Maple Oat Scones: Your New Favorite Healthy Breakfast
The neighbors have been wonderful team players eating all my bakes so I don’t come out of this pandemic looking like a blue whale. But they gently and kindly requested that I pretty please make something healthy. So, today, we’re making oat scones!
The following post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra charge to you. To learn more about this, please visit my Disclaimer page. Thank you for your continued support!
Oat Scones Sound Boring, but These are AMAZING
Compared to my two previous ventures into scones, oat scones sound really bland, but stick with me. Not only are these healthy, they’re packed with big, warm, cozy flavors.
Just like your favorite snuggly blanket, you’ll want to cuddle into one of these babies on the greyest, chilliest of mornings with a nice warm mug of coffee.
All Good Things Start with Browned Butter
That’s right. All good things start with browned butter, as do these. So, minor disclaimer that this little extra step is going to add some wait-time to your oat scone experience. But it’s SOOO worth it. (Note: You can also make these with unbrowned butter; it should still be frozen though).
The night before you make scones, brown up a stick of butter. Pour that golden nectar into a glass container and fridge it for an hour to solidify, and then pop it out of your container. Wrap in parchment paper, and freeze it for at least 1 hour until very solid.
An extra little tip: when I turn my butter out onto the parchment paper after an hour, it’s still kind of soft, so I form it into a nice little skinny log to freeze. This helps it solidify faster, and it gives you a handle shape that is easier to hold when you’re grating it.
A second little tip: when you brown butter, a lot of the water cooks off. For that reason, you’re going to be compensating with extra liquid. Look no further than the liquid of maple syrup as opposed to granulated sugar. However, if you find your dough looking really dry, add a tablespoon or two more milk.
The Importance of Cold Butter in Scones
With flaky pastry, be it pie dough, biscuits, puff pastry, or even scones, you need that butter good and cold. My secret is to work with frozen butter and shred it into your dry ingredients.
This process gets you perfectly sized bits of butter at a low temperature so you don’t have to work so hard to stay cool. It’s especially good for the warm of hand.
Why do you need cold butter? Well, warm butter is going to get warmer in the oven and melt right out of the dough. That’s no fun. Cold butter forces its liquid to sublimate (go from solid to gas) so your dough puffs up and stays up. This makes for tasty bakes!
No Refined Sugar in These Oat Scones
I like my scones sweet, so these babies will give you that sugary kiss. However, it comes from the goodness of maple syrup. Remember how I mentioned these scones were like your favorite blanket? This is a big part of that.
Maple syrup is sweet, yes, but it’s earthy, warm, cozy, and unrefined. Paired with cinnamon and the browned butter you worked hard on, it develops the most luxurious and unexpectedly complex flavor. You wouldn’t expect that from mere oat scones.
I’ve told you before I don’t make boring scones. Why would I let you down now?
Why You Should Use Whole Wheat Flour in Your Oat Scones
Yes, there is already going to be lots of oat-y goodness in your scones packed with their own inherent fiber and protein. But why stop there? Use whole wheat flour to drive home the nutritional value of these delicious powerhouse scones.
Amp up the earthy flavor with nutty wheat flour. It brings a bit of color, a bit of texture, and it really brings a bit of flavor. Sure, you can use only all purpose flour instead, but you’ll be missing out on the great things that come from using whole wheat.
What Are You Waiting For?
Starting browning your butter right now! It’s as simple as melting butter for a little longer than usual. Just keep stirring until the milk solids are amber colored and fragrant.
For tools, here’s what I recommend:
And while you’re enjoying that first scone fresh from the oven, comment below and tell me how you like them! Take some pictures for Instagram and tag me @ellejayathome. Hope to hear from you soon!
Browned Butter Maple Oat Scones
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Sheet pan
- Medium mixing bowl
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Cheese grater
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup rolled oats plus more for topping, optional
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp maple extract optional
- ½ tsp pink himalayan sea salt
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup milk of choice plus more for topping, optional
Instructions
- Prepare the butter ahead of time. Cube a stick of unsalted butter and place it in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir continually to prevent popping as it cooks. The milk solids will start as a foam on top which will eventually sink to the bottom and become golden. Turn off the heat when they begin to take on color, and continue stirring until they go just past amber-colored to brown (but not black). Move the browned butter to a heat-safe container and chill for 1 hour, until solid. Remove from the container, wrap in parchment or plastic wrap, and freeze for at least an hour or up to overnight. See notes in the blog above about forming your browned butter for freezing.
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Line your baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In your mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Grate in the frozen browned butter. Stir to coat the butter with dry mix and slightly break up the butter bits. Don't overwork it.
- Combine the milk and maple syrup, and pour into your dough mixture. Mix gently to form a sticky dough.
- Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and pat the dough into a 1-inch thick round. Cut into 6 wedges. Separate the wedges and place on your lined baking sheet.
- Optionally brush the top with milk and sprinkle with additional oats.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
