If you’re bored of making carrot cake at Easter, why not try making carrot cake scones instead. These vegan scones are flaky and crisp outside and buttery soft inside. The addition of grated carrot, warming spices, crunchy walnuts and sultanas makes the ultimate teatime treat or breakfast.
British Afternoon tea isn’t complete without scones – They’re a staple! Scones aren’t traditionally vegan as they contain eggs, butter and milk, so I used alternative ingredients to create these delicious carrot cake scones! They're super easy to make, and ready in around 30 minutes, so they make a great last-minute Easter treat.
Why make these Carrot Cake Scones
They’re crisp outside and buttery soft inside
If you love the taste of carrot cake but want something that quicker and easier to make, then these scones are perfect!
They're bursting with delicious carrot cake flavours
They're completely vegan
You won’t need any fancy baking equipment
They’re ready in around 30 minutes!
Get Creative!
I’ve added typical carrot cake flavours to these scones, but you can get creative with additional ingredients. You can add other dried fruits such as cranberries, blueberries or dried chopped apricots, or why not try adding different nuts such as chopped almonds or pecan nuts.
How to serve Carrot Cake Scones
Scones have a tendency to go stale quite quickly, so they’re best served on the day they’re baked. I’d recommend baking them about 30 minutes before you’d like to serve them. Once baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. They’re traditionally served with jam and clotted cream. For a vegan alternative to clotted cream, you can serve them with oat based crème fraiche, vegan buttercream or sweetened vegan cream cheese. I served these scones with vegan crème fraiche and thick apricot jam and they were divine!
How to store Carrot Cake Scones
If you get the occasional craving for a few scones but you don’t want to cook a large batch, then you can freeze some of the unbaked scones after they’ve been cut into rounds. Place them flat on a lined baking tray and cover the top with a bit of cling film before storing in the freezer. When you want to bake the frozen scones, remove the cling film, then transfer the prepared tray into a preheated oven and cook for a few minutes longer than the normal baking time. I’ve tried storing baked scones in the freezer, but I find that they don’t taste half as good as when they’re freshly baked, so for storage, I would recommend you store them unbaked. Baked scones are best eaten as soon as possible after they’ve cooled down, but if you have any leftovers the next day, they are also delicious split in half and toasted.
Ingredients for Carrot Cake Scones
Self-raising flour: It's important to use self-raising flour to get an even rise.
Carrots: You'll need 1-2 medium sized carrot to make these scones. Make sure to finely grate the carrots so that they're easier to incorporate into the dough.
Sultanas: The sultanas add a lovely texture to the scones. You can substitute the sultanas with other dried fruit such as cranberries or blueberries.
Walnuts: I've used walnuts, but other nuts such as pecans or almonds would also work in this recipe.
Spices: A bit of cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger and allspice will give the scones that traditional carrot cake flavour.
Baking Powder: This additional raising agent will lighten the texture of the scones and will help them to rise better.
Dark brown sugar: The dark brown sugar adds a delicious caramel flavour to the scones. If you don't have dark brown sugar, you can use light brown sugar or coconut sugar instead.
Unsweetened Almond Milk: Unsweetened almond milk is my go-to plant-based milk. Depending on which brand you use, the taste is quite mild so it’s great for both sweet and savoury dishes. You could substitute almond milk with other neutral tasting, unsweetened plant-based milks such as oat or soy milk.
Vegan block butter: I used the Flora vegan butter block, but ant plant-based butter will do. using a block butter will give the scones a light and crumbly texture. I wouldn’t recommend using oil or margarine as it won’t create the same outcome.
Vanilla extract: The vanilla extract adds a lovely flavour, but it is optional. You could use other flavours or fruits in these scones.
How to make carrot scone cakes
STEP 1:
Preheat the oven to 220C (425°F, gas mark 7), and line a large tray with baking paper. Add all of the dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk together. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
STEP 2:
Add the grated carrots, vanilla extract and gradually pour in the almond milk and mix to form a soft, sticky dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead very lightly until the dough comes together. Fold in the sultanas and chopped walnuts, then roll out to a circle, about 2cm thick.
STEP 3:
Cut into as many rounds as possible with a 6-7cm round pastry cutter. Re-roll the remaining pastry and cut out more rounds until all of the pastry is used. Place the scones on the lined baking tray and place in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes, or in the fridge for 15 minutes.
STEP 4:
Remove the scones from the freezer, brush the top of the scones with some almond milk and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the scones are well risen and lightly golden.
STEP 5:
To serve, split the scones and serve with strawberry jam and a dollop of vegan cream cheese or butter.
Top Tips
I find that storing the scones in the fridge for 20 minutes, or in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking helps the scones to rise better and more evenly, it also prevents the butter from melting before the scones have had a chance to rise. I would recommend not to skip this step.
Make sure to not overwork the dough, you just want to lightly knead it for a minute or two until it comes together.
Dip the cutter in a bit of flour to make it easier to remove the scones.
When you brush the scones with the plant-based milk, make sure that you only brush the tops. Brushing the sides with milk can prevent the scones from rising well.
When rolling out the dough, make sure to keep it about 2-3cm thick – if the dough is rolled out too thin, the scones won’t rise.
Make sure your vegan butter and milk are chilled when preparing the dough.
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