Cinnamon Scones

These tender and moist Cinnamon Scones are complete with a tangy cream cheese glaze and packed with bursts of aromatic cinnamon chips! Soft and warming, they are perfect for any time of day.

If I might be so bold as to say that these Cinnamon Chip Scones taste like the best cinnamon rolls without all the work! These scones have, what I like to consider, my signature scone texture. Meaning, like my Chocolate Chip Scones they are soft, tender and moist, but the perfect amount of dense. Never cakey! 

Lean into the Fall vibe with a smear of apple butter on a cinnamon scone in one hand, and a copycat Starbucks brown sugar shaken espresso in the other! Much like my pumpkin coffee cake, this easy soft scone recipe will fulfill all your breakfast, brunch, and dessert desires. The only thing easier would be the viral tiktok cinnamon rolls!

What are scones?

Scones are a type of quick bread similar in texture to Irish soda bread. They use just enough heavy cream to hold the dough together, which makes them more dense than a biscuit. They can be sweet or savory and are delightful for breakfast, tea or as a dessert.

What is the secret to making good scones?

• Cut your cold butter completely into the dry ingredients. Just like with traditional Irish soda bread, this helps shorten the gluten strands in the flour, and is the most effective way to get the best scone texture. Years of testing and making giant batches at restaurants has proven to me that this makes the most tender and moist scones. 
• Finish kneading the dough by hand. Gently fold in your cinnamon chips by hand. This helps to make sure you don’t overwork the dough, and also lets you keep track of evenly distributing the cinnamon chips. 
• Do not overbake your scones. Bake the scones until they are golden around the edges and when the fattest part offers some resistance when lightly touched. You can also insert a cake tester, and it should come out clean. No dry scones here!

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to make a flaky texture that is not tough.
• Sugar: I use granulated sugar because of flavor, but also because it retains moisture, improves texture, and maintains stability.
• Baking Powder: Double acting baking powder reacts instantly when mixed with an acid. It reacts a second time when heated. Because the baking powder is double acting, it has a slower, more stable rise than baking soda alone. This will also allow you to make the scones ahead and freeze.
• Butter: I use unsalted butter for baking, because you want to control the amount of salt you are adding. Butter is integral because it shortens the gluten strands as it coats them during the mixing process. This keeps them from forming a strong network that would lead to overly tough scones.
• Whole Egg: The eggs are here to add fat, moisture and leavening. The fat from the yolk adds richness and helps keep the scones moist. Eggs are one of the primary liquid ingredients, which help hold the scones together without developing too much gluten in the flour.
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream adds just enough liquid to make a moist, tender scone. It also comes with fat to add to the flavor and texture. Heavy cream and eggs provide the only real moisture for the dough.
• Cinnamon Chips: I use Hershey’s cinnamon chips because they have the most natural flavor. They don’t taste waxy or fake and they incorporate and bake beautifully. Cinnamon chips also allow you to make cinnamon sugar scones that are not too sweet. 
• Cream Cheese: I use original Philadelphia Cream Cheese for all my baked goods, including buttercreams and the glazes for glazed scones. I also use full fat though reduced fat can be substituted. 
• Milk
• Confectioner’s Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Vanilla Extract
• Kosher Salt

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

Variations & Substitutions

• Make a different glaze: You could go triple cinnamon and add some cinnamon to your glaze, like I do with the frosting on these Sprinkles Triple Cinnamon Cupcakes. Or, you could steal the maple syrup glaze from my Maple Pound Cake Recipe, or keep it super simple with my Donut Glaze Recipe.  I see you chocolate-lovers, yes there is a Chocolate Fudge Glaze option as well!
• Add fruit: My Easy Apple Pie and Spiced Apple Scone recipes would be a great place to find inspiration for an apple cinnamon swirl scone! Raisin Scones, Blueberry Scones, Strawberry Lemon Scones…there are so many possibilities.
• Use chocolate or butterscotch chips instead: No cinnamon chips? No problem! Go in a completely different direction and replace the cinnamon chips with butterscotch chips or make chocolate chip scones.
• The truth about heavy cream: Heavy cream is a miracle ingredient. Together with the eggs, it provides all the moisture needed to make the dough. It adds fat which helps make the scones tender and keeps them moist. You can substitute half and half, but not milk, without serious textural repercussions.

How to Make the Best Cinnamon Scones

Further details and measurements for perfect cinnamon chip scones can be found in the recipe card below!

Make the scone dough:

Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients with the paddle or by hand just enough to distribute the ingredients. 

Step 2: Add cold butter and mix on low to cut it in. Continue to mix until the butter is no longer visible and the mixture resembles wet sand. 

Step 3: While the butter is being cut in, combine the cream, egg, and vanilla in another bowl with an immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a whisk. Blend the cream mixture until it is smooth.

Step 4: With the mixer running on low, slowly pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture and mix until almost incorporated.

Step 5: Dump the dough out onto a dry surface and knead it together (gently, with love!). 

Step 6: Once only a few visible dry spots remain in the dough, gently fold in the cinnamon chips.

Portion and chill dough:

Step 7: Press the dough out into a rectangle of about a ½ inch thickness. Using a bench scraper or pastry cutter, cut the dough into 3.5 inch strips, and then each strip into squares. Cut each square in half on a diagonal to form a triangle. Place triangles onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Step 8: Chill the dough completely before baking. This will take around 2 hours. You can also wrap it very well and freeze it. It is entirely possible to bake these from frozen!

Bake scones:

Step 9: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Brush scones with heavy cream.

Step 10: Bake scones in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes (for 3 1/2-inch scones) or until golden brown, puffed, and the centers provide a little resistance when touched gently. Cool completely on baking sheets.

Make glaze & assemble:  

Step 11: Whisk all ingredients together, cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Step 12: After scones have cooled, glaze them to your heart’s content! The glaze might need a little extra whisk before application.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional chef tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed scones recipes, or keep it autumnal with my easy pumpkin dump cake recipe next!