Buttery, flaky, moist, and stuffed with sweet, spiced apple butter - these Apple Butter Scones are a celebration of cozy fall flavors. Like something you might find at a fancy pastry shop, these scones are so special and really fun to make and eat.
Recipe Background and Details
In order to use up my Homemade Apple Butter, I have built up quite collection of recipes that use apple butter here on the old blog. Well what would that collection be without a scone recipe? I dreamt up these apple butter stuffed scones quite some time ago around the same time I was working on these Layered Pumpkin Chocolate Scones, and I am happy to report they are a dream come true! It worked better than I imagined and now I'm thinking of all the other delicious things I can stuff inside a scone!
If you love apple butter, give my Slow Cooker Apple Butter recipe a try and use it to make these scones as well my Easy Apple Butter Puff Pastry Braid, Apple Butter Muffins, No-Churn Apple Butter Ice Cream (yes, ice cream!), and Apple Butter Snack Cake. Apple butter is such a nostalgic fall treat and I really love to wallow in it this time of year if you can't tell!
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Ingredients
I used my standard scone recipe as the base for these scones but of course I added a bit of cinnamon to make them cozy.
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- baking powder
- ground cinnamon or apple pie spice
- salt
- unsalted butter, grated (you can absolutely use salted and I often do)
- heavy cream
- egg
- vanilla extract
- apple butter
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
The process is just like making a regular scone except we will stuff and stack them before slicing. This part is not difficult but it's different, so use the photos as a guide and make sure you use plenty of flour on your surface so the dough doesn't stick. If at any point you feel the butter is getting melty, pop the dough in the fridge to let it firm up before proceeding. This should not be an issue if you use very cold ingredients and your kitchen is cool, but just in case!
Step 1: Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Add very cold grated butter.
Step 3: mix until all butter is incorporated and coated with flour.
Step 4: mix wet ingredients in a large glass measuring cup or bowl.
Step 5: drizzle wet ingredients over dry ingredients while mixing.
Step 6: form dough into a cohesive ball in bowl before turning out onto floured surface.
stacking and layering: after shaping the dough into a rectangle in step 6, I like to cut it in half, stack it, press it back down into a rectangle and repeat. This creates lots of flaky layers.
Step 7: Roll dough to about ½ inch thickness and try for a rectangular shape. Mark where the scones will be cut, make an indentation, and top with apple butter.
Step 8: Place the 2nd piece of dough on top and cut scones. Don't stress if apple butter oozes out - it most certainly will and that's ok.
Step 9: After 30 minutes freezing, top scones with cream and sugar.
Step 10: Bake until golden and enjoy!
What is the secret to making good scones?
- Start with cold ingredients - cold butter, cold egg, cold cream - some people freeze the dry ingredients and the bowls/utensils. I think that's overkill.
- Something new I've been doing is to grate the cold butter on a box grater. It is a game changer and creates the perfect butter to flour ratio (and no need to use a pastry cutter! Woohoo!)
- Err on the side of too little liquid - it is better to have a slightly dry dough than a too-wet dough. You can incorporate the dryer bits as you are folding and stacking the dough.
- Mix gently - my weapon of choice is a fork - while slowly drizzling in wet ingredients. You aren't trying to develop any gluten in these tender babies.
- Once mixed, divide and stack dough 2-3 times to get perfect, flaky layers.
- Freeze dough for 30 minutes or more before baking (see make ahead tips below).
Make Ahead and Storage
Cooled scones will keep, covered at room temperature, for 3 days.
Once shaped, unbaked scones can be frozen for up to 3 months if wrapped tightly to prevent freezer-burn. Bake straight from the freezer.
Related - more scone recipes
Apple Butter Scones
Buttery, flaky, moist, and stuffed with sweet, spiced apple butter - these Apple Butter Scones are a celebration of cozy fall flavors. Like something you might find at a fancy pastry shop, these scones are so special and really fun to make and eat.
- Total Time: about 1 hour
- Yield: 6 large scones
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon or apple pie spice
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (½ pound) unsalted butter, grated (you can absolutely use salted and I often do)
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
about 1 cup apple butter
a few tablespoons of cream for brushing scones before baking
a few tablespoons of sugar for sprinkling scones before baking
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add the grated butter and mix until the butter is all incorporated and coated with flour
- Mix the cream with the egg and vanilla in a large, spouted measuring cup. Pour the cream in slowly while gently stirring the dry ingredients with a fork just until it comes together.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. Cut dough in half and stack one half on top of the other, press back into a rough rectangle. Repeat this process one more time. The stacking process creates perfect, flaky layers.
- Next, roll dough out into a large rectangle about ½ inch thick. See photos in blog post for reference. Cut this rectangle in half through the center so you have two squares.
- On one of the squares, mark 6 even rectangles. Using your fingers or a small measuring spoon, make an indentation down the middle of each rectangle.
- Place about 2 tablespoons of apple butter inside each indentation.
- Lift the second square of dough and place it gently on top of the square with apple butter. Line up the edges as best you can.
- Slice scones using a bench scraper or sharp knife. It's ok if some apple butter oozes out.
- Place scones onto parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes while you clean up and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- After scones have chilled, brush them with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake scones for 20-25 minutes, tenting with foil after about 15 minutes if the tops are getting too brown.
- Enjoy warm or room temperature.
Notes
I like to make these into larger "bakery-style" scones as it is just easier to stuff them. You can make them smaller using the same process and just make them into smaller squares instead of large rectangles. I have not tried making these into the common triangle/wedge style but I think it would work just fine.
Cooled scones will keep, covered at room temperature, for 3 days.
Once shaped, unbaked scones can be frozen for up to 3 months if wrapped tightly to prevent freezer-burn. Bake straight from the freezer.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes plus chilling
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: scones, breads, breakfast, fall
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
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