Sweet bits of apple punctuate tender gluten free apple scones with delicious fall flavor in every bite. Plenty of cinnamon adds cozy spice.
Scones are one of my favorite quick baking recipes to whip up because they are so homey and rustic, yet are still sweet enough to feel like a treat. These gluten free apple scones are studded with fresh, chopped apples plus a little applesauce in the dough for extra apple flavor and moisture. Never crumbly or bland, apple scones are similar to my oat flour scones and gluten free cherry scones recipes in that they rely on oat flour for whole grain goodness along with a bit of almond flour for structure. Time to bake!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Add this gluten free scones recipe to your scone recipe must-make list! Apples, cinnamon - what could be better? These craggy-topped beauties feature applesauce in the dough for a bit of moisture plus chopped fresh apples that magically melt into the scones during baking so they are nice and soft when you take a bite.
- Impossible to tell these are gluten free - My favorite combination of gluten free flours creates a tender, fluffy crumb that you absolutely won't be able to tell is gluten free! I served these to my kids who gobbled them up immediately
- Full of fall flavors - The scents of cozy spice wafting through your kitchen while these apple scones are in the oven makes for a lovely welcome to the changing of the seasons.
- Easy ingredients - As always, there are no fancy or hard-to-find ingredients in these apple scones. You can use homemade applesauce like I did, or pick up a jar of sauce at the store. The rest of these pantry and fridge staples mean you could make these scones today. And I hope you do!
Ingredient Notes
- Oat flour - You can pick up a bag of oat flour or learn how to make oat flour easily at home.
- Almond flour - I use fine ground almond flour rather than almond meal in these scones.
- Granulated sugar
- Salt - You can use fine sea salt or table salt.
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Butter - Keep your butter cold and unsalted!
- Apple - You can add your choice of apple variety here - I used Golden Delicious.
- Applesauce - If you can, use unsweetened applesauce so that the scones aren't overly sweet.
- Eggs - I developed this recipe using large eggs, so please use large eggs for the best results!
Check the recipe card at the end of this post for the full ingredient amounts.
Variations
- Maple apple scones - To add maple flavor that will complement the apples, substitute ¼ cup of the sugar for maple syrup, adding it when you make the egg mix. Or, brush maple syrup over the tops of the scones instead of the cinnamon sugar.
- Nuts - Chopped nuts, like walnuts, would be a lovely addition to these scones for some crunch.
- Cinnamon chips - Apples and cinnamon were meant to be together! Fold in about ½ cup of cinnamon chips along with the chopped apples for a cinnamony touch.
- Pear scones - You could use this method to make pear scones, too. Instead of apple sauce, try pear sauce OR keep the applesauce but add chopped pears instead of apples.
If you're in the mood for a muffin version of apple scones, you will love my gluten free apple muffins recipe!
Instructions
Here's a look at how you'll make these scones. The detailed instructions are in the recipe card lower down.
1. Make dry mix: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ cup sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
2. Add butter: Work in the butter, then stir in the apples.
3. Make wet mix: Whisk the egg and milk together.
4. Combine: Stir the dough together until combined.
5. Assemble: Form the scones into two rounds, then cut 12 scones. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
6. Bake: Rest the scones in the freezer, then bake them at 425°F for about 25 minutes.
Baking Tip
To keep the bottoms of the scones from burning (since they're baked on high heat), double up on the baking sheets. This will make sure the heat is distributed evenly. The scones will rise beautifully and their bottoms will be golden brown. So, when you are ready to bake, stack the baking sheet with the prepared scones on top of another baking sheet, then carefully place them on a rack set in the middle of the oven.
Tips & Substitution Suggestions
It's not difficult to make scones, especially if you follow a few best practices like resting the dough and keeping the butter cold. I've outlined some top tips below, plus included some easy substitution options:
- Start with cold butter - Use butter straight from the fridge to make your scones, or even better, keep a few sticks of butter in the freezer so they'll be ready the next time you want to make scones.
- Freeze the dough - Important! Don't skip this step. The rest in the freezer helps the butter to solidify, which means that when it bakes it will create little air pockets. These in turn create gorgeously flaky layers in the scones. Chilling the dough also keeps the scones from spreading out too much.
- Make ahead: You can prepare the scones, place them on a baking sheet, and store them, tightly covered, in the fridge or freezer for up to 24 hours.
- Don't overwork the dough - While we're using gluten free flour to make these scones so there isn't any danger of over-activating the gluten in the flour through kneading, it's still a good idea to go light on your handling of the dough. This will lead to more tender scones.
- Oat flour substitute - If you can't eat oats, do an equal substitute of sorghum flour or brown rice flour.
- Almond flour substitute - Substitute another nut flour of choice, or try teff flour for the almond flour.
- Or, use gluten free all-purpose flour - Keep it even easier and substitute 2 ¾ cups of gluten free all purpose flour for the combination of the oat and almond flours.
Storage
Scones keep well, and they're great to freeze after baking to save for another time. Here's how to do it:
- Counter - Wrap cooled apple scones in plastic or place them in an airtight container and store on the counter at room temperature for up to several days.
- Freezer - Place the baked scones in a freezer-safe, sealable bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can reheat them from frozen, which will take longer, or thaw them in the fridge before reheating.
- To Reheat - Place the scones on a baking sheet, tent lightly with foil, and warm in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.
More Gluten Free Apple Recipes
If you tried these Gluten Free Apple Scones or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments below! And I always appreciate a star rating if you loved it ❤️
Gluten Free Apple Scones
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups oat flour (270 grams)
- ½ cup almond flour (60 grams)
- ½ cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar divided
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon divided
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
- 1 cup fresh apple peeled, sliced, and diced
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ cup sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon
- Work in the butter just until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the apple.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and applesauce.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment and sprinkle it with oat flour.
- Scrape the dough onto the floured parchment or pan, divide it in half, then gently pat and round each half into a 5" to 5 ½" circle about ¾" thick.
- Stir together 1 teaspoon sugar sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Brush each circle with a little water or milk, and sprinkle with the topping.
- Using a knife knife that you've run under cold water, slice each circle into 6 wedges.
- Carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them just a bit; there should be about ½" space between them, at their outer edges.
- Place the pan of scones in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, uncovered. Then, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Bake the scones for 20-25 minutes, until they're set and golden brown with no wet edges.
- Remove the scones from the oven, and cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes.
Notes
- Start with cold butter - Use butter straight from the fridge to make your scones, or even better, keep a few sticks of butter in the freezer so they'll be ready the next time you want to make scones.
- Freeze the dough - Important! Don't skip this step. The rest in the freezer helps the butter to solidify, which means that when it bakes it will create little air pockets. These in turn create gorgeously flaky layers in the scones. Chilling the dough also keeps the scones from spreading out too much.
- Make ahead: You can prepare the scones, place them on a baking sheet, and store them, tightly covered, in the fridge or freezer for up to 24 hours.
- Don't overwork the dough - While we're using gluten free flour to make these scones so there isn't any danger of over-activating the gluten in the flour through kneading, it's still a good idea to go light on your handling of the dough. This will lead to more tender scones.
- Oat flour substitute - If you can't eat oats, do an equal substitute of sorghum flour or brown rice flour.
- Almond flour substitute - Substitute another nut flour of choice, or try teff flour for the almond flour.
- Or, use gluten free all-purpose flour - Keep it even easier and substitute 2 ¾ cups of gluten free all purpose flour for the combination of the oat and almond flours.
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