The weather is turning colder and for me, that means gingerbread. Okay, well, it means a lot of things, but today it means gingerbread. Gingerbread scones!
In the past, when I’ve made scones, I’ve painstakingly shaped the dough and cut them into segments, and that works, but a while back I discovered an alternative. Simply forming the dough into a circle and cutting it most of the way through like slices of pizza is a lot easier and gives you perfect scones without all the trouble.
Ingredients-wise, this is a fairly standard gingerbread selection. Dark brown sugar and molasses make up the rich dark flavor, and a hefty helping of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves spice it up. You can adjust this by adding (or removing) some ginger to change the heat levels. I like a bit of ginger kick but not too much, so this is well-balanced for me.
I also highly recommend keeping both your cubed butter and your heavy cream chilled right up until you use them. It helps keep the dough from being too sticky, and is easier to work with. Similarly, try to keep from over-working the dough. You don’t want or need a ton of worked gluten here, and the more you work it the more it would warm up and be harder to work with.
Finally, as you bake, the scones are probably going to crack apart some. That’s fine! The added texture doesn’t hurt anything, it makes some nice nooks for icing to pool in when you ice them, and there’s not really a good way to stop it from happening without making your scones super stodgy, anyway.
For the icing, I just use a simple vanilla icing or glaze. I’ve seen recipes that want you to use maple, but I didn’t really think that fit. Maybe something with a bit of orange could work, but honestly, vanilla goes great and doesn’t detract from the gingerbread itself. You can, of course, go with any kind of icing you like.
Iced Gingerbread Scones
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Mixing Bowls
- Rubber Spatula
- Pastry Cutter
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
- ¾ Tsp Ginger
- ¾ Tsp Cinnamon
- ½ Tsp Cloves
- ¼ Cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 5 Tbsp Butter Cubed and Chilled
- ¼ Cup Molasses
- ¼ Cup Heavy Cream Chilled
For the Icing
- ½ Cup Powdered Sugar
- ½ Tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ Tbsp Milk
Instructions
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, spices, and brown sugar together in a mixing bowl. Yes, the sugar goes in now.
- Add the chilled cubed butter and cut it all together with a pastry cutter until the mixture has the consistency of coarse sand.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and molasses.
- Pout the molasses mix into the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until just combined and clumping. You can use your hands at that point to finish mixing.
- Shape the dough into a large, flat-topped disc (see post for image) on your baking sheet. Use a pastry knife or just a large knife to cut it into eight pieces.
- Separate and spread out your scones on the baking sheet, then put in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm up the dough. Use this time to preheat your oven to 425℉.
- Once the oven is preheated, move the scones from freezer to oven and bake for about 16 minutes.
- Mix up the icing by combining the sugar, milk, and vanilla.
- When the scones are done, let them cool for about 10 minutes. Add the icing at this point, with a brush, drizzle, or pour. Enjoy!