If you are looking for the best ever oatmeal scone recipe, you've found it. That is, if you like your scones rich, sweet and buttery. These Cinnamon Oat Scones are better than what you'd find in most coffee shops and they don't dry out as quickly as other scones.
Thanks to Cook's Illustrated for coming up with the original version of the recipe and to Dawn, for sending it to me. I won't be looking any further (that's kind of a lie) for better oatmeal scones. If you have a food processor, they come together quickly. If not, you can cut the butter in with a pastry cutter. These are the best, but of course, open to improvisation!
More Cinnamon Oat Scones Notes
I've had this recipe for a while now and have lost count of how many times I've made the scones. Usually I make half of the recipe, and instead of shaping it into a circle, I'll shape it into a rectangle and cut that into 4 small triangles. These also look very nice as rounds. For add-ins, we really like freeze-dried apples and walnuts.
Recipe
Cinnamon Oat Scones
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups oats old fashioned oats
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour (210 grams)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (65 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 10 chunks
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup dried fruit and/or nuts (raisins, freeze dried chopped apple, walnuts, pecans)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toast the oats. Spread them on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until they are fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool. Set aside 2 tablespoons of oats to use as scone topping.
- Raise oven heat to 450 degrees F.
- In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pulse 4 times to mix. Add butter chunks to flour mixture and pulse until mixture is the size of small peas.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, cream, milk, and vanilla. Spoon out 1 tablespoon and set aside. You will use this for brushing tops.
- Add the flour mixture and the oats to cream mixture and stir until almost mixed. Add the dried fruit and nuts (if using) and continue mixing just until mixture comes together in a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface, shape the ball into a 7 inch circle (about 1 inch thick). With a floured knife, cut into 6 or 8 wedges, and place wedges 2 inches apart on a non-stick or parchment lined baking sheet. Alternatively, you can press into a slab and cut into rounds.
- Brush with reserved cream mixture and sprinkle with reserved oats and if desired, some sparkling sugar and extra cinnamon. Bake 12-14 minutes (Check at 10), rotating pan halfway through. I usually bake at least 14 minutes. Internal temperature measured with a meat or instant read thermometer should be 210F.
Anna says
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for leaving me a comment! I've been making a lot of scones too and need to make this recipe again so I can update the photo. So thanks again for bringing it to my attention :).
Nancy says
I just made these yesterday and needed to send the recipe to a friend and now I see that I've been making these for 12 years! I freeze them all so I can bake them as desired. I totally over pulsed the butter mix amd it still turned out great. Thanks for so many years of scone satisfaction. .
Janet says
I substitute nutmeg for the cinnamon. I think nutmeg is under-used as a primary flavor. I also use toasted/semi-skinned (only semi-skinned because it is too much work to get them totally skinned) hazel nuts with snipped apricot pieces. A great recipe (the whole book is great). I don't have a food processor, but if I cut the butter into tiny cubes and keep it at refrigerator temperature until ready to add, using my pastry cutter to do the "food processor" phase works fine.
Rachel says
Loved the recipe! My Maine vacation is vastly better as a result. My innovation was to add walnuts and cranberries (and omit the cinnamon). I also made them drop scones rather than round scones and used all whole milk rather than cream. Tasted wonderful! If you decide to try my innovations, cut the cooking time by several minutes -- keep an eye out after 7 or so minutes and take out when lightly browned. Then leave on the tray for 5 minutes to allow to firm.
Anna says
I hope you all like these as much as we did. They are probably the richest scones I've ever made, but delicious. Julie, I don't understand the deal with cinnamon chips either.
Julie O'Hara says
Your timing rocks, Anna! I just bought cinnamon chips in the holiday section of my grocery store and I wanted to use them for scones--it's beyond me why they don't stock them all year round. I actually have this recipe in the America's Test Kitchen cook book it came from, but I forgot about it. I was going to do a pumpkin-cinnamon scone, but I like the oatmeal better.
Julie
megan says
these look wonderful. and you can make them different each time with a different add-in.
These are book-marked!
Lisa Ernst says
I bake scones fairly often and these are on my list as the next ones to try. The last time I made scones I added chopped fresh black figs and they were excellent.
Dawn says
Anna! So glad you liked that recipe! Baked up 2 batches to bring to my in-laws for the holiday (and their freezer), and they were in heaven! Thanks for the boost!