Scones with True Carrot Cake Flavor
Carrot Cake Scones with Cream Cheese Frosting are inspired by all the flavors in traditional carrot cake like freshly grated carrots, zesty pineapple, warm cinnamon and all-spice. Whole-wheat flour is included in the ingredient list to bring a nutty flavor to the scones. Top the warm scones with the buttery-rich cream cheese frosting and you’ll see why these sweet scones will rival any carrot cake any day!These amazing scones are perfect for spring tea services, Easter brunches and anytime someone in your family is looking for "something good." My family enjoys these scones for breakfast, treats and especially as not-quite-midnight snacks. I like to bake half the scones and freeze the remaining scoops of dough to bake later. Fresh, warm scones anytime I have a craving–that's pretty amazing!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup butter frozen
- 1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
- 1 cup crushed pineapple drained well
- 1 cup whole milk
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- dash salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
- Grate butter into dry ingredients and fluff into mixture with a fork until evenly distributed.
- In a separate bowl, add together the shredded carrots, pineapple and milk.
- Mix the wet ingredients into dry mixture; mix until fully incorporated, but do not overwork dough.
- Using a ¼ cup ice cream scoop, spoon mounds of dough 2” apart on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake 14 – 15 minutes or until scones are golden brown.
- While scones are baking, prepare the cream cheese frosting.
- In a small bowl, mix the butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, vanilla and dash of salt until smooth and creamy. Add more heavy cream, if needed, to reach the desired consistency.
- Once scones are baked, allow to cool for 15 minutes and cover with frosting.
- Serve warm.
- Frosted scones should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigeratorfor up to three days.KISS TIP: Unbaked sconedough can be scooped onto a baking sheet and then frozen. To store, placefrozen portions of dough in a freezer container—labeled and dated—for up to three months. To bake, remove scones from the freezer and let sit at room temperature while oven preheats or for up to 30 minutes. Bake according to directions and add 4-5 minutes to baking time.
Notes
KISS TIPS (Keep it Simple Sweetie) and SPECIAL NOTES
These scones are easy to make, but when making any scone it’s important to know a few tricks for consistent success. Follow these pro-tips and see how good your scones turn out every time!
1. Accurately measure your flour. Baking requires some amount of precision. Your favorite sauce may come together with a bit of this and some of that. Baking, however, demands specific measurements of ingredients, especially flour. In many cases, you can modify the amounts of sugar, salt and other dry flavorings, but be careful adjusting measurements of flour and fat or you may not like the results.
Measuring flour is not a tricky thing. You just need the right tools and some personal restraint. Do not use a liquid measuring cup for measuring flour. Ideally, we would all use weight measurements for our baked goods. I live by the KISS (Keep It Simple Sweetie) adage in my kitchen and prefer to use a quicker yet still fairly accurate method of measuring. It’s not anything groundbreaking and I would safely venture to say that it employs a tool that everyone has in one of their kitchen drawers. A good old-fashioned set of dry-measure measuring cups. You know, the kind where the smaller sizes nest in the larger ones. I said it wasn’t groundbreaking.
You’ll find all “measures” of styles ranging from practical and indestructible to cutesy and quite breakable. I’ve had my fair share of those over the years! Regardless, of the actual material, the overall design of these measuring cups allows you to scoop your flour and then level off the excess for a more precise measurement. Not as precise as weighing, but infinitely better than filling a measuring cup meant for liquids with flour and then tapping it until all the air is forced out and the flour sinks to a wildly inaccurate measurement. Tap long enough and 1 1/2 cups of flour can be reduced to what appears to be 1 cup. Using a liquid measuring cup to measure dry ingredients can really skew the measurement and too much flour will yield a dry batch of whatever you’re making.
Another good tip is to fluff your flour before measuring any out. Use a fork or even a whisk to put a little extra air back into the flour, then plunge your dry measuring cup into it, pull it out and then run the back of a knife across the surface swooshing the excess flour back into your flour container. Easy and, more importantly, better measuring.
2. Cold butter is a must for making tender, well-risen scones. It’s helpful for all your ingredients to be chilled, but the butter must be cold or even frozen. I recommend keeping a stick or two, or pound or two, of butter in your freezer. Why do you need the butter so cold? As the scones bake, the steam released from the chilled butter helps make the scones tender and contributes to their rise. Colder butter = better scones.
There are two ways to easily cut your butter into the dry ingredients. I always try to keep things simple in the kitchen. Remember the KISS I mentioned earlier? Keep methods and processes as simple as you can because it makes baking and cooking so much more approachable. The first method is a breeze if you have a couple of frozen sticks of butter in your freezer. Quickly run that stick across a good box grater into the dry mixture. Use a fork to mix the shredded butter into the dry ingredients. Be careful to not mash the butter into a big, blobby ball of butter, though. Once the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, you’re finished cutting the butter. Easy-peasy and box graters are quick to wash.
The second method is my favorite if I’m make several batches of scone mixes. This method requires a food processor but takes only seconds to cut the butter into the flour mixture. Begin by measuring the dry ingredients into the bowl of your food processor; pulse to combine. Toss in diced chilled butter, then pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour this butter/flour mixture into a mixing bowl and add the wet ingredients. (NOTE: I do not recommend finishing the scones in the food processor. It would make a mess and give your scones an undesirable texture.)
I use both methods and like each one equally depending on my end goal. Quick for now or a few prepped for later. Once the butter is cut in, I put the mixture into the freezer for about five minutes to let that butter chill again.
3. NEVER overwork your dough. When combining your dry ingredients with your wet ingredients, use a very light hand with a folding motion. Don’t just pour the wet ingredients into a well in the center of the dry ingredients and then try to stir it all together at once. You’ll wear yourself out and possibly overwork the dough trying to get the elements evenly incorporated. Pour a little, stir a little; pour a little more, stir a little more. Pour any remaining wet ingredients over a dry spot. When stirring, use a sturdy spoon or your hands (just be aware the heat of your hand can soften the butter you’ve been working so hard to keep cold). Put your spoon, or hand, to the bottom of your mixing bowl and pull the dough mixture up and over. Continue doing this until it all comes together to form a soft dough.
Substitutions:
The recipe calls for whole wheat flour, but if you don’t have any on hand you can replace it with all-purpose flour. You could also use oat flour in place of the whole wheat flour. If you do replace the whole wheat flour with all-purpose or oat flour, I would suggest starting with only ¾ cup milk and add more only if needed. Whole wheat flour requires more liquid than the other flours. And oat flour is actually substituted using a 1:1.4 ratio, so using a little less liquid will make up for the difference. I like the whole wheat flour for the nuttiness that it gives these scones without the addition of nuts. However, if nuts are not an issue for you, adding a ½ cup of chopped pecan or walnuts would give these sweet scones a nice bite and great texture.
Make Ahead:
Scone dough is unbelievably easy to freeze for a form of quick, bake-off scones. You could freeze the baked scones, but when freezing them unbaked is this easy, why would you? To freeze the scone dough follow these simple steps.- Scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, allowing just a 1/2″ between the mounds of dough.
- Cover lightly with plastic wrap or a tea towel.
- Place baking sheet in the freezer and allow the scones to freeze overnight.
- Transfer scones to an airtight container or freezer storage bag, removing as much air as possible.
- Be sure to label and date! Store unbaked scones in the freezer for up to three months.
- To bake: remove the desired amount of scones and place on a parchment lined baking sheet then preheat oven to 425°F. Bake scones for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Serve warm!
A Final Thought:
Many of the recipes I share were created or customized for our popular tearoom. They are all quite special to me and I encourage you to try them. I think you’ll find they are for much more than just teatime. It has always been important to me that my recipes are approachable and versatile in nature. All my recipes can be prepared to serve as part of an afternoon tea service and as heartier servings for a hungry family. I hope you try them all and share them with your family and friends. I also hope you get lots of “oohs and aahs” from your special people when you do. There are few things more satisfying to a home-chef than receiving wide-eyed enthusiasm from the ones we enjoy cooking for. Although our beloved tearoom is now closed, I invite you to visit our Tea Shop at sistersteacompany.com. Here we sell luxury loose-leaf teas and tisanes, plus useful—and beautiful—tea accessories. If you’re not familiar with the world of tea, check out our tea shop—you’ll be amazed at the selection of tea types and flavors. If you’re already a tea enthusiast, you’ll be thrilled, too!Tea Recommendations:
I’ve been recommending teas for many years now and I suggest the following to serve with these Spring Mint Fudge Brownies. Just like these brownies, these tea flavors are excellent for enjoying any time of day and any time of year.- Paris in a Teacup Black Tea
our signature tea has smooth caramel and rich crème brule flavor; perfect with everything
- Chai Americaine Black Tea
a warming blend of cinnamon and clove buds with dried citrus peel
- Peach Passion Black Tea
sultry peach and jammy apricot notes highlighted with passion fruit and rose petals
- Earl Grey Black Tea
high-grown Ceylon black tea scented with the oil of bergamot, a citrus fruit similar to an orange
- Lavender Butterfly Green Tea
the sweet ethereal flavor of lavender paired with an exceptional Hunan green tea
- Wild Strawberry Fruit & Herb Tisane
beautiful blend of fragrant strawberry, tangy hibiscus, rose hip, and tart raspberry leaves
- French Caramel Crème Brule Rooibos
caffeine-free version of our best-selling Paris in a Teacup Black Tea
- Bamboo Chamomile Fruit & Herb
composed of invigorating herbs like bamboo and chamomile with a burst of bright, sweet pineapple
- Turmeric Bliss Fruit & Herb
a fragrant cup with bold citrus flavor and soft notes of cinnamon and turmeric
“Your pleasant path leads me to pleasant places. I’m overwhelmed by the privileges that come with following you, for you have given me the best!” Psalm 16:6 Have you made these Carrot Cake Sweet Scones with Cream Cheese Frosting? Leave a comment and let us know what you think. We appreciate and value your feedback.
