Two Different Takes On Single-Serving Scones

Boy, I love scones.  They’re kind of my go-to breakfast food if I want to treat myself to something nice on the weekend.  I make plain scones, cherry almond scones, Starbucks pumpkin scones (recipe coming soon), pretty much anything I can.  But the downside is that a recipe generally makes 8-12 scones, which is way more than my poor workout schedule can take care of.  So when I saw not one but two recipes for single-serving scone recipes, I knew my life had just gotten exponentially more awesome.

I stopped eating breakfast a couple years ago, and generally on weekends I just have tons of strong coffee to start my morning.  Every so often, though, I’m struck with an intense craving for hot biscuits and honey.  That’s basically what scones and biscuits are to me—an excuse to pile on jam or honey.  You can’t say I don’t have my priorities straight.

These recipes are fairly similar, though the second one uses a little less sugar (and brown instead of white) and calls for coconut oil in its solid form (and seems slightly healthier overall).  I didn’t have coconut oil on hand the first time so I tried it with butter, but I made the recipe again using coconut oil (and whole wheat flour) and it was still great.  The first recipe also made a little more, I made two scones out of it.  Both also bake at higher temperatures (450 F) than all my other scone recipes.

With butter

The original recipe said to use a food processor for this, which I loved because I have an irrational hatred of using the pastry blender.  I mean, I WILL use it, I just don’t like to.  Also, I liked that I didn’t need to roll the dough out onto a floured surface before baking, making clean-up even easier.  This is almost a “drop scone” method, as the dough is definitely wetter.

Preheat the oven to 450. Measure 1/3 cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of sugar into a food processor. Blend to combine. You can do it in a regular bowl and combine manually if you prefer (use a pastry blender for the butter).

Add 1 tablespoon of cold butter (cut in small pieces) and pulse to get it worked into the dry ingredients. The butter should be kind of like tiny pebbles or larger crumbs throughout the flour mixture.

Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of milk (I used skim) and any mix-ins you want to use (fruits, nuts, etc.; I left mine plain). Pulse just long enough for it to become a dough, it won’t take long. Don’t over-stir.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the dough out onto it (the scones should be about 1/2 inch thick, mine were a little too thick). For me, this recipe made enough for two scones—which, let’s face it, is a serving in my scone-obsessed world!

For this recipe, it doesn’t have to be pretty or neatly floured and patted out like some scone recipes. The dough is much wetter than most scones I’ve made, but it still turned out great. If your dough isn’t wet enough and won’t hold together, add a tiny bit more milk until it will. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon and some turbinado sugar if you want, then into the oven it goes!

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown, then let cool for a couple minutes.

Slather with your choice of butter, jam, etc. The whole thing took a half hour, and that was mostly because my oven takes forever to heat up.

Single-Serving Scones (Food Processor)

• 1/3 cup of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of milk

Preheat your oven to 450 F.  Note, a small food process works much better for this, don’t use a giant one.  In a food processor combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Add the butter and pulse into the dry ingredients until it breaks up and resembles crumbs.  Then add in the milk and pulse until the dough pulls away from the side of the mixer, which should only take a moment.  Carefully pull the dough away from the blade and shape into a circle, patting it to about 1/2 inch in thickness (mine tends to be a little wet and I do more like drop biscuit dough vs. shaping).

Bake at 450 F on a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool slightly before digging in!

So there’s option 1…now on to the next one.

With coconut oil (also tested with butter)

For this recipe, it calls for coconut oil, which is obviously healthier than butter.  The first time I made it, I didn’t have coconut oil, so I substituted butter and it turned out just fine.  The second time, I used coconut oil and also used whole wheat flour, so it was really healthier all around.

Now don’t confuse healthy and low-cal.  The texture of this is definitely not a traditional light and flaky biscuit, or the nice dense (but dry) crumb of a traditional UK scone.  Due to the whole wheat flour and coconut oil, it’s a bit heavier but also very moist.  And super easy to make, versus taking the time to cut butter in and roll things out nicely.  This recipe clocks in at about 300 calories total, which is totally acceptable for a treat.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.  Mix up the dry ingredients.  Add the coconut oil (in its solid form) to the mixture. It should kind of crumble in.  Then mix together just like you would butter (or you could just use butter).

Add the other wet ingredients and stir until just combined—it’s a shaggy, wet dough.  Use your hands to pat it together into a large scone on some parchment paper (on a baking sheet).  If you’re feelin’ fancy, you can sprinkle some turbinado sugar on top.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until it’s golden brown and puffed up.

Slather with butter, jelly, honey, or whatever your poison is, and devour!

Hopefully one of these single-serving scones will work perfectly for you!  Honestly I loved both, though I think the first recipe might have a slight edge due to the simplicity of the food processor and easy cleanup!

Healthy Single-Serving Scones

• 1/3 cup of flour (you can use partial white whole wheat, or 100%)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• A solid pinch of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons of 1% or 2% milk (you’ll probably need 3 tablespoons if using whole wheat)
• Additional turbinado sugar for sprinkling
• Optional: mix-ins, like diced fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Line small oven safe tray with parchment paper or silicone.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, pinch salt, pinch cinnamon, and the brown sugar.
3. Crumble in the coconut oil to form coarse crumbs.
4. Stir in milk to form a soft dough.  If it is too dry to stick together, just add a little more milk a little at a time until it comes together.  It’ll be kind of messy and shaggy, that’s totally fine.
5. Pat into a circle on the tray and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.
6. Bake at 450 F for 8 – 10 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Other scone recipes you’ll love:

• Cherry Almond Scones
• Maple & Oat Scones
• Healthy Apple Pie Scones
• Dreamy Creamy Scones

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