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Carrot Cake Scones

Brown butter scones meet carrot cake in this cream cheese glazed scone recipe.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chill Time 30 minutes
Servings 8 scones

Ingredients

Carrot Scones

  • 180g or or 1 ½ sticks butter
  • 300g or 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ tsp fine sea salt
  • 50g or ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 170g shredded carrot about 4 thin ones, about 1 cup
  • 1 large egg
  • 120g or ½ cup heavy cream
  • ⅓ cup silvered almonds or chopped pistachios, or pecans or walnuts
  • up to 2/3 cup coconut chips optional

Cream cheese glaze

  • 120g or 1 cup powdered sugar preferably made with tapioca starch
  • 3 tablespoons spreadable cream cheese whipped or regular
  • 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

First, brown the butter

  • Set the butter in a frying pan over medium low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the butter melts. Keep stirring and cooking until the butter has lots of dark brown bits at the bottom (but not black!). Once it goes silent, transfer to a heatsafe bowl and set in the freezer until solid. Keep it cold until you need it for the dough.

Make the scone dough

  • Grate the carrots and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and spices.
  • In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, heavy cream and vanilla.
  • Take the browned butter out and if it’s solid as one block, slice it into smaller bits. Add it to the dry ingredients then use a pastry cutter to cut it so that the butter pieces are about the size of a mix of kidney and black beans.
  • Add the carrots and nuts, then use your hands to toss all the ingredients together.
  • Pour in the egg mixture and stir the dough with a rubber spatula. Then use your hands to bring the dough together by folding it over itself a few times and squeezing the dough into a shapeless ball.
  • Flour the countertop and pat the dough into a rectangle that’s about 13 x 10’. Fold it over itself once then pat it out again. Use a bench scraper to slice it in half in the center, then each smaller rectangle into half again. You’ll have four (almost) squares. Slice them in half diagonally so you have 8 triangles.
  • Set the scones on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Freeze them for at least 10 minutes. If you’d like to freeze them overnight, set them in an airtight container in the freezer (you can bake them from frozen in the morning).
  • Preheat the oven to 400 F. For a crunchy top, brush the scones with heavy cream or milk and sprinkle on some granulated sugar (the less fine the sugar the more crunch you’ll get, organic or turbinado work great here).
  • Bake the scones for about 20 minutes, until golden all around the edges.
  • If you’d like to glaze them, wait until the scones are cool then whisk all the glaze ingredients together. If the glaze is too thick add more heavy cream, if too thin add more powdered sugar. Spoon it over the scones and sprinkle on some more chopped nuts if desired.

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