These Spiced Apple Scones are flavored with apple pie spice and dried apples. They are tender, moist and never cakey! I’ve topped them with cinnamon sugar but they would also be phenomenal with a cream cheese glaze or cinnamon glaze.
Preheat oven to 325°F convection or 350°F regular.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, spices, and baking powder. Mix with paddle (by hand) just to distribute ingredients. Add butter and mix on low to cut in the butter until the butter is no longer visible and it resembles wet sand.
While this is mixing combine the vanilla, eggs and cream in another bowl with an immersion blender or whisk and blend until smooth.
With the mixer running on low, slowly pour in the cream mixture and mix until almost incorporated.
Dump out mixture on a dry surface and knead dough together (gently, with love!). Add the dried apples once no visible dry spots remain and gently fold them in.
Place dough on plastic wrap and press out to about a half inch thick. Chill 2 hours or overnight.
Cut out scones with a ring or biscuit cutter, or slice into triangles.
Place triangles onto parchment lined baking sheet. Work quickly to keep dough cold. If it warms up too much, refrigerate 30 minutes before baking.
Brush scones with heavy cream. Mix remaining cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle scones with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown and puffed.
Cool completely on baking sheets.
Video
Notes
Presentation- Get a beautiful finish to your scones by brushing them with heavy cream and sprinkling with cinnamon sugar just prior to baking. Flavor Tips - Avoid gummy pockets in your scones by choosing dried apples that look plump but not overly dried. Technique - Cutting cold, cubed butter completely into the dry ingredients will cut the gluten strands and limit their ability to create a strong network. A strong gluten network will make a tough scone. I mix all the wet ingredients before adding it to the dough. This allows for a quick incorporation and will make tender spiced apple scones. I also finish mixing with a delicate hand.Helpful Tools - I like to use an immersion blender to mix my wet ingredients to be sure they are thoroughly incorporated before I add them to my flour mixture–this keeps me from needing to overwork the gluten in my flour. However, you could get by without a blender if you incorporate well without one.Variations - You could make these exact scones with a different dried fruit that you enjoy with cinnamon. You can also play with different spice combinations, such as 2 teaspoons of cinnamon instead of myapple pie spice mix.Storage - Store baked scones in an air-tight container at room temperature, refrigerated or frozen. Zip-top plastic bags also work nicely. Scones are best the day they are baked, so I prefer to freeze the cut dough and bake them as they are needed. Alternately scones will keep 3 days at room temperature, 7 days in the refrigerator or 3 months pre-baked and frozen.