Easy Cinnamon Scones

4.72 from 7 votes

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Not only are these cinnamon scones sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, but they also have ground cinnamon mixed into the dough. They are an easy drop scone recipe, so you don’t need to do any shaping. They come out with a nice crust on the outside and a tender flaky crumb on the inside. The best part is that they are freezable before or after you bake them.

You can also try these Lemon Scones you’re in the mood for citrus.

Cinnamon Maple Scones

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

These are drop scones, so you don’t need to use a biscuit cutter or cut the dough into wedges. Scones are supposed to look lumpy, bumpy and all a bit different. That’s a compliment. I use my cookie scoop to quickly portion out the dough.

You can make the dough in advance and store it in the fridge or freeze it to keep it longer. Also, there are multiple points in the recipe where you can hit the pause button and wait to bake. You can freeze scones baked or unbaked. Having these options makes it simple to have freshly baked scones.

Cinnamon is one of those ingredients that plays well with other flavors, so you can make additions. That includes nuts, orange zest or more dried spices. This recipe is wonderful as written, but you can tweak it to your taste.

What Are Scones?

Similar in ingredients and in how you make the dough to American biscuits, scones are originally from Scotland. They are often served with afternoon tea in Great Britain. They have a definite crust on the outside, but they are light and fluffy inside. When you split one in half, you should see flaky layers, and they will be kind of crumbly.

They are not overly sweet like other baked goods. In this cinnamon scones recipe, I sweeten them with sugar and a touch of maple syrup. I love that subtle maple flavor with cinnamon. Besides tea, you can also enjoy scones with coffee for breakfast or brunch.

The Ingredients

Ingredients including flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, egg, vanilla extract and salt.

This is what you need:

  • Flour: Basic all-purpose flour gives scones their tender layered crumb.
  • Butter: The recipe calls for chilled and firm unsalted butter. Unlike cookies and other baked goods where you cream soft butter with sugar, for scones you cut or rub the butter into the dry ingredients. It won’t work unless you have cold butter.
  • Granulated sugar sweetens the scones. It’s mixed into the dry ingredients.
  • Cinnamon is in the sugar topping as well as in the dry ingredients for the dough.
  • Maple syrup: As mentioned, I include 2 tablespoons of maple syrup for sweetness and its distinct flavor. Of course, use pure maple syrup.
  • Baking powder helps the scones rise.
  • Salt, in a small amount, brings out the overall flavors even in baking.
  • Egg: The recipe calls for 1 egg whisked with the wet ingredients.
  • Milk: Some scone recipes require heavy cream, which is not something that I usually have in my fridge. That’s why I use milk, and it can be any type from skim to reduced fat milk to oat milk.
  • Pure vanilla extract rounds all the flavors in these scones.   

Optional Additions

You can mix any of the following into the dry ingredients:

  • Cinnamon chips: These are basically the cinnamon version of chocolate chips. They are crunchy and sweet. 
  • Chopped pecans or walnuts are both nuts that go very well with cinnamon.
  • Orange zest adds citrus freshness. 
  • Chai spices: By including ground ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves with the cinnamon to turn these into chai-spiced scones.

How To Make Cinnamon Scones

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a big bowl, including flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

2. Cut the butter into the flour mixture. You can use a pastry blender (also known as a pastry cutter) to push the cold butter cubes into the flour. When you do this, you should end up with pea-sized clumps or coarse crumbs mixed throughout the dry ingredients. Those butter clumps in the dough release steam as the scones bake helping them rise and giving them their layered crumb.

Dry ingredients in a large bowl. Butter cubed in dry ingredients.

3. Whisk together the wet ingredients in another bowl. That includes the egg, milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. You can use a big spoon or a fork to stir them into a shaggy dough. Then it’s easiest to take your hands and press the dough into a ball. If your bowl is big enough, you won’t need to turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. You can keep it all in the bowl and have less cleanup.

Wet ingredients mixed in a small bowl. Dough in a large bowl.

5. Make the cinnamon sugar mixture by combining the cinnamon and granulated sugar in a small bowl.

6. Portion out the dough onto the baking sheets. You can do this with your hands or a cookie scoop. The balls of dough should be a generous 1/4-cup-full. Brush the tops of the scones with milk and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.

Cinnamon sugar in a small bowl. Scones on a sheet pan before they are baked.

7. Bake the scones until they are golden brown and cracked on the top, about 18-20 minutes. Then let them cool on a wire rack.

Baked scones on a wire rack.

Serving

You can enjoy scones warm or at room temperature. It’s best to give them a little time to cool off rather than eating them hot from the oven. That’s because the outside will get that good crust and crunch as it cools.

Storage & Freezing

Scones are best the day you bake them. To freeze the dough unbaked, portion it out onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or waxed paper. Then freeze them. Once they are solid and frozen, you can put the scones in the same container. Then you can bake them whenever you want. I bake one every morning.

If you have leftover baked scones, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days. To revive them, bake them in a 300-degree F oven for 5 minutes.

If you freeze baked scones, you can thaw them in a 325-degree F oven for 12-14 minutes.

Recipe Tips

Use cold butter. This is the only way that you will be able to cut it into the flour mixture. You should be able to see small flour-covered clumps before you move on to stir in the wet ingredients.

Do not overwork the dough. When the dough becomes shaggy, stop stirring. Use your hands to press it together after that. If you over-mix the dough, the scones won’t rise as high.

You can make the the dough up to 3 days in advance. Either keep the dough ball in a bowl covered or portion it out before you refrigerate it.

Freeze scone dough to your advantage. Fresh baked scones have the best texture, so think about how many scones you need at a time before you go ahead and bake the entire batch. I have 1-2 bags of frozen portioned-out scone dough in my freezer at all times. 

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Easy Cinnamon Scones

4.72 from 7 votes
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Servings: 14 scones
Drop scones like these cinnamon scones are simple to make. The ingredients come together quickly, and they bake to beautiful golden brown.

Ingredients 

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 ounces chilled unsalted butter cubed
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup milk plus more for brushing scones
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and salt.
  • Use a fork or a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, until it resembles pea-sized clumps. You can also rub the butter and flour together with your fingers.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir into the flour-butter mixture. The dough will become shaggy. Then press it together with your hands.
  • Drop the dough by the generous 1/4-cup-full in mounds on the sheet pans, spacing them 3 inches apart. (You can do this with a cookie scoop.)
  • Combine 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Brush the tops of the scones with milk and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.
  • Bake until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes.

Notes

Scones can be served warm or at room temperature.
You can make the dough up to 3 days in advance. Cover it and store it in the refrigerator.
Scones are best the day you bake them. You can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. Warm them in a 300-degree oven for 5 minutes to get their texture back.
Scones can be frozen either unbaked or baked. For unbaked scones, scoop the dough onto a lined sheet and put them in the freezer. When they are frozen, they can be put in the same airtight container and frozen up to 1 month. Do not thaw unbaked scones before you bake them at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes.
Frozen baked scones can be kept in an airtight container up to 1 month. Thaw them in a 325-degree F oven for 12-14 minutes.
Optional Additions:
1/2 cup cinnamon chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Zest of 1 orange
Chai spices: 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves in addition to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon in the dry ingredients

Nutrition

Calories: 224kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 144mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 343IU | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Quick Breads & Muffins
Cuisine: British
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Hi, I'm Paige.

Welcome to Last Ingredient where you will find simple seasonal recipes with plenty of fruits and vegetables, all for the home cook.

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3 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Can’t wait to make any of these! I love lemons, cinnamon, blueberries and maple syrup. One with an egg and I’ll be good for hours. My sugar level will be easy to control because I use coconut sugar in any and all recipes.

    1. Wonderful! I actually made the dough last night and froze it. I like to bake one every morning to have with my coffee.