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These Caramel Apple Scones are filled with grated apples and bake up tender,  flaky and delicious! A drizzle of caramel sauce before serving just gilds the lily. If you’re looking for the best scones recipe, this is it!

One Caramel Apple Scone on a square white platae with a red handled knife

Caramel Apple Scones

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens! My favorite scone recipe so far has been the Cook’s Illustrated Cream Scones, so I was looking forward to comparing this recipe to my standard.

Apple and caramel are one of my favorite combos (I’m drooling over this Apple and Caramel Spice Cake!), so I figured this was a chance to be daring and add some grated apple instead of my typical fruit choices. The resulting caramel apple scones were fantastic!

  A white ceramic bowl filled with round Caramel Apple Scones

Tender Cream Scones

These were outstanding, tender with just a touch of decadence from the caramel drizzle. Definitely the flakiest scones I’ve ever made.

My girlfriends enjoyed these, too. I served them with Instant Pot clotted cream. I hope to perfect that recipe and share it with you all soon. But until then, at least try these picture-perfect, flaky caramel apple scones! Don’t you just want to pop one of these gems right into your mouth????

Two Caramel Apple Scones on a square white plate

More Scones Recipes You’ll Love:

 
Caramel Apple Scones - filled with grated apple and drizzled with caramel!
The Recipe:

Caramel Apple Scones

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Yield 8

Tender, flaky scones filled with grated apple and drizzled with caramel.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons frozen grated butter
  • Approximately ½ cup cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¼ cup apple (I have used Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp), peeled and grated
  • 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing, optional
  • Caramel sauce, for drizzling

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple-sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be! Mix in the grated apples.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth.
To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6-inch by 4-inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick).
7. Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer, and cut two more scones (these two scones will not rise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
8. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden color on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
9. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well-risen and are lightly colored on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
10. Immediately place onto a cooling rack to stop the cooking process, and serve while still warm.

Notes

Variations on the Basic recipe:
Buttermilk – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with buttermilk, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, increase the fat to 4 tablespoons, in Step 3 aim of pea-sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 fold and turn the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with buttermilk.
Australian Scone Ring (Damper Ring) – follow the Basic recipe above but decrease the fat to 1 tablespoon, in Step 3 aim of fine beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, in Step 7 form seven rounds into a ring shape with the eighth round as the centre, glaze with milk.
Cream – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with cream, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, in Step 3 aim of beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with cream.
Cheese and Chive – follow the Basic recipe above but add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, after Step 2 add ½ teaspoon sifted mustard powder, ¼ teaspoon sifted cayenne pepper (optional), ½ cup (60 gm/2 oz) grated cheese and 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives into the sifted ingredients, in Step 3 aim of beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, rounds are widely spaced in the baking dish, sprinkle the rounds with cracked pepper.
Fresh Herb – follow the Basic recipe above but after Step 3 add 3 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (such as parsley, dill, chives etc).
Sweet Fruit – follow the Basic recipe above but after Step 3 add ¼ cup (45 gm) dried fruit (e.g. sultanas, raisins, currents, cranberries, cherries etc) and 1 tablespoon (15 gm) sugar.
Wholemeal – follow the Basic recipe above but replace half of the plain flour with wholemeal flour.
Wholemeal and date – follow the Basic recipe above but replace half of the plain flour with wholemeal flour and after Step 3 add ¼ cup (45 gm) chopped dates and 1 tablespoon (15 gm) sugar.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 155Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 234mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 5gProtein: 2g

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© Liz Berg
Cuisine: American / Category: Brunch