Cinnamon Scones (with Cinnamon Chips)
Posted Dec 16, 2018, Updated Dec 03, 2024
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The best cinnamon scones recipe ever! These cinnamon chip scones are buttery & moist, easy to make for breakfast or brunch, and are even better than Starbucks & Panera! Perfect to enjoy with a cup of coffee in the morning.
This cinnamon scones recipe is the absolute best scone I have ever eaten. Fresh from the oven, they will literally change your life.
They are moist and buttery with cinnamon chips in every bite. And they’re easy to make with a handful of simple ingredients.
Cinnamon Scones: Ingredients & Substitutions
While there are a few possible substitutions in this recipe, these truly are the best scones ever, and I do not recommend making changes!
- All-purpose flour. to make them gluten-free, use an all-purpose gluten-free baking flour.
- Granulated sugar. white sugar and organic cane sugar are great choices.
- Salted Butter. unsalted butter or vegan butter are good substitutes.
- Half and Half. Whole milk is the best substitute. Heavy cream is also delicious, you just need to add an extra 1 to 2 Tablespoons of cream to the dough to make it soft and not dry. Or, try buttermilk like in this buttermilk scones recipe.
- Cinnamon Chips. These are optional, but not really! 😉 They really are the secret ingredients that makes these the best cinnamon chip scones ever! Or try these chocolate chip scones.
- Raw Turbinado sugar. I use organic raw turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top of the scones, I find it works the best.
How to Make Cinnamon Scones
Let’s discuss how to make cinnamon scones. They come together easily, but I will share a few tips and tricks with you that will ensure your success (don’t forget to watch the video)!
Begin by adding all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir until they’re combined and the mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout).
Next, cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a fork, a pastry cutter, or your hands. Be careful not to over-mix the ingredients (because that will cause the butter to melt)!
Cold Butter is Key!
It’s important that the butter is cold when added to the dry ingredients. I often cut up the butter and place it in the freezer before I gather the rest of the ingredients and finish step one. This ensures it is very cold when it’s time to be added to the dough.
Next, add the rest of the wet ingredients to the cinnamon scone dough. Be sure that the milk and eggs are cold so the butter doesn’t melt when they are added. Use a spatula to mix the cinnamon scone dough until the mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout).
At this point the scone dough will look crumbly, that is normal. To know if it’s the correct consistency, try to pinch a chunk with your fingers.
If you can pinch the dough together easily, it’s good to go (as pictured below). If it doesn’t hold together and remains powdery, add more half and half 1 tsp at a time until the correct consistency is achieved.
Once the dough is uniform throughout and the correct consistency has been achieved, add the cinnamon chips and mix until they are evenly distributed.
Shape the dough into a 10″ Circle
Dump the cinnamon scone dough out onto a clean surface or pastry slab. Please note the texture in the photo below! The dough will be crumbly but moist!
Use your hands to shape the dough into a 10″ circle. It should hold together very well as it’s shaped, and be a solid circle when you’re finished.
Try to minimize cracks in the cinnamon chip scone dough, because any cracks present at this stage will remain through baking! Check out that circle of dough, complete with beautiful chunks of butter throughout. YUM.
Bake
Transfer the dough circle to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the cinnamon scone dough circle with raw sugar. I recommend patting it down slightly so that the sugar sticks to the dough!
After you’ve sprinkled the dough with sugar, cut the dough into eight equal pieces. Start by cutting the circle in half from top to bottom. Then cut it in half from side to side. Then cut the remaining two pieces in half diagonally Separate the scones and spread them out evenly on the baking sheet.
These scones will not rise or spread very much, but it’s still important that there is plenty of space between the scones to ensure even baking.
Bake the cinnamon chip scones for 16-20 minutes or until they look set. You will notice that the tops don’t really brown but the bottoms do!
Cool
Transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool slightly, then serve warm!
Serve
I highly recommend serving these cinnamon chip scones warm. They are just irresistible fresh from the oven! Serve with a slather of homemade apple butter, cinnamon honey butter, the best pumpkin butter, nut butter or add a drizzle of glaze for an extra special touch!
Store/Freeze
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Reheat in the oven set to warm for about 5 minutes in a covered baking dish.
Prepare in Advance
Make the scone dough according ot the recipe instructions, but do not cut it. Instead, leave it as a 10″ round circle, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and put it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
In the morning, cut and bake the cinnamon scones according to the recipe instructions.
Cinnamon Scones Recipe FAQs
Stored at room temperature, scones last 1-2 days without drying out. They can be frozen for up to two months.
There are two ways to reheat these cinnamon chip scones:
In the microwave. Simply warm scones in the microwave for 15-30 seconds (depending on the power of your microwave and the number of scones you are heating up). Then enjoy!
In the oven. Wrap scones in foil (to prevent drying out) and warm in the oven preheated to 300 degrees F for 10-15 minutes!
In this recipe the answer is yes! Using egg in this scone recipe makes them have a richer taste and an amazing texture. It also adds to the rise of the scone.
It is important that the butter and the rest of the ingredients are cold in the cinnamon scone dough because then you end up with little “chunks” of cold butter throughout the dough.
The cold butter chunks begin to melt when baking in the oven the oven, which creates flaky layers and pockets in the cinnamon chip scones…leading to the perfect homemade scone!
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Best Cinnamon Scones (with Cinnamon Chips)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 Tablespoons salted butter (cold)
- ½ cup half and half
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup cinnamon chips
- 1-2 Tablespoons raw turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder cinnamon and sea salt. Stir to combine.
- Add butter and using a fork, pastry cutter or your hands, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until there are coarse crumbs. (You want little chunks of butter)!
- Add half and half, egg and vanilla extract and stir until combined. The dough will look crumbly, but should clump together when squeezed between your fingers.
- Add cinnamon chips and stir until evenly distributed.
- Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface (or pastry slab) and form into a round circle about 10” in diameter.
- Transfer the circle of scone dough to the prepared baking sheet.
- Cut into eight equal pieces. Start by cutting the circle in half from top to bottom. Then cut it in half from side to side. Then cut the remaining two pieces in half diagonally. (see video)
- Sprinkle the top with raw sugar and gently press it into the top of the scones.
- Carefully separate the scones and spread them out evenly on your baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 16-20 minutes, or until the scones look set.
- Remove from the oven and transfer scones to a baking sheet to cool, or serve warm (which I highly recommend).
Video
Notes
- All-purpose flour. to make them gluten-free, use an all-purpose gluten-free baking flour.
- Granulated sugar. white sugar and organic cane sugar are great choices.
- Salted Butter. unsalted butter or vegan butter are good substitutes.
- Half and Half. Whole milk is the best substitute. Heavy cream is also delicious, you just need to add an extra 1 to 2 Tablespoons of cream to the dough to make it soft and not dry.
- Cinnamon Chips. These are optional, but not really! 😉 They really are the secret ingredients that makes these the best cinnamon chip scones ever! Or try these chocolate chip scones.
- Raw Turbinado sugar. I use organic raw turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top of the scones, I find it works the best.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Cinnamon Scones: A Special Recipe
This Cinnamon Scones Recipe holds an extra special place in my heart.
I swam my entire life, and when I got old enough, I coached a summer team. One of the parents would regularly bring the coaches containers full of these warm, fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon chip scones.
Those were always the best mornings, and she was kind enough to share her recipe with me (oh so many years ago). And much like back then, they are always devoured the second they come out of the oven, and my entire family absolutely adores them.
I’ve been wanting to make scones but have always been fearful as I’m not much of a baker. The prices for “store/restaurant” scones are ridiculous so I gave this recipe a try! Thank you so much! They were amazing!
I’m so glad you like them, Jan!
I’ve made these several times with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour and they turn out amazing! Even my gluten eating friends and family request them. They freeze well too. I’ve also used this recipe to make mini scones. For these, I make a rectangle and then cut about 2 to 4 inch squares that I then cut in half diagonally. I reduce cooking time too.
How long did you bake them as mini scones?
These were my first attempt at making scones. I’m a scone snob so have hesitated to make them. These are great. I will definitely make these again and I’ve already shared the recipe. These have the right consistency for scones and so easy to make. Yummy!
Today, I am snowed in and decided to make these scones. The store did not have the cinnamon chips which was disappointing but went with out the chips. I used my home ground flour and half and half. They came out beautiful though I am certain they will be better when I find some chips. Thank you for the use of the recipe.
This were fairly easy to make for a non-baker like me, and they turned out fine. This is probably just me but I thought, for a scone, they were a bit too sweet. My all time favorite cinnamon scones were those offered in the past by Au Bon Pain here on the East Coast and these were not as good as those. But I’ll try the recipe again, perhaps with less sugar and fewer chips.
Made these this morning. I did not have cinnamon chips (sadly) but I subbed with butterscotch chips and I can report that they did not disappoint! Perfect coffee house quality scone. Thank you!
Butterscotch chips would be amazing in this recipe! I’m so glad you love them!
Very forgiving and easy to make. I didn’t have whole milk and substituted 1% with a splash of cream. I didn’t have cinnamon chips and substituted chocolate chunks. No worries: easy to mix, pat out, and cut, and the texture came out excellent- a little crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.
I just took these delicious scones out of the oven. Best cinnamon scone ever!
I used gluten free all purpose flour and they turned out perfect.
these are delicious! I drizzled the scones with a vanilla glaze…so yummy!
I made these scones twice already (early September and the end of September) and plan to do the third time! I saw the comment from May 16,21 if buttermilk can be changed to half and half, and thought that, apparently, it was buttermilk originally. I am using buttermilk and am happy with the outcomes. First time I think I used 1 tsp of powder instead of tbsp., so scones were flat looking but delicious anyway. The second time I corrected the mistake and they looked exactly as advertised. I used dried currents first time and didn’t add anything the second time – still tasted great.
I made these today and they are delicious! A lot easier than I thought. I did cinnamon powder sugar glaze instead of the turbinado sugar on top. Thank you for this recipe, it’s a must pin!