. It’s all hard to swallow, literally. But let me help!
Scone Success Tips
- The secret to making delicate scones is handling the dough as little as possible. That’s why I prefer to make scones by hand, not in the food processor.
- Over-handling the dough will cause the delicate raspberries to break, making your dough much too wet. Always handle with care.
- The way to get that crumbly, crisp texture on the edges is to use very, very cold butter. In fact, use frozen.
- To ensure the scones don’t spread out too much in the oven and so they keep that crumbly-edge texture, refrigerate the scone dough for 15 minutes before baking.
- You can even refrigerate your dry ingredients for 15 minutes before mixing with the wet ingredients.
- Cold scone dough = successful scone dough.
- Shaggy looking scone dough = successful scone dough.
- A brush of buttermilk makes your scones shimmery and even more crusty on top.
- High oven temp ensures that irresistibly golden brown crust.
- Pink raspberry glaze > boring white glaze.
Video Tutorial
If you’re interested, I have a 5 minute video demonstrating the scone recipe. I’m making blueberry scones in this video, but the base recipe and process is the same.
Frozen Grated Butter
Frozen grated butter is key to scone success. As with pie crust, work cold butter into the dry ingredients. The cold butter coats the flour, creating tons of flour coated butter crumbs. When these crumbs melt as the scones bake, they release steam. This steam creates all the delicious flacks inside while the exterior is crumbly, crunchy, and crisp.
Refrigerated butter might melt in the dough as you work with it, but frozen butter will hold out until the oven. And the finer the pieces of cold butter, the less the scones spread and the quicker the butter mixes into the dry ingredients. I recommend grating the frozen butter with a box grater.
Fresh Raspberry Icing
Let’s talk about this pastel pink icing! Make the raspberry icing with raspberries, heavy cream (or any milk), and confectioners’ sugar. All you do is mash the raspberries with a little sugar—to help release the juices—then strain away any lumps. Use a fine mesh sieve. Then just whisk the crushed raspberries into the confectioners’ sugar and milk. Takes about 5 minutes, tops.
Delicious on their own, but these scones are even better with the fresh raspberry icing. Embrace the pink seeping into all the cracks and crevices. 🙂 Vanilla icing is also a wonderful alternative.
More Favorite Berry Recipes
- Raspberry Streusel Bars
- Raspberry Almond Crumb Cake
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Raspberry Danish Twist Bread
- Mixed Berry Galette
- Lemon Blueberry Scones
- Brown Butter Berry Tea Cakes
Raspberry Almond Buttermilk Scones
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These flaky, sweet, and tender raspberry almond buttermilk scones are a must for breakfast. Read through the recipe before beginning. You can skip the chilling for 15 minutes prior to baking, but I highly recommend it to prevent the scones from over-spreading. Feel free to replace the raspberry icing with vanilla icing.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk, plus 2 Tablespoons (30ml) for brushing
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 package (6 ounces; 170g; 1 and 1/4 cups) raspberries
- 1/3 cup (37g) sliced almonds
Fresh Raspberry Icing
- 1/2 package (3 ounces; 85g; or about 1/2 cup) raspberries
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) heavy cream or milk
Instructions
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, 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. See video above for a closer look at the texture. Place in the refrigerator or freezer as you mix the wet ingredients together.
- Whisk 1/2 cup buttermilk, egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the raspberries, then mix together until everything appears moistened.
- Pour onto the counter 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. Press into an 8-inch disc and, with a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges.
- Brush scones with remaining buttermilk and top with sliced almonds. (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.)
- Place scones on a plate or lined baking sheet (if your fridge has space!) and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat 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 as you prepare the icing.
- Make the icing: Toss the raspberries and granulated sugar together. Vigorously stir to break up the raspberries. Allow to sit for 5 minutes as the raspberries let out their juices. Strain the raspberries through a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl. Use a spoon to press them through, extracting all the juices. You’ll have about 3 Tablespoons of juice. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar and milk. Add a little more confectioners’ sugar to thicken or more milk to thin, if desired. Drizzle over warm scones.
- Leftover iced or un-iced scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls, Box Grater, Pastry Cutter, Baking Sheet, Silpat Baking Mat, Pastry Brush, Fine Mesh Sieve
- 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 icing. 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. When ready to serve, top with icing.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare scones through step 4. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Continue with the recipe the following day.
- 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 its triangle shape (or whatever shape) using a rubber spatula.
- Raspberries: It can be difficult to avoid smashing the raspberries as you work with the dough. That’s OK! Handle the dough with care and always use floured hands and a floured work surface.
- Buttermilk: You can substitute heavy cream for buttermilk if desired. Acidic buttermilk isn’t needed in order for the scones to rise since we’re using baking powder. However if you’d like the tangy flavor you can make your own sour milk substitute. Add 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1/2 cup. Whisk together, then let sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe. For the extra 2 Tablespoons needed for brushing on top of the scones, you can use regular milk or heavy cream. Whole milk is best for the DIY sour milk substitute, though lower fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch. (The scones will spread more if using lower fat or nondairy milks.)
Keywords: raspberry almond scones, raspberry scones, scones
Love all your recipe, tips and techniques. I did make these scones, and added 1/2 tsp of baking soda because of the buttermilk. They spread a little even after chilling for about 1/2 hour. Should I leave the baking soda out next time?
Hi Mia! Yes, leave the baking soda out next time.
I first made the blueberry scones and it turned out wonderful even better than Starbucks! The raspberry scones also turned out great for me and my boyfriend loved them more than the blueberry recipe! I used whipping cream both times and my dough was always a bit on a the dryer side so I always added a splash more. For the raspberry recipe I froze the scones for over an hour before baking then applied the whipping cream on top with a brush before adding the almonds. Turned out great! Thank you!
★★★★★
These were perfect! No problem with wet dough at all. I made them as written with two exceptions:
1. To avoid raspberry blending, I just laid all the raspberries on top of the dough disk, then simply folded up the disk and re-formed it gently.
2. I refrigerated the scones for at least an hour before baking. They did not spread in the oven!
It really helps to keep everything in the fridge or freezer in advance.
They took longer to bake, however, by a good 15 minutes. These scones are incredible!
★★★★★
I just checked on mine after about 10 minutes in the oven. They are spreading, and it appears that all the butter is oozing out so they’re in puddles of it. I would recommend more flour; fewer raspberries and NOT overly ripe and mushy; and mix the dough, form into a disc, spread the raspberries on top, and then fold over and re-form before cutting into triangles. That way the juices will be less apt to make the dough too wet (which mine totally was). The dough looked like hamburger meat. Not what I was hoping for!
★
Unfortunately the dough was way too wet and it spread in the oven. This is the first recipe of Sally’s I’ve ever not had turn out. Such a good source for recipes usually so I’m sure this is a fluke! The rasberries added too much moisture so I would increase the flour next time.
★
Good flavor, but I cooked it for the minimum time and the bottoms completely burned.
★★
Love love love these scones. I don’t really like things sweet so I used 1/3 c sugar and skip the glaze although i might do it for company… the dough is very soft/mushy, but I just lump it into a flat circle, bake for 20 mins, cut the scones and separate and then bake for 5 more minutes. Claim your scone! They don’t last long! I also freeze the raspberries for a less pink dough… but my family says they don’t really care, they just want it in their mouths! I agree!! Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
After making the lemon blueberry, I was very excited to make these today. Sadly, they just didn’t come out right! The batter was very, very sticky and wet. Left them in the freezer for 4 hours, and they were still wet and almost impossible to cut without turning to mush. I then baked and they spread a TON! Also, baking at 400° was too hot for my oven and they burned on the bottom. I took 2 of the scones and returned them to a bowl and added about a tablespoon of flour, remixed and then baked. They came out tough and chewy with hardly any flavor. The frosting was super thick and I needed to add way more milk than the recipe called for, and making way more glaze than I could ever use. Not sure why this version was such a flop, but ’ll def give them another shot- adding more flour and reducing the oven temperature may make all the difference.
★★★
THRILLINGLY good, with a perfect texture and lovely crisp top. My tiny changes: cream plus a bit of thinned yogurt instead of buttermilk, cream+coarse sugar topping instead of icing because I love that, 1/3 c sugar instead of 1/2, brief freezer time for my farmers market raspberries before assembly. Sally, I feel zero need or desire to try anyone else’s scone recipe, ever: you were my first, haha, and you’re still the one!
★★★★★
These scones are amazing! I have used a number of your baking recipes and I love your step by step approach, especially when making scones. The extra hints are helpful to read before the making and baking begins! I had extra raspberry icing left over and plan to use that tasty topping on a small pan of brownies!
My dough came out really sticky. I even added 2 cups of flour and it did not turn out well. Will not be making this recipe again.
Seconding this, I doubled the flour and it was still a sticky mess. Kinda disappointed and confused with this odd dough
★★
Mine turned out delicious!!! At first the dough was super dry so I added more heavy cream (I used heavy cream instead of buttermilk) and it made it so much better. I didn’t have any other problems, thank you so much for the recipe!
★★★★★
Also, I chilled the scones for about an hour (instead of 15 mins) before baking and I definitely think that helped with them not spreading. The raspberries I ended up mushing a lot but it didn’t really matter because my dough was already too dry.
Thank you!
★★★★★
Doubled the recipe, didn’t use nuts
Didn’t need all the buttermilk and the mixture was v v sticky. I sort of dropped large spoonfuls of dough into the tray. V tasty.
★★★★★
Unbelievable scones, not sure I’ll bother with the glaze next time. Might do raspberry lemon.
I was a scone hater… not anymore. Thanks Sally!
★★★★★
I made these scones and they were unlike any scone I ever made. The dough was very wet, so wet that I had trouble removing them from my work surface to the baking sheet. The finished product had spread like pancakes and the texture was chewy – rather than the flaky and crumbly texture that a scone should have. I did freeze my raspberries before using to prevent them from bleeding into the dough too much and there was a lot of the white frozen condensation on each berry, that could have accounted for some of the extra wetness.
★★
I made these after making the blueberry lemon scones (which were amazing!!) and I’m frustrated with how these turned out. I can only imagine it’s because I decided to do mini scones, so I compiled the funfetti recipe and this one to make small pieces. I cooked them at the same temp for about 16 minutes and they burnt. So sad!
★★★★
Hi sally! I’ve been making so many of your recipes during this quarantine and all have turned out great! My boyfriend loves scones and I wanted to make these for him however I have no buttermilk and I couldn’t find any last time I was out, any suggestions for a replacement? Would 10% cream work?
Hi Carol! So glad to read this. See my recipe note about buttercream replacement. You can definitely try your cream.
I use recipes on this site for just about every baked good. This is the first that didn’t turn out as expected. It was already too sticky (despite putting everything in freezer between steps or as I worked on other things), but then in mixing my raspberries exploded and it turned into a soupy consistency. Realizing how much more dry ingredients would be needed to make these scones, I just added some white chocolate chips and hoped they’d turn out like cakey cookies–they did! They’re still good, just not what I was originally going for!
★★★
Hi Sally, I made your cranberry lemon scones and I must say they are the best. I love them. My old scone recipe did not have an egg in it and I’m convinced that made a big difference. Theses are five stars for sure. I love making scones and make them on a regular basis for my family.
Happy baking.
Hi Sally!
I made these raspberry almond scones for the first time today. They taste great but they did spread. I’ve made scones before and haven’t had a problem with spreading. Have not used your recipe for scones before. The dough was pretty wet and sticky, maybe I should have added flour but was not sure exactly how wet the dough was supposed to be. I cut them in rounds and had 11 scones. I followed all of your suggestions to keep the dough cold, it was really cold when I popped them in the oven. Any ideas ?
★★★★★
Hi Nancy, I’m glad you enjoyed the taste of the scones! For a good visual of the texture of the dough be sure to watch the video in the post above – that should help you in determining if you need more flour. For round scones instead of the triangle shape you can see my Banana Nut Scones for how I shaped them into 12 round servings. And sometimes when we do everything right they will still spread a little…see recipe note #5 for how to fix them.
Thanks for the recipe Sally. I followed your recipe exactly except for two things: no almond extract, so I added an extra 1/2 t. vanilla and no slivered almonds, so I just chopped some almonds.
These scones met every expectation I had for them. So delicious, so tender, so satisfying!!
★★★★★
Wow these were a hit! I froze the raspberries to keep them from adding too much liquid to the dough…. but i wasn’t thinking and let these refrigerate overnight. The raspberries melted and my perfect looking scones were not pretty liquid. So i added some flour, soaked up the juices i could, and baked them hoping for the best. They actually turned out PERFECTLY. My family commented that scones can be too bland but these were flavorful and the perfect level of sweetness. We used about half the glaze.
★★★★★
Hi sally! I’m planning on making this for Christmas and have a question. I’ve seen some people have issues with the dough being too wet from the raspberry juice, so would it be a good idea to freeze the raspberries first? I know that’s what you did in your cranberry scone recipe and I’ve seen other recipes call for that. Do you think that would work or should i just stick with fresh raspberries and add more flour as needed? Thanks!
Definitely try freezing them first. The colder the raspberries, the less they tend to break and leak.
I am having a blast making eight scone variations for Christmas gifts! I haven’t tasted one yet but they are beautiful and smell heavenly. I did want to share a “fail” because it is so funny . . . a bit like the show Nailed It. I have made four batches today Blueberry Lemon, Cranberry Orange, Chocolate Chip and Raspberry Almond . . . here is a pic of the chocolate chip (rats can’t attach pics) . . . could they be any more perfect?? And then there is the raspberry almond blob . . . I think it is because I used frozen berries and it made the dough too wet. I am going to try again with fresh berries. When my cinnamon chips arrive Tues (omg been to every grocery in town and ended up ordering from Amazon), making another batch of Raspberry Almond, Cinnamon Chip and Apple Caramel. Just tasted the Raspberry Almond . . . soooooo good!! Definitely going to re-do on those!
★★★★★
Can I leave out the almonds and almond extract?
Absolutely!
These were so delicious! I handled them a bit too much and squished the raspberries, but I added some extra flour to make up for it absolutely they tasted amazing!
Can I use frozen raspberries?
Sure can! I recommend fresh for the icing though.
I made these today but forgot the put the sugar in the scones, but they were still delicious due the to sweetness of the raspberries and the glaze.
Your scone recipes are amazing! I was wondering if I could substitute frozen cherries instead of raspberries? I’m looking for a recipe for a cherry scone but I’m not finding anything online. Thanks
Sure can! I use this scone base subbing in different fruits for the add-ins. Same amount of frozen cherries. Enjoy!