Vegan Scones

Name: Vegan Scones
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1 batch vegan buttermilk; 100 g vegan Greek-style yogurt (or vegan sour cream/coconut yogurt); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 480 g all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon sea salt; 100 g vegan butter (block-style) (cold and cubed *see note 1); 60 g granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk; 1 ½ teaspoons maple syrup

When I worked in a hotel kitchen during my college placements, Irish buttermilk scones were something I would prepare every morning. So it's about time that I tried to make these scones vegan!

They're so delicious for breakfast, brunch, or as a snack with some jam and cream and a freshly brewed cup of tea! They have an incredibly tender and flaky crumb and are light and airy on the inside with a nice golden crust.

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🧾 Ingredients Needed
🥣 How To Make Vegan Scones
🧈 Variations
💡Recipe Tips
💬 FAQs
🥧 More Vegan Brunch Recipes
Vegan Scones

🧾 Ingredients Needed

Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.

The best vegan scones come together with less than 10 simple ingredients. Here's what you'll need:

Looking for more high tea snacks? Try my vegan recipes for bakewell tart, date walnut cake, sausage rolls, and mince pies next.

Ingredient Notes

Homemade Vegan Buttermilk - I swear by this for vegan baking, and it is the star in making these scones fluffy and tender. It's a simple mixture of non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Soy milk is preferable due to its protein content, but you can also use almond milk or oat milk.
Vegan Butter - This recipe calls for block-style unsalted butter (stick butter), not spreadable margarine from a tub. Getting the butter ratio in this recipe was tricky, too little and they ended up dry, too much and fat prevented them from rising enough.
Vegan Yogurt - I use vegan Greek-style yogurt, but you can also use thick coconut yogurt. This adds moisture and a beautiful tangy flavor to the scones and it also acts as an egg replacer.
Baking Powder - A lot of recipes for scones will call for self-raising flour, but I don't usually keep this to hand so we're using all-purpose flour (plain flour) and baking powder instead. Make sure your baking powder is fresh and if it's been in your cupboard a while, test it to make sure it's active first.

🥣 How To Make Vegan Scones

While this vegan scone recipe is pretty straightforward, I do recommend reading through this post and the detailed recipe card at the end of this page first to make sure you're prepared. Here's a visual of how it's done:

Step 1: Add the non-dairy buttermilk, yogurt, and vanilla extract to a jug, mix, and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Rub the cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles bread crumbs. A few bigger lumps of butter in the mixture are fine. Stir in the sugar.

Step 3: Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the ice cold buttermilk mixture.

Step 4: Bring the dough together using a rubber spatula until just combined. It should be quite tacky and sticky.

Step 5: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use a pastry scraper to bring the dough together into a rectangle. Fold the dough over itself 3 times to create flaky layers.

Step 6: Using a dusted cookie cutter, cut out the scones and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refold and repeat with the remaining dough until you have cut out all the scones.

Step 7: Chill the scones on the baking tray for 30 minutes and then brush the tops with vegan eggwash just before baking.

Step 8: Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 14-15 minutes until risen and golden on top.

🧈 Variations

I love these classic scones as written, but here are some ways you can add your twist to them:

Fruit Scones - Add up to 100g of dried sultanas or raisins to the dough. Stir these into the dry ingredients with the sugar before adding the wet ingredients.
Zest - Add a hint of citrus by adding 1-2 teaspoons of freshly grated orange zest or lemon zest to the dough. I suggest rubbing this into the sugar before mixing it into the flour.
Chocolate Chip Scones - Add 100g of vegan chocolate chips along with the sugar before adding in the wet ingredients.

💡Recipe Tips

Use ice-cold wet ingredients. The key to amazing scones is keeping the dough nice and cold. For best results, I recommend mixing your wet ingredients and placing them in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Don't overflour your surface. This is quite a sticky and tacky dough, but the more you refrain from flouring it the better it will bake up! Very lightly dust your surface as needed.

Don't twist the cookie cutter. Make sure you dust the cutter with flour before pressing it down into the dough, then carefully lift it back up without twisting it.

Bake at a high heat. Scones are baked in a hot oven for a short time. This creates tall scones that have a golden brown crust on the outside and are light and airy on the inside. Lower oven temperatures will give the scones a dense texture.

Vegan eggwash. Brush only the tops of the scones with milk wash before baking. You just want to glaze the tops so that they crust and caramelize while leaving the sides bare so that the scones rise properly.

💬 FAQs

How to store vegan scones?

Scones are at their very best when freshly baked, but can be kept in a sealed ziplock bag or airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. They will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Before serving, I recommend reheating them in a preheated oven to freshen them up. Bake at 160C/320°F for 5 minutes until warmed.

How long should you rest scones before baking?

Chill the scones for 30 minutes before baking. This allows the gluten to rest and helps the butter to solidify again, which will result in a flakier consistency with a tall fluffy rise.

Can you freeze scones?

Yes, but for best results freeze the dough before baking.

Once you have shaped your scones, place them on a tray and refrigerate as usual for 30 minutes to an hour so that they firm up. Then carefully transfer them to a ziplock bag or airtight container lined with parchment. Do not stack the scones on top of each other, rather place them side by side with a parchment to separate them and stop them from sticking to each other.

You can then bake them as per the recipe from frozen, adding a couple of minutes to the baking time as needed.

What's the difference between American scones and British scones/Irish scones?

These scones are based on the traditional Irish and British variations. In the US, scones are often baked into a round cake that's cut into wedges, whereas the European version is more often shaped into individual discs.

I have also noticed that American scones often include fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, etc, and a drizzle of icing on top. Whereas British scones are often kept plain and served with butter, clotted cream, and jam.