These easy vegan scones are beyond delicious and have that gorgeous 'buttery' taste and slightly crumbly texture. They're just perfect as part of an Afternoon Tea, served up with jam and our Vegan Clotted Cream, or on their own as a snack or dessert.
This is part of a series where we'll show you how to put together a show-stopping Vegan Afternoon Tea from the sandwiches and mini cakes to the scones and vegan clotted cream. It's all 100% vegan, egg-free, dairy-free and totally delicious!
🧈Vegan Scone Ingredients
These vegan scones have really simple ingredients. You'll need:
- All purpose / plain flour
- Baking powder
- Vegan butter - I like using Naturli organic vegan butter which is palm oil free.
- Any non-dairy milk - I like using an organic soy milk or an oat milk.
- Caster sugar
- Aquafaba - this is the water from a tin/can of chickpeas. It's used as an egg replacement. Many recipes may tell you to whisk the aquafaba but you don't need to do this step unless you're using aquafaba to replace egg white in specific recipes like mousse or meringue.
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🏾🍳Instructions
Making vegan scones is not only easy but fun, and something you can involve the family in if you want a group activity - it's especially satisfying cutting out the scones with your pastry cutter! Here's what you do:
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
- Add the caster sugar and stir in.
- Add the vegan butter (make sure it's cold) and combine this with the sugar and flour. We used a potato masher to get the crumbly dough texture you want. You can use your fingers for this, but this can melt the butter and stop you getting the crumbly texture. Don't over-handle the dough.
4. Add the aquafaba and plant milk and mix in to form a ball of dough. You can use your hands here but don't overhandle. If you want to add in a handful of sultanas or another added extra (ideas below), now is the time to do it!
5. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. You want to make it around 3cm thick. If the dough and scones aren't tall enough, they won't rise (believe me, we've learnt the lesson!).
6. Cut out your scones with a pastry cutter. I advise using a proper pastry cutter and not just a glass or tin/can. A pastry cutter won't seal the edges, and so helps ensure the vegan scones rise. I used the smallest pastry cutter in the set, giving me around 10-12 scones. Make sure they are tall (around 3cm) or they won't rise. If you use a bigger pastry cutter, you'll have less scones.
7. Brush with non-dairy milk for a more shiny top.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a little golden brown.
🫐Variations
This is a recipe for plain vegan scones, but there are other ingredients you could add to make different variations. For example:
- a handful of dried fruit or chopped nuts.
- sweet spices such as cinnamon or mixed spice.
- fresh or frozen blueberries.
We also have a recipe for Vegan Cheesy Pumpkin Scones that we think you'll love. Or you might want to try Vegan Welsh Cakes which are similar to scones, but cooked on the stove top.
🥣Equipment
While this vegan scone recipe is simple, I wanted to recommend some equipment that gives the best results:
- Potato masher - to mix in the butter with the flour and sugar, a potato masher ensures you're not melting the butter with your fingers. Many recipes will tell you to combine the butter into the mixture with your fingers, which can prevent that lovely crumbly texture.
- Pastry cutter - this gives the best results and ensures you're not sealing the edges of the scones, which can stop them from rising. If you do use a glass or the end of a tin / can, just ensure your dough is at least 3cm high, to ensure the vegan scones don't fall flat. I use the smallest pastry cutter in the set for lovely dinky scones - this also makes more scones than cutting them larger.
❓FAQ
Once cool, keep them in an airtight container.
Yes. Again, put in an airtight container.
Yes, as long as they're stored properly in an airtight container and in a cool dry place. They can be stored up to 3-4 days before going a little hard.
This recipe was developed by Vanessa, one of the original co-founders of this site. Vanessa is now working on her plant based health coaching business, Energise and Thrive Plant Based.
She's also brought out her FREE Guide - 5 Steps to Balanced Plant Based Eating which you're welcome to download. Of course, all the recipes she has created for The Vegan Larder (like this one!) will remain here for you to access.
🥄Serving
There's so much incredible food you can serve up with these vegan scones. This is part of our Vegan Afternoon Tea series and we have put together recipes and ideas for how to use these amazing scones. You can serve them with:
- vegan clotted cream
- vegan cashew cream cheese
- jam of any flavour
We have ideas for delicious, cute sandwiches and cakes you can serve up as part of an afternoon tea! The full post is coming very soon. Just check out how we served up these scones as part an amazing vegan, dairy free and egg free Afternoon Tea or High Tea! Image below shows what we did and what you can make too!
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Scones
Equipment
- Potato masher if you don't want to use your fingers
- Baking parchment
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 225 g (1¾ cups) plain / all-purpose flour
- 3½ tsp baking powder
- 40 g (¼ cup) caster sugar
- 75 g (⅓ cup) vegan butter
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) aquafaba (water from a tin/can of chickpeas )
- 3-4 tablespoon non-dairy milk (plus extra for brushing scones)
- A little extra flour for rolling
Instructions
For the Scones
- Pre-heat oven to 220°C / 430°F / Gas Mark 7.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl, then add the sugar.225 g plain / all-purpose flour, 40 g caster sugar
- Rub the butter into the mixture (you want to make sure it's cold butter). It's best to do this using a potato masher so you don't melt the butter with your warm fingers. But you can do this with your hands if you want. You want the mixture to look crumbly.75 g vegan butter
- Add the aquafaba and mix. Then add the plant milk bit by bit (you might not need all of it) and mix in to form a ball of dough.80 ml aquafaba, 3-4 tablespoon non-dairy milk
- You can bring the mixture together with your hands here but don't over-handle the dough. The dough should be soft but not too sticky. If the dough seems too dry, add more milk. If it seems too wet, add a little extra flour.
- Form the dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it out so it's around 3cm thick. If too thin, the scones will not rise.A little extra flour for rolling
- Use a pastry cutter to cut out the scones. Make sure the cutter goes all the way through the dough, and do not twist it, or the scones will be a strange shape. If you don't have a cutter, you can use an empty clean food tin / can or glass. I used the smallest pastry cutter in the set, which made around 12 scones. If you use a bigger one, you'll have less scones.
- When you've cut as many as you can, knead the remaining dough together, and repeat the cutting process.
- Put the scones on a lined baking sheet and brush each with a little non-dairy milk.
- Put scones on the top shelf of the oven. Bake for around 15 minutes. They are done when they have risen and gone a golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Serve warm or cold with jam and our vegan clotted cream.
Elisabeth Kate says
hey! was looking to make these but do you have to whip up the aquafaba first or literally just pour it in as is??
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
HI! You don't need to whip the aquafaba for the scones, just add it right in.
AJ says
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I had some aquafaba and love scones and yours was one of the few that had the combination.
I tried 2 batches, one that was more keto friendly with 70% almond/coconut flour mixture and sugar substitute. I rolled a little bit of blueberries at the end. It came out just a little burnt but okay. I guess almond flour bakes faster maybe compared to wheat or all purpose ones. So I might need to bake at 350 F next time.
I also tried a second batch with all purpose and rye flours with a little persimmon mixed in with aquafaba and added a little less sugar. I also added a little caradamom and cinnamon so it can go well with Indian tea. I baked at 400 for 13min and made sure to toothpick check in the center of each scone before taking it out. This batch came out perfect.
Anyways just wanted to share my little tweaks on your recipe.
Thanks again!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I'm glad you had success with this recipe and your variations sound delicious!
Rob says
Following the recipe to a tee, I was left with the most sticky dough I have ever encountered. Apart from the messy kitchen therafter I had to use at least 65gr more to get it non-sticky. So how does that compute? Followed all photos and descriptions cautiously, yet was left with something otherwordly.
Got a good dough afterwards. Sat in the oven for 15, still came out okay! Nice and crumbly, risen about 2.3x. Thanks for the recipe though I'll use much more flour next time! 🙂
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Hi Rob, I'm sorry the dough was so sticky.
I just realised that the updated recipe doesn't specify that you should add the plant milk in bit by bit until your dough comes together (and that you might not need all of it) , which is likely what caused the issue. I'll update the recipe to be clearer. I'm glad they tasted good in the end!
Tara says
Oh yum! These scones sound perfect for pairing with vegan clotted cream. I love how you got that texture with aquafaba and vegan butter.
Kathryn says
These scones are so perfect with tea and they are so tender and flavorful. I added sprinkles to make these festive and they were a hit!
Andrea says
Oh my, these scones look divine. A perfect breakfast to start my day.
Gina says
Great texture for being vegan! Recently just got into using aquafaba for vegan baking and I have to say, it's so impressive! These were delicious for an afternoon snack with tea.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I love freshly baked scones. You just can't beat them.