Carrot Cake Scones

Carrot cake scones deliver everything you love about the best carrot cake recipe in a flaky, handheld form, and the cream cheese glaze makes them hard to resist!

These scones are the total package! That perfect, tender, and moist scone texture, studded with carrots, walnuts, and raisins, all topped with a generous coating of cream cheese glaze! You even get a little crunch from the walnuts and a little sweetness from the raisins.

Carrot cake scones bring you a continuation of my signature never-cakey scone experience. They join their pals, chocolate chip scones, and blueberry scones! Later, you can continue what I can only imagine will become a cream cheese buttercream frosting addiction with some stunning red velvet cookies or these carrot cake cookies for dessert!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• All-Purpose Flour
• Sugar and Light Brown Sugar: Using both gives the scones a balanced sweetness with a hint of molasses depth from the brown sugar. Do not substitute all brown sugar, as the extra moisture will affect the dough consistency.
• Kosher Salt
• Cinnamon: Warm spice that anchors the carrot cake flavor throughout the dough. If you want a more complex spice profile, you can swap in an equal amount of apple pie spice, pumpkin spice recipe, or even this speculoos spice mix!
• Baking Powder
• Unsalted Butter
• Vanilla Extract
• Eggs: Bind the dough and contribute to a tender crumb. Use large eggs straight from the refrigerator.
• Heavy Cream: Used twice here: once in the dough to add richness and bring it together, and once brushed on top before baking to help the exterior brown and set. Do not substitute half-and-half for the dough; the fat content affects texture.
• Carrots: I use medium carrots, freshly peeled, grated, and squeezed. I also use horse carrots if I can find them. They are bigger, juicier, and more flavorful than the skinny ones in the bags! If your grocery store has loose fresh carrots, chances are they are horse carrots. Use a box grater or food processor for even sizes!
• Walnuts: Toasted walnuts add crunch and a nutty depth that balances the sweetness of the carrots and raisins. They are optional!
• Raisins: Add bursts of sweetness and chew throughout the scone, just like in a classic carrot cake. You can omit them or substitute another dried fruit if raisins are not your preference.
• Cream Cheese: The base of the glaze, softened so it blends smoothly without lumps. Full-fat brick-style cream cheese only; the spreadable tub variety is too soft and will make the glaze runny.
• Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens and thickens the cream cheese glaze to a drizzleable consistency. Sift it before mixing if you want a perfectly smooth finish.
• Milk

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on This Carrot Cake Scones

• Change the shape! In my lemon scones, I show you how to make rustic cut scones, or you can make them circular or follow the recipe for perfect triangles!
• Experiment with mix-ins! You can omit the raisins and walnuts. Or, substitute them for another dried fruit or nut of your choosing. Pecans would be perfect in this. You could even add cranberry or a little pineapple, as I have in my hummingbird cake!
• Make a different glaze: You could add some cinnamon to your glaze, inspired by my cinnamon scones. Or, you could make a bourbon glaze, using the simple syrup from my carrot cake roll!

Professional Tips

• Squeeze the carrots before adding them to the dough. This is the step most people skip, and it is the one that matters most. Excess moisture from the carrots will make the dough tacky and difficult to shape, and the scones will steam from the inside instead of baking to a clean, flaky crumb.
• Do not skip the chill. After cutting your scones, refrigerate them for at least 2 hours before baking. I tested skipping this step, and the scones spread noticeably and lost that clean triangular shape. Cold dough holds its edges.
• Cut with a sharp knife in one clean motion. Dragging or sawing through the dough compresses the layers on the cut edge and inhibits rise. A sharp chef’s knife pressed straight down gives you that open, flaky side profile, just like with these buttermilk biscuits.

How to Make Carrot Cake Scones

Use these instructions to make carrot cake scones from scratch! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Shred the carrots. Peel, shred, and squeeze the excess moisture out of the carrots using a kitchen towel or cheesecloth.

Squeeze the carrots in a clean kitchen towel, twisting hard. One pass is usually not enough. Use a towel you won’t be sad if it stays orange! The carrot juice will stain.

Step 2: Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the flour, both sugars, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix just enough to distribute everything evenly, then add the cold, cubed butter. Mix on low until the butter is fully incorporated and the mixture resembles wet sand, with no visible chunks of butter remaining.

Step 3: Mix the wet ingredients until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine the vanilla, eggs, and heavy cream. Use an immersion blender or whisk to blend until the mixture is completely smooth and pale, with no visible streaks of egg. You want full emulsification here; visible egg streaks going into the dry ingredients can create uneven spots in the finished scone.

Step 4: Add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer running on low, slowly pour the cream mixture into the butter-flour mixture and mix until almost incorporated. The dough will look shaggy and uneven at this point, which is completely normal, just ask these raspberry white chocolate scones. (coming soon!)

Step 5: Turn out and knead gently. Dump the mixture onto a clean work surface and knead the dough together gently just until no dry spots remain. Overworking the dough here develops gluten and will tighten the texture, so stop the moment it comes together.

Step 6: Fold in the carrots, walnuts, and raisins. Add the carrots, toasted walnuts, and raisins, and fold them in gently until evenly distributed.

Tip: Make sure you have squeezed as much moisture as possible from your shredded carrots before adding them. Excess carrot moisture will throw off the dough hydration and can make the scones steam from the inside rather than bake through cleanly.

Step 7: Shape, cut, and refrigerate. Roll the dough to about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 3½-inch strips, then cut each strip into squares, and cut each square diagonally to form triangles. Transfer the wedges to the prepared parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Step 8: Preheat the oven and prep the scones. Set your oven to 325°F. Remove the scones from the refrigerator and brush the tops generously with heavy cream. This creates a thin barrier that locks in moisture during baking and gives the finished scone a lightly golden, slightly glossy top rather than a dry, matte crust.

Step 9: Bake until golden and puffed. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes for 3½-inch scones. Start checking at 18 minutes. You are looking for a deep golden brown on the tops and edges with a visible puff; the dough should no longer look raw or shiny at the cut edges. If the bottoms are browning faster than the tops, your oven runs hot on the bottom rack, so move the sheet to the center.

Step 10: Cool completely on the baking sheet. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the scones cool completely before glazing. I know it is tempting to glaze them while they are still warm, but a warm scone will melt the glaze right off, which is completely normal to want to do and equally frustrating when it runs off the sides. Give them at least 30 minutes.

Step 11: Make the cream cheese glaze. Add the softened cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and milk to a bowl and whisk together until completely smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until you are ready to glaze. If the glaze feels too thick to drizzle, add milk half a teaspoon at a time until it reaches a pourable consistency.

Step 12: Glaze and serve. Spoon or drizzle the cream cheese glaze over the cooled scones and let it set for a few minutes before serving. These are best the day they are made!

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

These carrot cake scones bring everything I love about the classic cake into a flaky, spiced morning pastry. If you are looking for more inspiration, head over to my breakfast recipes, and might I suggest making these healthy carrot muffins next!