Moist and perfectly sweet scones studded with fresh apples and a generous amount of warm spices, these Almond Flour Apple Scones make a lovely weekend treat! Plus, you’d never guess they are grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free.
Warmly-spiced with ground cinnamon and nutmeg, endowed with an assertive amount of fresh diced apples, gifted with richness, moisture, and perfect texture, and adorned with a bonus glaze, these Almond Flour Apple Scones are everything we love in a baked good!
Plus, they are far easier to make than regular scones, requiring zero baking skill!
You don’t have to follow a grain-free diet or a medically restrictive diet of any kind in order to love these scones!
In fact, these grain-free scones are well-loved among my friends and family, all of whom eat wheat.
Is the taste and texture identical to regular scones? No. It is my personal opinion, however, that they are even better!
These almond flour scones are more moist and sweeter than traditional scones. This makes them far more appealing to me, as I have found many classic scone recipes to be lacking in flavor.
This simple recipe is much easier to make than a regular scone recipe, because everything gets stirred up in a large mixing bowl.
There’s no cutting cold butter into flour with a pastry cutter or pastry blender or waiting for the dough to chill. I have also included step-by-step photos to simplify the process.
If you enjoy fruit-infused baked goods, also try my Blueberry Almond Flour Scones, Almond Flour Strawberry Scones, and my Paleo Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Scones!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for almond flour apple scones!
Ingredients for Almond Flour Apple Scones:
Almond Flour: The base of this easy grain-free scone recipe! Finely ground almond flour is a marvelous ingredient in grain-free or gluten-free baking, as it generates a lovely light texture that most people love.
I use Bob’s Red Mill Finely Ground Almond Flour. For the best results, stick with a fine grind of almond flour versus a coarse grind like almond meal.
I have found varying brands of almond flour have varying absorbencies. With this in mind, results can vary depending on which brand of almond flour you use.
Large Eggs: A couple of eggs help the dough rise and result in fluffy scones that hold together nicely.
I have included an option for a flax egg replacement in the recipe card below.
Because this is a grain-free recipe, I recommend using a scone pan if you go with flax eggs to help the scones maintain their shape.
Pure Maple Syrup: Sweetened with pure maple syrup, these scones have just the right level of sweetness for someone like me who has a sweet tooth but doesn’t enjoy overwhelmingly sweet treats. I love that the pure maple syrup also lends maple flavor, which enhances the apple cinnamon flavors.
Avocado Oil: We need a little fat in order to provide moisture and richness. I like using avocado oil because it is a decent source of omega-3 fatty acids, and it has a neutral flavor.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda: The leavening agents here. I use both baking powder and baking soda, which helps the dough rise, bake evenly, and provides a nice outer crisp for a beautiful texture.
Pure Vanilla Extract & Almond Extract: While vanilla extract and almond extract are both optional, I think they add a lovely nuance to the dough.
Ground Cinnamon & Ground Nutmeg: Both ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg are lovely complements to apples, as they provide a warmly-spiced flavor profile. What is an apple baked good without cinnamon?
Sea Salt: Salt is a big flavor enhancer! I always use sea salt, not to be confused with iodized salt or table salt.
If you’re using table salt, cut the salt measurement in half, as regular salt tastes saltier than sea salt.
Fresh Apple: I like using a large honeycrisp apple for this gluten-free scone recipe, but granny smith apples work too.
Optional Glaze Ingredients:
Powdered Sugar (Confectioners Sweetener): All we need to make a basic glaze is powdered sugar and water.
For less sugar, use sugar-free powdered sugar such as powdered Monk Fruit sweetener.
This glaze is entirely optional, but it really enhances the experience in my opinion!
Recipe Customizations:
- Swap a fresh pear for the apple to make pear scones.
- Please don’t substitute any flour for the almond flour (especially not coconut flour). If you’re looking for a gluten-free apple scone recipe that uses a gluten-free flour mixture, make my Vegan Apple Scones, which calls for gluten-free all purpose flour.
- Honey can be used as a replacement for pure maple syrup. Just note that honey burns at a lower temperature than pure maple syrup, so keep a close eye on the scones so that they don’t brown up too much.
- Replace the avocado oil with melted butter, coconut oil, full-fat canned coconut milk, or heavy cream.
- Add 2/3 cup of chocolate chips in addition to the apple pieces if you know how to party!
- Rather than drizzling these gluten free apple cinnamon scones with a glaze at the end of baking, you can sprinkle the scone dough with a cinnamon sugar mixture prior to baking. To do so, combine 1/3 cup of granulated sweetener like white sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar or maple sugar with 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the tops of the scones dough just before baking.
Now that we’ve discussed the basic ingredients for almond flour apple scones, let’s bake them!
How to Make Almond Flour Apple Scones:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, you can spray the sheet with cooking spray.
Whisk together the eggs, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if adding) in a large bowl until well-combined.
In a separate bowl, stir together the almond flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, baking soda, and sea salt until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir well until a thick and sticky dough forms.
Stir in the chopped apple chunks.
Transfer the scone dough to a lightly floured surface such as a cutting board and shape it into a large disc shape. Note that the dough will be very sticky – this is normal! I promise, it will all work out.
Use a very sharp knife to cut the dough disc into 8 equal sized triangles. I cut the disc down the center vertically, then cut it again down the center horizontally, then rotate the angle for the final two cuts.
Use a spatula to lift up one of the dough triangles and poke in any apples that are trying to fall out of the dough.
You can also shape the dough to have rounded corners (which is what I do).
Place the scone dough on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat for the remaining triangles of dough.
Bake scones on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown around the edges.
Allow the scones to cool at least 15 minutes before enjoying them. Do note that moving the scones while they are still warm can cause them to break.
They will be completely set up once they have completely cooled and will then hold together magically. I keep them on the parchment-lined baking sheet throughout the cooling process but you can transfer them to a wire rack after 15 minutes if you’d like.
Make the Optional Glaze:
For a lovely glaze, mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl or a measuring cup until creamy.
Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the scones.
While this step isn’t mandatory, it adds a lovely element to the scones. It reminds me of glazed Danishes, which provides a nice touch and adds some more sweetness.
Nevertheless, this almond flour scones recipe tastes great without the glaze, too!
Storage Options:
- Room Temperature: Store scones in an airtight container or in a zip lock bag on the counter for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator: Scones will keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days when stored in an airtight container or zip lock bag.
- Freezer: For longer term storage, transfer any remaining scones to a large zip lock or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheat scones in the microwave or toaster oven with a little bit of nut butter like almond butter or peanut butter or a pat of regular butter alongside a mug of tea or coffee.
The next time you’re craving an apple treat or just scones in general, enjoy a batch of these beauties!
Simple enough to make for day to day enjoyment, and fancy enough for entertaining, you can whip up these grain-free scones for the whole family to enjoy on any weekend, or for special occasions too.
I love this grain free cinnamon apple scone recipe as an afternoon snack, a great addition to brunch, or dessert.
If you enjoy almond flour recipes, also try some of these reader favorites!
More Almond Flour Recipes:
- Almond Flour Pancakes
- Healthy Almond Flour Lemon Coffee Cake
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts
- Paleo Apple Pie Bars
- Almond Flour Breakfast Bars
- Paleo Pumpkin Bars
- Almond Flour Banana Cookies
- Healthy Apple Crisp
- Almond Flour Blueberry Bread
Enjoy these healthy apple cinnamon scones!
Almond Flour Apple Scones
Ingredients
- 2 eggs *
- ⅓ cup avocado oil or melted coconut oil**
- ⅔ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract optional
- 5 cups almond flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg optional
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 large honeycrisp apple peeled and chopped
Optional Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp water or lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, you can spray the sheet with cooking spray.
- Whisk together the eggs, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if adding) in a large bowl until well-combined.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the almond flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, baking soda, and sea salt until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir well until a thick and sticky dough forms. Stir in the chopped apple chunks.
- Transfer the scone dough to a lightly floured surface such as a cutting board and shape it into a large disc shape. Note that the dough will be very sticky – this is normal! I promise, it will all work out.
- Use a very sharp knife to cut the dough disc into 8 equal sized triangles. I cut the disc down the center vertically, then cut it again down the center horizontally, then rotate the angle for the final two cuts. Use a spatula to lift up one of the dough triangles and poke in any apples that are trying to fall out of the dough. You can also shape the dough to have rounded corners (which is what I do). Place the scone dough on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat for the remaining triangles of dough. Leave plenty of room between each dough triangle to allow the dough to expand during baking.
- Bake scones on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown around the edges.
- Allow the scones to cool at least 15 minutes before enjoying them. Do note that moving the scones while they are still warm can cause them to break. They will be completely set up once they have completely cooled and will then hold together magically.
Make the Optional Glaze:
- For a lovely glaze, mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl or a measuring cup until creamy.
- Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the scones. While this step isn’t mandatory, it adds a lovely element to the scones.
Notes
Nutrition
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