Sometimes Saturday morning calls for an indulgent, fluffy, cinnamon-sweet apple scone to accompany a fresh brewed mug of hot coffee. If that sounds like Heaven to you, then give these chai spiced apple scones a try!
Made with both whole wheat and all-purpose flour, plain low-fat yogurt, maple syrup, almond milk, a delicious blend of chai spices, and just 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, these chai spiced apple scones are healthier AND delicious!
Using yogurt and 1/3 of the typical amount of butter does result in more cakey than flaky scones, but trust me, they are still very scrumptious!
This recipe was originally written in 2020, but was updated in July 2023. While the original recipe was yummy, we decided to rework it a bit to make it even better. This new recipe includes apple pieces, a modified glaze that sets better, a few minor changes to the spices in the batter, and a modified bake time.
Ingredients
- Apples – Fuji, gala, or granny smith apples work great in this recipe. They maintain their crispness when baked and don’t turn mushy.
- Flour – we use a mix of all-purpose and white whole wheat flour. You can also use 100% all-purpose flour.
- Yogurt – plain or Greek yogurt work well in this recipe. You can also use full fat or reduced fat. We’ve tried all kinds of yogurt with similar results. Just know that using yogurt will yield cakey scones, not flaky biscuit like scones.
- Butter – we prefer to use vegan butter to cut back on the fat content, but you can also use unsalted butter. We recommend using unsalted butter so that you can season with salt to your taste.
- Spices – apple pie spice, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cardamom, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg round out the flavorful and sweet flavors of these scones.
- Maple syrup – a natural sweetener that adds a subtly maple flavor to these scones.
- Milk – we prefer to use vanilla unsweetened almond milk in these scones, but you can swap in your milk of choice.
- Vanilla extract – for a touch of vanilla sweetness.
- Baking powder and baking soda – leavening agents.
- Salt – to help amplify all the other flavors.
How to Make Chai Spiced Apple Scones
Make the Scone Batter
Move the oven rack to the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425F. Then line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk the dry ingredients together. In a large bowl combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, apple pie spice, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg. Mix well to distribute the ingredients.
Add 2 tablespoons of cold, cubed unsalted or vegan butter. Use a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry mix until it is broken down into fine crumbs.
In a small bowl, combine yogurt, vanilla, maple syrup, and almond milk. Whisk well to incorporate.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Fold in the apples. Avoid mixing too much. It’s okay to have a few floury spots in the batter. Over mixing can result in tougher scones. Note that the batter will be fairly thick and somewhat sticky. This is normal for this recipe.
Shape the Scones and Bake
Transfer the dough to the parchment lined baking sheet. Form the dough into a roughly ¾” tall circle and cut into 6 to 8 equal pieces. The dough will be slightly sticky, so you may want to flour your hands before forming the dough to prevent sticking.
If you prefer scones with crispier exteriors, brush the tops of the scones with milk of choice before baking.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the tops are a light golden brown. Remove the scones from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Let the scones cool for at least 20 minutes. We want the scones to be completely cool before we glaze them, otherwise the glaze will melt.
Glaze the Scones
In a small bowl, combine melted butter, milk, vanilla, maple syrup, and apple pie spice.
Add the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time, whisking to incorporate. Continue adding powdered sugar in this fashion until your glaze reaches the desired consistency. Set aside.
Test that the scones are done cooling by dabbing a bit of glaze on the top of the scone. If the glaze melts the scones are still too hot. If the glaze keeps its form, the scones are cool and you can complete the glazing.
I use a spoon and gently sweep the glaze in a zig-zag pattern along the scone. You can also make a quick piping bag by transferring the glaze to a small Ziploc bag. Push the glaze to one corner of the bag and snip a small triangle from the bag. Pipe the glaze along the scone in a zig-zag pattern. This will give you a more refined glaze pattern, but it’s not really necessary.
Or you can simply apply the glaze as you would butter, spreading it along the top of the scones.
Let the glaze set a minute or two, then enjoy!
How to Store
Regardless of the storage method, you should allow the scones to cool completely before storing.
- Room temperature – store the scones in an airtight container and keep at room temperature for 1-2 days. Fresh scones do not generally keep well after that at room temperature.
- Refrigerator – store these scones in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freezer – store scones in a freezer safe container, like a freezer Ziploc bag, and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. For better results, we also recommend individually wrapping each scone with plastic wrap. We also recommend not glazing the scones if you plan on freezing them. Once thawed, you can glaze the scones, if desired.
- Defrost/Reheat – To gradually defrost frozen scones, remove the desired number of scones from the freezer and allow them to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before eating then reheat 10 seconds at a time in the microwave. You can also defrost scones overnight. For a quick defrost/reheat, pop the scones in the microwave at 50% heat and microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute, or until warmed throughout.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- How long do scones last – scones are good for 1 to 2 days at room temperature and up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
- Are scones biscuits – No. Scones and biscuits are deceptively similar. Biscuits are typically made with buttermilk, which results in the fluffy, flaky layers. English and American scones typically use cream and eggs (although our recipe uses neither), which results in a tighter texture.
- What is the difference between American and English scones – American scones are typically sweeter than English scones, have a higher fat to flour ratio, and are much more likely to contain mix-ins, like fruit, nuts, and chocolate, and glazes. It’s common for British scones to be served with butter, jam, and clotted cream.
Check out our other breakfast bakes
- Cranberry Dark Chocolate Cake Scones
- Hearty Morning Harvest Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Oat Muffins
- Cinnamon Zucchini Bread
Let us know what you think about this recipe for chai spiced apple scones by dropping a comment and/or rating on the recipe card below. Also, please consider sharing on social media/Pinterest if you enjoyed this recipe. We greatly appreciate it! 🙂
Chai Spiced Apple Scones
Ingredients
Chai Spiced Scones
- 1 c unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¾ c whole wheat flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp apple pie spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cubed
- ½ c plain or Greek yogurt (full fat or reduced fat)
- ¼ c + 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp vanilla unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 fuji, gala, or granny smith apple, cored, finely diced
Cinnamon Glaze
- 1 Tbsp unsalted or vegan butter, melted
- 1 Tbsp vanilla unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- ¼ tsp apple pie spice
- ¾ – 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Move the oven rack to the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425℉. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, apple pie spice, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg. Mix the ingredients together.
- Add 2 tablespoons of cold, cubed butter. Use a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry mix until it is broken down into fine crumbs.
- In a small bowl, combine yogurt, vanilla, maple syrup, and almond milk. Whisk well to incorporate. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Fold in the apples. Avoid mixing too much. It's okay to have a few floury spots in the batter.
- Transfer the dough to the parchment lined baking sheet. Form the dough into a roughly ¾” tall circle and cut into 6 to 8 equal pieces. The dough will be slightly sticky, so you may want to flour your hands before forming the dough to prevent sticking.
- If you prefer scones with crispier exteriors, brush the tops of the scones with milk before baking. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the tops are a light golden brown. Remove the scones from the oven transfer to a wire rack. Let the scones cool for at least 20 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine melted butter, milk, vanilla, maple syrup, and apple pie spice. Add the powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time, whisking to incorporate. Continue adding powdered sugar in this fashion until the glaze reaches the desired consistency.
- Once the scones are completely cool, drizzle with the glaze. You can use a spoon to drizzle the icing in a zig-zag fashion or you can spread the glaze across the top. Allow the scones to sit for a few minutes so the glaze can set. Enjoy!
Notes
- How long do scones last – scones are good for 1 to 2 days at room temperature and up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
- Are scones biscuits – No. Scones and biscuits are deceptively similar. Biscuits are typically made with buttermilk, which results in the fluffy, flaky layers. English and American scones typically use cream and eggs (although our recipe uses neither), which results in a tighter texture.
- What is the difference between American and English scones – American scones are typically sweeter than English scones, have a higher fat to flour ratio, and are much more likely to contain mix-ins, like fruit, nuts, and chocolate, and glazes. It’s common for British scones to be served with butter, jam, and clotted cream.
Yum! These look delish. Definitely on my bucket list to make 🙂
You won’t regret it! Just keep an eye on them, they can go from perfect golden brown to a little too crispy in a second haha! 🙂