Best Buttery Vegan Scones (Easy)
These really are the Best Buttery Vegan Scones you’ll ever eat. They’re tender, golden and moist packed with raisins, lemon and spread with coconut cream and jam. Plus they’re fail-proof, naturally egg-free and dairy-free.
If you love a classic scone (or shortcake as they are known in America) then these are going to be your new favourite – and no-one would ever tell they are vegan. I have been making these scones for years and often bring them to tea parties, gatherings or make to enjoy with a cup of tea in the afternoon and they always receive such high praise. So, I am finally sharing the recipe with you here and they are so much easier than you think.
Why will I love these scones?
You are going to love these scones, they are:
- Buttery, golden and tender
- Moist, fluffy and crisp outside
- Easy to make in one bowl
- Naturally vegan, egg-free and dairy-free
- Quick to make
- Great for afternoon tea parties
- Delicious warm and cold
- Amazing spread with more vegan butter or jam and (vegan) cream
If you already love the sound of these easy butter scones, skip ahead to the recipe card. Or, first let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.
What ingredients do I need?
The ingredient list is simple:
- Lemon: we use the zest and juice for these scones. The zest is for flavour and the juice is to create a buttermilk and bind the sconces.
- Plant-based milk: use your favourite milk here like oat, almond or soya.
- Sugar: I use regular caster sugar as it’s fine and will work better in the dough but you can try coconut sugar, too.
- Self-raising flour and baking powder: for the rise. These puff up a lot while baking which is perfect.
- Plant-based butter: this is important for the overall buttery taste of these classic bakes. I use the salted Flora Plant Based Butter which is my favourite (and happily I worked with them on this recipe too) and works really well. I do prefer salted butter as it adds more flavour.
- Vanilla essence: for flavour.
- Raisins: these are great for add-ins to the scones but you can also use sultanas or other dried fruits. Or if you prefer, you can leave them out and these make delicious plain scones.
Are these gluten-free and nut-free?
I have not tried these with gluten-free flour, but make sure you use a 1:1 baking blend with xanthan gum and let me know how you get on. These are nut-free, just check that all of your ingredients are also free of nuts.
How do I make them?
These are so easy to make:
- Mix the plant milk and lemon juice: and allow to curdle into a buttermilk.
- Rub the lemon zest and sugar: to bring out the lemon flavour.
- Stir the flour and baking powder into the sugar mix: to combine.
- Cube the butter and add to the bowl: use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour to form a crumble with no big lumps of butter.
- Make a well in the middle and add the milk and raisins: and bring to a shaggy dough with a spoon then your hands.
- Tip onto a lightly floured surface and roll: to about 1-inch thickness.
- Cut out the scones and place on a tray: repeat to use all the dough.
- Brush with the maple and milk “egg wash”: on top.
- Bake until golden, risen and delicious: and enjoy warm or cold.
Are there any top tips?
These are fail-proof scones, but a few things that are important:
- Oven temperature: these cook at a high temperature and quickly so don’t be tempted to change either of these factors. When baked, they’ll be lightly golden on top and golden underneath. They also carry on cooking in the middle as they cool.
- Good quality (vegan) butter: this is important for the overfall buttery flavour of these scones so don’t swap this for coconut oil. Dairy-free spread can be used, but I prefer the plant-based block of butter alternative (salted is my favourite).
- Don’t brush them too much with the milk mix on top: if there is too much “egg” wash on top, the liquid will drip down and prevent the classic crack half way up the scone.
- When rubbing the butter and flour together: shake the bowl every now and then so that the big bits of butter come to the top.
- Don’t roll the dough too thin: even though they puff up nicely, it’s important the dough remains quick chunky.
- Use clean crisp force to cut out the scones: and don’t wiggle around too much as this can distort the shape.
- Be careful not to overmix the dough: which can result in dry scones.
- Re-roll any scraps: but note that these ones are always slightly tougher and may not be quite as well-shaped. Gently pish together the scraps rather than working them too much.
How long will they last?
These are always best eaten on the same day, so I make them in the morning to serve warm or cold later on. But they will keep in a sealed container for 1-2 days. You can also freeze them, wrapped well, and allow to defrost before eating.
What else can I make?
If you are looking for other afternoon delights, how about my:
- Raspberry White Chocolate Oat Cookies
- Cinnamon Caramel Apple Cupcakes
- Cherry Bakewell Cookies
- Chocolate Cherry Amaretto Cupcakes
- Vegan Pimm’s Cake
Best Buttery Vegan Scones (Easy)
These really are the Best Buttery Vegan Scones you’ll ever eat. They’re tender, golden and moist packed with raisins, lemon and spread with coconut cream and jam. Plus they’re fail-proof, naturally egg-free and dairy-free.
Ingredients
For the Scones:
- 1 lemon (zest and juice)
- 180ml plant-based milk
- 60g caster sugar
- 350g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 90g vegan butter, cubed
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 80g raisins
For the Glaze:
- 1 tbsp plant-based milk
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
To Serve:
- Extra butter, strawberry jam, coconut cream, fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200Fan/220ºC and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
- Prepare the lemon: zest the lemon and then juice it, we only need 1/2 tbsp. Stir the plant-based milk and lemon together in a small jug and leave for 5 minutes to curdle and form a buttermilk.
- Make a lemon sugar: add the sugar and lemon zest to a large mixing bowl and rub together with your fingers.
- For the scones: now sift in the flour and baking powder and add the salt. Stir to mix and make a well in the centre. Add in the cubes of Flora Plant-Based butter and rub together with your fingers to make a crumbly mix with no big lumps. Pour in the buttermilk, vanilla essence and raisins and bring to a shaggy mix with a spoon. Now bring together with your hands.
- To shape the scones: lightly flour a surface and tip the dough onto the surface. Lightly knead for a few seconds to smooth out and then roll out to about 2-3cm (1-inch) thickness. Use a cookie cutter (for regular scones use a 7-cm cutter or for mini scones use a 5-cm cutter) to cut out as many scones as you can. Then re-roll any scraps to use up the dough.
- To bake: place the scones on the baking tray (leave a small gap around each one as they need to rise). Mix the plant-based milk and maple syrup together and then brush over the top of the scones. Place in the hot oven for 9-10 minutes, rotating the trays after 5 minutes (smaller scones will cook in 8 minutes).
- To eat: remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. You can now eat them warm spread with more Flora Plant-Based butter or allow to cool and eat with jam, coconut cream and strawberries.
- To store: best eaten the same day or once cool, store in a sealed container for 1-2 days. You can freeze the scones for 1 month, wrapped well and allow to defrost before eating.
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Stay in touch
I look forward to hearing what you think of these Best Buttery Vegan Scones so please let me know in the comments below and leave a star review above. If you do make these, I’d love to see so please tag me, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – please say hello!
With buttery love x
p.s. this recipe was first made with Flora Plant who are my favourite brand of vegan butter, bit this blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own.
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