Almond Scones

Fresh almond scones are the answer to the favorite bakery croissant. Flaky layers of butter and perfect crumb, these flavorful baked treats are topped with slivered sugared almonds and go wonderfully with a cup of coffee or tea!

One of my favorite bakery treats is a warm almond croissant. I love the almond paste in the center and the chewy, sweet almond topping. It’s so good. 

After craving this taste, I decided to start my electric tea kettle and make it into an almond scone and it came out so much better than I ever expected!

Almond scone spices

In order to make almond scones taste authentic, you need to have the right spices. 

• Sliced almonds– this is an important item when making this scone. It not only looks the part but provides the sweet, toasted almond topping that is delicious. 
• Butter– (I like using salted)  This gives a nice flavor to the sugared almond clusters. 
• Sugar- pure cane sugar works wonderfully when mixed together with the nuts and butter. It provides a crispy sweet topping to your scone.
• Almond Flour: Just a small amount mixed in with all-purpose flour gives the flaky layers a slightly nutty base. (I like to use Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour.)
• Vanilla & Almond extract

Tips for baking scones

When it comes to baking and creating scone flavors, this is probably the easiest scone recipe to create because there are no add-in ingredients like fruits in our blueberry scones, or peach scones, just sugar, butter, and toasted nut topping. 

But, there are a few tips you should follow for baking success.

• Pastry blender or Bench Scraper: (I use this bench scraper) this is the best tool to use for cutting in butter. If you don't have one, that is ok- just use two knives in a cross-cut fashion.
• Cold butter: Cold, cold, cold butter. It is really important to have COLD BUTTER. Why? Because it will help your pastry rise. It's ok if you see chunks of butter in your dough. 
• Mixing dough: making scones requires light of hand. You do not want to overmix or knead the dough too much. One, it will melt your cold butter, and two because you want layers. If you knead too much, you will make bread, and that is not what you're going for! 
• Parchment paper: (I use this brand parchment paper) I prefer to bake all my scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. It helps to give my scones a nice golden brown bottom every time and also provides for easy cleanup.

How to make sugared almond topping

• Sliced almonds: 1/4 cup of sliced unsalted almonds
• Sugar: 1 Tablespoon sugar
• Butter: 1 Tablespoon, melted
• Vanilla: 1/4 teaspoon 
• Almond extract: 1/8 teaspoon

1. In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup sliced almonds.
2. Add melted butter, sugar, almond extract, and vanilla.
3. Toss nuts to coat completely. 

Ingredients

• Flour: all-purpose flour (I use this brand always) is great for this recipe.
• Almond Flour: Fine almond flour works great for this recipe. 
• Sugar: pure cane sugar is preferred, especially for the topping as it doesn't “melt” when baked.
• Baking Powder: gives your scone all the rise.
• Salt: I always use Kosher salt to even out the sweetness. 
• Butter: COLD butter! I like to use Cabot or Land O Lakes butter.  
• Half & Half: This is my secret ingredient. It creates such a wonderful bite to my scones.
• Vanilla: I use Neilsen-Massey Madagascar vanilla. SO good.
• Almond Extract
• Almond Topping 

Related recipes: Master Scone Recipe, Cinnamon Chip Scones, Espresso Chocolate Chip Scones, Chocolate Scones, Pumpkin Scones, Strawberry Prosecco Scones

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grab a piece of parchment paper and line a baking sheet. 
• In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup sliced almonds, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1 Tablespoon melted butter,  1/8 teaspoon almond extract, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix with a fork until nuts are coated.
• In a separate bowl, mix flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together. 
• Add cold butter to flour mixture and cut in with pastry blender. 
• Add vanilla extract, almond extract, and half and half and stir until just combined. Knead dough gently 4-5 times until flour is incorporated. 
• Place the disc of dough on a piece of parchment paper and roll out in a large circle or rectangle. 
• Cut with bench scraper into 8 wedges.
• Place scones on the prepared baking sheet. Brush tops of scones with half and half. Generously sprinkle tops with sugared almond mixture. 
• Bake 12-15 minutes.
• Cool on wire rack. 
• Dust with confectioners sugar when cooled completely

If you love making this almond scones recipe, please be sure to let us know! Share our recipe on Pinterest or on Facebook and tag us @TheSconeBlog so we can see your delicious creation! 

Want to send a special treat to let someone know how special they are? Send them some freshly baked scones from Seven Sister Scones!