Gooey cinnamon
Sweet, gooey swirls of cinnamon fill these scones with coziness as we leave Halloween and begin plans for Thanksgiving. The creamy buttercream icing with wisps of cinnamon melts in your mouth.
A perfect treat to share with kids and adults. Enjoy them with coffee, tea, milk, or hot chocolate as you enjoy the holiday seasons.
Step by step instructions
Prepare and freeze the cinnamon clusters:
Mix the powdered sugar, butter, and ground cinnamon in a small bowl until it forms a slurry. Put the bowl in your refrigerator for 15 minutes to allow the slurry to solidify.
After 15 minutes, take out the solid slurry. Use a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop little cinnamon clusters from the slurry forming three quarters of the slurry into clusters. Place each cluster in a plastic container making sure that the clusters do not touch each other.
Set aside the remaining cinnamon slurry at room temperature to be used after the scones are baked.
Blend the wet ingredients:
Blend the milk, vanilla extract, and egg together thoroughly using a milk frother or blender. Transfer the ingredients to a squeeze bottle and put it in your refrigerator to cool until you combine the wet and dry ingredients.
TIP: If you’re making a second batch to cook or freeze, blend the wet ingredients for both batches and place them in separate squeeze bottles.
Combine the dry ingredients:
Add all the dry ingredients, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Slice the butter into chunks:
Slice the butter into chunks by cutting the length of a stick of butter you’re using in half along its long side, flip it on its side, and slice it again in half. Then cut the long side in half and each half into quarters. Mix the butter chunks into the dry ingredients.
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients:
Use a butter cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until they are about the size of peas.
TIP: Slightly larger chunks create a crunchier scone, leaving bigger gaps in the crumb when they melt.
Put the dry ingredients in your freezer for 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients:
After 15 minutes, remove the bowl with the dry ingredients from the freezer and place it on a sticky pad. A sticky pad makes this step go faster by keeping the bowl still while stirring in the wet ingredients. You may have to rub the bottom of the bowl to remove any ice before putting it on the sticky pad.
Remove the squeeze bottle with the wet ingredients from the refrigerator. Slowly combine the wet and dry ingredients by squirting a thin line with the squeeze bottle and rapidly stirring it in with the tines of a large (serving) fork. This MUST BE DONE BY HAND. You don’t want to create a mix or dough. You want to wet the dry ingredients to keep them in pea-sized clusters.
When the dry ingredients start to look wet, use the tines to pull the moist ingredients to one side. This will expose the drier ingredients below. Use smaller squirts from the squeeze bottle onto the dry ingredients and stir faster with the tines. When no dry ingredients are left, stop adding liquid.
Add in the cinnamon clusters:
Take out the frozen cinnamon clusters. Place half of them around the top of the dough one by one and gently press them into the dough. Flip the dough over, and place the other half of them by hand and press them gently into the dough.
Form the dough:
Start to form the dough. Gently press it down and fold it a few times until it forms one log. Fold the log in half and move it to a silicone mat.
It’s easiest to form the dough using a 7” cake ring. Press the dough from the center outward until the dough fills the ring. Try not to have any cinnamon clusters on the edges of the dough. Swirl the ring around the dough to give it a better edge. Then remove the ring.
If forming by hand, use the measured circles on your silicone mat to form the 7″ circle, then press the flat side of your long knife around the edges to firm them.
Cut the dough into eight scones:
Make four equal cuts with a long serrated knife to divide the dough into eight sections. Move the knife slightly back and forth on its flat side with each cut to make it easier to separate each scone.
Place the scones on your baking sheet:
Slide the flat side of the long knife under each scone and move it to the parchment paper on the baking sheet.
TIP: If you plan to store or serve the scones on a 10” cake round after they’re baked, make sure to place them on the parchment paper in the same order that you take them off of the dough circle. Otherwise, they will not form an even circle.
Bake:
Place your baking sheet on a middle rack in your preheated oven and bake for eight minutes at 400°.
When eight minutes is up, turn the pan around in the oven and bake for another seven to eight minutes. The center of the scones should feel solid, not liquidy. Remove the scones to a cooling rack.
TIP: If you plan to store or serve the scones on a 10” round after they’re baked, make sure to keep them in the same order that you took them off of the original dough circle. Otherwise, they will not form an even circle.
Ice the scones:
Heat the cinnamon cluster slurry you set aside until it becomes liquidy. Dab the slurry on the top of each scone with a silicone brush.
Beat the powdered sugar, melted butter, and heavy cream until smooth in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Add enough additional heavy cream to bring it to the consistency of a fluffy cake frosting.
Wait until the scones have cooled. Then use a spoon to spread the buttercream on each scone, swirling it slightly to pick up some of the cinnamon slurry on the top of each scones
Optionally, you can sprinkle a dash of cinnamon powder on top of each scone after it is iced.
Cinnamon Roll Scones
Equipment
Ingredients
Cinnamon Clusters
- 3 tbsp Butter melted
- ⅓ cup Powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup Whole milk*
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 Egg, large
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups All purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp Dark brown sugar**
- 2 ¾ tsps Baking powder
- ¼ tsp Baking soda
- ⅜ tsp fine sea salt 1/4 + 1/8 tsps
- 4 tbsps Butter***
Buttercream Icing
- 2 cup Powdered sugar
- 4 tbsp Butter melted
- 1 dash Salt
- 2 tbsp Heavy cream +more to consistency
Instructions
Cinnamon Clusters
- Mix powdered sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon together to form a slurry,
- Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes to let the slurry harden.
- Use a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop 3/4 of the mixture into clusters and place them in a plastic container making sure they don't touch each other. Reserve the other 1/3 of the mixture at room temperature.
- Place the container with the clusters in your freezer until the wet and dry ingredients have been combined.
Wet Ingredients
- Blend the wet ingredients, the milk, vanilla extract, and egg with a milk frother or blender.
- Transfer to a squeeze bottle and place in your refrigerator.
Dry Ingredients
- Mix the flour, dark brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Slice the butter into chunks and mix them into the dry ingredients.
- Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a butter cutter until the butter is the size of peas.
- Put the bowl with the dry ingredients in your freezer for 15 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 400°.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the Wet and Dry Ingredients
- Using the "tine method" (see video in step by step instructions above), combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the ingredients are wet but still pea sized.
- After you have added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, add half of the frozen cinnamon clusters by scattering them around the top of the dough and pressing them in lightly.
- Flip the dough and scatter the other half of the clusters around the dough and press them in lightly.
Form the Scones
- Gently flip and press the ingredients in the bowl until they form one log.
- Fold the log in half and move it to a silicone mat.
- Using the guide of the measured circles on a silicone mat or a 7" ring, form the dough into a 7" circle by gently pressing from the center of the dough to the edges. Try not to have any cinnamon cluster on the edges of the dough.
- If using a 7" ring, swirl the ring around the dough a few times to firm the edges. If forming by hand, press the edges of the dough lightly with the flat side of a long knife to firm the edges.
- Use a long serrated knife to make four equal cuts through the center of the dough to divide the dough into eight scones.
- Slide the flat edge of the long knife under each scone and move it to the parchment paper on the baking sheet, leaving about 1" between each scone.
Bake the Scones
- Place your baking sheet on a middle rack in your oven at 400° and bake for14 minutes.
- Halfway through, check the scones to see if they are burning on one side. If so, turn the baking sheet around continue to bake.
- The scones are done when their centers feel slightly firm, not liquidy. If not, bake for another 1 or 2 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and move the scones to a cooling rack with the flat edge of a long knife or a spatula.
Ice the Scones
- Heat the cinnamon cluster slurry you set aside until it becomes liquidy.
- Using a silicone brush, dab the slurry on the top of each scone while they're still hot.
- In a stand mixer with a flat blade or with a hand mixer, beat the powdered sugar, melted butter, and heavy cream until smooth. Add enough heavy cream to bring it to the consistency of cake frosting.
- Once the scones have cooled, use a spoon to spread frosting on each scone, swirling it slightly to pick up some of the cinnamon slurry on the top of each scones.
- Optionally, you can sprinkle a dash of cinnamon powder on each scone after it is iced.
Storage
- Cover any scones that will not be eaten right away. They will last about 2 days without refrigeration, about 5 days in your refrigerator, and about 3 months in your freezer.
- Let the scones cool completely before covering them with plastic wrap,
- To thaw frozen scones, let them come to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Do not microwave them to thaw.