Vegan Scone Recipe – What Jessica Baked Next

Classic English scones made with vegan ingredients. Made without any dairy or egg, these scones are gorgeously fluffy and will be greatly enjoyed with dairy-free whipped cream and jam.

The next vegan bake I wanted to tackle for my blog was scones. I’ve already found some great vegan bakes like this banana bread, these brownies, these cookies and these flapjacks. With every new blog post I’m adding to my vegan recipe collection and I’m really enjoying discovering loads of yummy vegan recipes. I’ve also been testing out some vegan cake recipes, one was very successful (I hope to share it soon in time for Easter) and another not so successful that I’ll need to go back and work on.

This time last year I baked these (3 Ingredient) Lemonade Scones and ever since posting they’ve become one of the most viewed recipes each day. I haven’t eaten scones in a while, but recently I’ve really wanted to bake a batch.

If you were blind taste testing these scones, you really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the vegan version and a recipe that includes dairy ingredients.

Scones just HAVE to be served with cream and jam. For us vegans, there’s many wonderful vegan alternatives to our usual favourites. Before I went vegan, I would bake with copious amounts of double cream, but thankfully now I don’t miss out as I use an oat-based whipping cream alternative which is equally as fabulous.

You cannot even tell the difference between this non-dairy whippable cream and double cream, it’s absolutely amazing and a lovely treat piled on top of these yummy vegan scones with jam. In my recipe notes below I’ve listed the brands of vegan ingredients I used.

These are a vegan version of traditional English scones. I’ve had questions before about adding sultanas to the scone dough, I’d recommend adding about 100g of sultanas to your scone dough, you could even add the same amount of vegan chocolate chips/chunks instead of dried fruit if you fancy something different!

When serving these scones I went for raspberry jam, but you can serve the scones with any jam you like such as apricot, blackcurrant or keep it classic with a delicious strawberry jam. Another favourite jam of mine is plum jam, I have fond memories of making plum jam with my grandma and grandad a number of summers ago.

Just look at how fluffy and cake-like these vegan scones are!

As with every vegan recipe I’ve made so far, I have always been a bit worried when starting off whether they’ll be any problems with the recipe and will it taste good enough to share on the blog. I’ll never share any recipe I’m not proud of, I only want you to have fun in the kitchen and enjoy baking as much as I do.

These scones require a handful of ingredients: self-raising flour, baking powder, salt and a few tablespoons of sugar, fridge cold dairy-free baking spread and plant milk (I used soya milk). Simply sift together the dry ingredients, then using your fingertips rub the baking spread into the dry ingredients until you have a fine breadcrumb mixture. Gradually add the plant milk and very gently mix by hand until a soft dough has formed. Place the scone dough on a piece of baking parchment and press out until it’s 2cm in thickness. Leave the scone dough to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Resting the scone dough makes it’s easier when it’s time to cut the scones out the dough. Take a 6cm scone cutter and stamp out 6-8 scones and now place the scones on a large baking tray that’s been lined with a piece of parchment paper. This step is optional, but if you have the time now you’ll need to freeze the scones for 15 minutes as this ensures when the scones bake they’re uniform in shape.

Once the scones are ready to bake, all that’s left to do is to brush the tops lightly with extra soya milk. I also sprinkle the tops with a tiny bit of sugar, I used caster sugar but even some demerara sugar would add a lovely crunch to the top of each scone. This is a trick I used to do when I worked as a tearoom baker baking gluten-free scones and customers always loved it, so I’ve used that same idea here with these scones.

(Makes 6-8)

Ingredients:

350g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons caster or granulated sugar

95g vegan dairy-free spread

150ml plant milk – I use soya milk

Jam and vegan whipped cream/crème fraîche, to serve

Method:

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together. Give the dry ingredients a quick mix and then add the vegan spread. Using your fingertips, rub the spread into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Gradually add the milk bit by bit and mix until you have soft and smooth dough – you might need to add a dash extra milk to help bring the scone dough together.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough out until it’s roughly 2cm in thickness. Carefully transfer the scone dough a baking tray lined with a piece of baking parchment and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up – this makes it easier to cut out the scones later on.
Once the dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and take out a 6cm cutter (fluted or plain is fine) and stamp out 6-8 scones. Place the scones onto another baking tray lined with parchment paper leaving about 2cm between each scone and place in the freezer for 15 minutes – this is optional you can bake the scones straight away if you prefer.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 220°C / 200°C Fan / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Brush the tops of the scones with extra plant milk and sprinkle with some extra sugar to add a crunchy top. Bake the scones for 15-20 minutes until they’re lightly golden. Leave the scones to cool on a wire rack before enjoying with jam and vegan whipped cream.

The scones will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days, they’re best enjoyed on the day they are baked.

Recipe Notes:

I use Pure Vegan Baking Spread but I’d also recommend Flora Plant Butter (Salted or Unsalted) – this is a block vegan butter I’ve used in other recipes and it will be fine to use to make these scones.
If you like dried fruit in your scones, you can add 100g of sultanas to your scone dough or for something different try adding the same quantity of vegan chocolate chips/chunks.
For the vegan whipped cream, I recommend Oatly Whippable Creamy Oat – this is the best whippable dairy-free cream in my opinion compared to other brands I’ve tried.