Scones are a quintessential British bake found in every tearoom throughout the country. They're such a delightful treat that we believe everyone should be able to enjoy them. So, we rounded up a gluten-free, vegan, and refined sugar-free scones recipe for you. And to keep things exciting, we flavoured it with green tea matcha powder — a must-try!
Classic scones are not vegan or gluten-free as they consist of a dough of wheat flour, buttermilk, butter, and eggs. They're lightly sweetened with white sugar, while baking powder is used to leaven the dough, giving you those super cute, tall scones you see in bakeries and tearooms. To make our scones flourless and 100% plant-based, we made a few tweaks to the classic recipe, but they're just as tasty.
We replaced wheat flour with a gluten-free blend of rice flour, potato starch, maize and buckwheat flour. It's a store-bought blend, and you should be able to find a similar mix in the free-from section at your supermarket. Gluten-free bakes are usually drier and crumblier than their wheat-based counterparts: so we increased the amount of plant-based oat milk and used maple syrup instead of refined white sugar.
Moreover, we added a bit of xantham gum to help to bind the ingredients, but if your flour blend already contains it, you can skip it. As for the fats, we replaced dairy butter with coconut oil. If you keep the oil jar at room temperature, it will be nice and pliable, just like butter, perfect for moulding the dough. It will also give a lovely coconut flavour to the scones.
And finally, our beloved matcha! We have made many tasty recipes with matcha powder, yet we can't seem to get enough of it. We love it! Matcha is basically the whole green tea leaves pulverised into a fine powder. You can use it to make tea and lattes, but it's great for sweet bakes too. If you like it as much as we do, check out our gluten-free sponge cake, avocado sorbet, or energy bars for inspiration.
Using matcha in scones is super easy, as you can mix it in with the dry ingredients like flour. We used two tablespoons for a deep green look and a distinct bittersweet note, but you can also use less if you prefer a more toned down flavour. Once baked, we recommend pairing these gluten-free matcha scones with creamy custard, like our passion fruit curd or lemon curd, or one of our sugar-free jam recipes. Then, put on your kettle, and get ready for the ultimate teatime treat, British-style!
Ingredients
| Gluten-Free Flour | 320 g |
| Baking Powder | 3 tsp |
| Xanthan Gum (optional) | 1 tsp |
| Matcha Powder | 2 tbsp |
| Oat Milk | 150 mL |
| Lemon Juice | 1 tbsp |
| Maple Syrup | 70 mL |
| Coconut Oil (at room temperature) | 60 g |
Step 1
Combine gluten-free flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and matcha powder in a bowl.
Only use xanthan gum if your gluten-free flour blend doesn't already include it. Our flour is a store-bought blend of rice, potato, tapioca, maize, and buckwheat.
Step 2
Next, grab another bowl and pour in the milk, lemon juice, and maple syrup.
If you want to swap maple syrup with coconut sugar or erythritol, check our tips below for the ratios.
Now, stir well and let the mixture sit for a few minutes while preparing the other ingredients; this will be our vegan buttermilk.
Step 3
Now, it's time to add the coconut oil to the flour mix; make sure it's at room temperature and it's scoopable. If it's too liquid, keep it in the fridge or freezer until it hardens.
Tip the coconut oil into the flour, mix it with a spoon, and then rub it in with your fingers until you have a crumbly dough.
Step 4
Next, incorporate the vegan buttermilk, mix all with a spoon, and then knead the dough by hand inside the bowl.
You should have a smooth, pliable, and soft dough.
Step 5
Roll the dough into a ball and transfer it onto a sheet of baking paper.
Then, flatten it with a rolling pin into a 3 cm (1.2 inches) thick round.
Cover it with cling film and let it firm up in the fridge for 15-30 minutes; this way, it will be easier to cut, and the scones will have well defined fluted edges.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F) and keep the baking tray inside so it will be nice and hot when you put in the scones; this will help the matcha scones grow tall.
Step 6
Now, remove the dough from the fridge and use a fluted cookie cutter to cut out the scones. We used a 6 cm (2.5 inches) cutter, but you can also use a 5 cm (2 inches) one for slightly smaller scones.
If you don't have a cookie cutter, you can use the rim of a round glass to cut the scones.
Then, grab the dough offcuts, knead them back together, re-roll the dough, and cut out more scones.
Step 7
Transfer the prepared matcha scones onto the warm baking tray, lined with parchment paper.
Bake the scones at 220°C (430°F) for 15-18 minutes until the top is lightly golden.
Finally, transfer them onto a wire rack to cool down and serve them sliced in half, filled with jam, vegan spread, or custard.
Tips
You can replace lemon juice with apple cider vinegar.
Instead of maple syrup, you can use coconut sugar or zero-calorie erythritol. To so, swap 70ml (2.5 fl oz) of maple syrup with 70g (2.5 oz) of coconut sugar and increase the milk by one tablespoon; or use 100g (3.5 oz) of zero-sugar erythritol sweetener, increase the milk by two tablespoons.
You can replace coconut oil with vegan butter or regular butter if you're not vegan.