These Simple Snickerdoodle Scones are tender, delightful scones that taste so much like the popular snickerdoodle cookies! First the dough is laced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Then you scoop them up and bake them. Finally, you brush the scones with a thin sweet cinnamon glaze and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar on the top. The scones have a nice crunchy sweet “crust”, with a soft, tender crumb inside. They are oh so perfect to enjoy with your morning coffee or a cup of tea.
Made with white whole wheat flour, milk and Greek yogurt, these scones are not only delicious, they’re healthier than your typical fat-laden, white flour scone too! The yogurt steps in to replace some of the butter. And it also contributes to the lovely tender texture.
Snickerdoodle Scones for Valentine’s Day
It’s February, you guys. That means it’s almost Valentine’s Day. I don’t have a “valentine” to spoil, but I do have a couple (adult) kids that love scones. And I love making them treats that they enjoy. Especially when I can add a little healthier twist to them WITHOUT compromising on taste. To me, making them foods that they love is a way of expressing my intense love for both of them. If you have a snickerdoodle lover in your life, I bet they’d LOVE a batch of these scones for Valentine’s Day.
If you’ve never tried a scone, think of them like a sweet biscuit. Or at least that’s what Americans call a scone. We think of scones as sweet and biscuits as savory. But in Britain a scone is savory and a biscuit is sweet. Isn’t that funny?
I woke up unusually early this Saturday morning with scones on my mind. Every Saturday my kids and I have coffee on the couch. We go to our local coffee shop and get fancy coffees and treats or bagels. Then we bring them home and chill on the couch with jazz music. Our cats usually join us, snuggling between us or laying on the floor. One cat likes to climb onto the window box by the couch and “hide” amongst the plants. We have done this weekly tradition since COVID started. Before then, we used to go to the coffee or bagel shop each Saturday. But once we’d experienced the feeling of lounging about in our own home with our cats, we found we liked it so much better!
This Saturday, my parents were joining us. I was excited to see them, but I had my youngest “kiddo” in mind when I made these scones. They really really really LOVE snickerdoodles.
What Makes these Scones So Super Simple to Make?
I adapted this recipe from Cafe Sucre Farine’s “ridiculously easy” recipe. My method is quite different than hers, but I’d argue that my recipe is even simpler! If you have a food processor, that is. Because my version involves letting that food processor do all the heavy lifting. You use the food processor to mix together the dry ingredients. Then your food processor mixes the butter into the scones. Finally, the food processor whirls together the wet ingredients. All you have to do after that is stir together the dry and the wet mixtures, scoop up the dough with an ice cream scoop and bake. The final step is to “paint” the scones with a light glaze and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Do you have a food processor? Personally, I love my Ninja kitchen system. The one I have is no longer on the market, but this collection is similar. In fact, I’m a little jealous of the NEW collection. My youngest has one of their IQ smoothie makers and it works SO well. Like you put your stuff in the cup, screw on the lid, set it on the blender and press a button. The blender stops and starts several times to get the smoothie mixed just perfectly. (BTW, if you make a purchase using one of the above links, you are helping support the cost of maintaining this blog.)
You can make these scones “plain” without mix-ins. Or you can add some dried fruit and/or nuts like I did for the photo below. Personally, I love the fruit & nut version, but my kids are purists. My parents really enjoyed the fruit and nut version as well.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can cut the butter into the flour with two knives or a potato masher. Or your fingers! Then mix together the dough by hand. It’s not hard. But having a good food processor makes it SO easy!
Print
Simple Snickerdoodle Scones
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 min
- Yield: 12 scones 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Tender, delightful cinnamon scones that take so much like the popular snickerdoodle cookies! These Snickerdoodle scones feature a nice crunchy sweet “crust”, a light glaze, cinnamon sugar sprinkle, with a soft, tender crumb inside.
Ingredients
For the scones:
- 2 1/4 cups white whole wheat or AP flour (or a mix of the two)
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons cold butter
- 1 egg
- About 3/4 cup milk
- 2 Tablespoons plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 – 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Optional mix-ins: 1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins + 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- A pinch of EACH: nutmeg and salt
- 2 – 3 Tablespoons water
For the top: cinnamon sugar and/or finely chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. and line a large baking sheet with silicon mat or spray with cooking spray.
- Put the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a food processor and pulse several times to mix well. Cut the butter into small pieces and add it, a few pieces at a time, pulsing in between, then “blend” for a moment until the butter is fully incorporated into the flour. If using any mix-ins, add them to the flour now and stir to incorporate.
- Pour the flour mixture into a large bowl. Crack the egg in a 1 cup measure and fill the rest of the way with milk. Pour into the food processor along with the Greek yogurt and vanilla. Blend for just a moment to mix well.
- Add the liquid to the flour mixture and stir until well mixed. Use a retractible ice cream scoop to scoop up the dough and plop onto the baking sheet. Leave a little space between the scones. Bake at 400 F. for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- While the scones are cooking, make the glaze by stirring together the ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Start with 2 Tablespoons water and add a tiny bit more at a time until the glaze is thin. Brush the hot scones lightly with the glaze and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and/or pecans. Let sit for a bit to cool, then enjoy!
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Keywords: Scones, Bread, Biscuits, Snickerdoodle, Cinnamon
