These walnut maple scones are so tender and crumbly and best of all, they are so simple to make. They are lightly sweetened by the maple syrup which makes them the perfect blank canvas for butter, jam, fruit, maple syrup, or any other topping you want! These scones are best friends with a cup of hot coffee or tea, it’s such an amazing breakfast. The walnuts add some crunch to the scones and a new flavor that plays so nicely with the maple syrup. If you don’t like walnuts, try swapping them with pecans, almonds, cranberries, or raisins. 

The best part about scones is how simple they are! You only need a handful of basic ingredients and you don’t have to wait for them to come to room temperature. In fact, you really want them to be cold, I actually froze my butter for a couple of hours beforehand. The key to good scones is to keep the butter cold. At any point during the process, if you feel like your butter is warming up, just pop the whole bowl in the freezer for a couple of minutes.

Using almond flour in this recipe makes the scones so tender because of the natural fat in the almonds and the lower protein content. This makes the shaping process a little more forgiving but I still recommend trying to knead these as little as possible. If you don’t have almond flour or prefer a more sturdy scone, then you can swap it for whole wheat flour, just make sure you are more careful with the kneading because overworking the dough can result in tough scones!

Maple Walnut Scones Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 8 scones

Ingredients

• ¾ cup almond flour
• 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
• ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
• ? cup maple syrup, fridge temperature
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg, fridge temperature
• 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt (I used non-fat)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400º Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease with oil. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Cut butter into small cubes, around ½ x ½ inch. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using your fingers by squishing the butter between your fingers. After the flour-butter mixture resembles coarse lumps, roll clumps of the mixture through the palms of your hand to flatten the butter and further distribute it. If during this process, the butter starts to warm up, just stick the whole bowl in the freezer for a couple of minutes and then continue. Continue to work the mixture until it has fine grains.
2. Add your toasted nuts, make sure they are cool so they don’t melt your butter. Using a spatula, stir in the cold maple syrup, vanilla extract, and egg. It is okay if the dough is not completely mixed. Add the yogurt and mix until the dough comes together and then dump onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough ball to coat all sides with flour and knead gently. I prefer to pat it into a long rectangle and then fold it over itself in thirds. Do this once. Dust with flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Form the dough into a rough circle shape and transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet. Pat the dough into an 8 inch diameter disk. Put the whole baking sheet into the fridge for 10 minutes.
3. After 10 minutes, remove the sheet from the fridge and cut the disk into 8 triangles. For cleaner cuts, scrape off any dough that sticks to the knife after each cut. Do not separate the wedges and put the sheet in the oven.
4. Bake the scones until golden on top, around 20 minutes. Remove the scones from the baking sheet. Using a knife, gently cut around the edges of the scones, they should separate easily. Serve the scones warm. If there are extras, let them cool on a cooling rack and reheat them in the oven when ready to serve.

Tips

Cold butter is key! I like to pop my butter in the freezer for one or two hours before making the scones. While mixing the dough, put the whole bowl in the freezer for a couple of minutes if you feel like the butter is getting too warm. 

The almond flour makes these scones super tender so they are slightly more forgiving than traditional scones but try to work the dough as little as possible.

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