A few years ago, Dad and I flew to the East Coast to check off three Major League Baseball stadiums from our list. We started in Philadelphia for a Saturday evening Phillies game, followed by the Baltimore Orioles Sunday afternoon, and finishing with the Nationals in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night.
During our trips, we always plan some fun sightseeing in between the baseball games—and lots of local food, of course! We walked to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, right after eating my first-ever authentic Philly cheesesteak, and we spent hours in DC wandering around the National Air and Space Museum, the White House, and the Lincoln Memorial.
But in cramming so many activities into such a short period of time, we often traveled at odd hours of the day… Like after the extra-innings Phillies’ game that ended well after midnight, our alarms rang at 6 am the next morning so we could drive to Baltimore and arrive at the stadium before the gates opened at 11 am!
Before we drove out of the city, its streets completely deserted at that early hour, we stopped by the Starbucks in our hotel’s lobby. Dad ordered a pastry to go along with his coffee, and although highly tempted to do the same, especially after staring bleary-eyed at the glass display case full of muffins and coffee cakes and scones, I opted for a simple fruit salad to go with my grande latte. (Always a necessity after 5 hours of sleep!)
Since we just scheduled this year’s baseball trips, I started thinking about our previous ones… Including Philly and those oh-so-tempting breakfast pastries! Yet instead of dashing out to Starbucks for something to pair with my {decaf} coffee while listening to Spring Training games, I baked these homemade Healthy Cinnamon Raisin Scones! They’re supremely tender, ready in just 30 minutes, and contain no refined flour or sugar!
To start, you’ll need whole wheat flour and a generous dose of cinnamon. You probably know how big of a chocoholic I am (that’s why I published my Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook!), but… I actually love cinnamon just as much as chocolate! This variety is my current favorite because it has a much stronger and more robust flavor compared to the red-lidded jars of cinnamon I grew up with.
Next, you’ll cut in a small amount of very cold butter. Just a little bit! The rest of these scones’ tender texture comes from Greek yogurt, one of my favorite ingredients in healthier baking. It adds the same moisture as extra butter for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your scones a protein boost, too!
However, it’s very important that your butter is cold, straight from the fridge. (Freezing it isn’t necessary for this recipe!) With very cold butter, it won’t heat up until you put the scones in the extremely hot oven, and it will create little air pockets and a very tender crumb when it melts.
Note: This is why I recommend against using coconut oil, if at all possible, because coconut oil has a much lower melting point than butter and will quickly turn to liquid once you begin mixing it into the dough.
To sweeten your scones, you’ll use pure maple syrup. Be sure you buy the real kind! Skip the pancake syrups and sugar-free syrups because those contain corn syrup or artificial ingredients, which we’re avoiding in this healthier recipe. The only ingredient on the label should be “maple syrup,” and it’s generally sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs. (I’ve also bought it online here for a discounted price!)
Just before popping the pan in your oven, you’ll brush the tops and sides of the dough with a little milk. This helps seal moisture into the dough, and it also creates a lightly crisp crust on the outside. It’s such an irresistible combination of textures—and flavors, with the cinnamon and raisins!
Ready for breakfast? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your scones and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Cinnamon Raisin Scones | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (180g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp (45mL) pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp + 2 tsp (55mL) nonfat milk, divided
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (53g) raisins
- Preheat the oven to 425°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or the back of a fork until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the Greek yogurt, maple syrup, 3 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla. Fold in the raisins with a spatula.
- Using a spatula, shape the dough into a ¾” tall circle on the prepared baking sheet, and brush with the remaining milk. Slice the circle into 8 triangular segments with a sharp knife. Bake at 425°F for 18-21 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
For a gluten-free version, use the following blend: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, ¼ cup (30g) brown rice flour, and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends will work as well, if they’re measured like this.
This cinnamon variety is my current favorite because it has a much stronger and more robust flavor compared to the red-lidded jars of cinnamon I grew up with.
It’s very important that your butter is cold, straight from the fridge. (Freezing it isn’t necessary for this recipe!) With very cold butter, it won’t heat up until you put the scones in the extremely hot oven, and it will create little air pockets and a very tender crumb when it melts.
Honey or agave may be substituted in place of the pure maple syrup.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
In a pinch, coconut oil may be substituted for the butter, but the texture of the scones will be affected. Very cold butter is required to achieve their tender texture, and since coconut oil melts at a much lower temperature, the results will not be the same.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Healthy Cinnamon Roll Scones
♥ Healthy Carrot Cake Scones
♥ Healthy Zucchini Bread Scones
♥ Healthy Apple Pie Scones
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Blueberry Scones
♥ Healthy Cranberry Orange Scones
♥ Healthy Triple Chocolate Scones
♥ Healthy Almond Joy Scones
♥ Healthy Mocha Chocolate Chip Scones
♥ Healthy Peach Scones
Amy, thank you for the recipe’ the flavor was amazing but for some reason the bottom came out burnt after cooking for 18 minutes but everything else was perfect! Do you have any thoughts on how to help this? Loved the flavor minus the burnt bottoms!
Thank you!
We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed the flavor of these scones, Leah! Hearing that they were perfect (besides the burnt bottoms) is the best compliment we could ask for!
Although the flavor turned out great, these scones definitely aren’t supposed to have burnt bottoms! We’d love to help figure out what happened and how to prevent it in the future if you decide to try making these scones again! In order to do that I have a few questions for you.
Could you describe the type of baking sheet that you used? Was it dark metal, light metal, rimmed, an insulated “AirBake” style, etc?
Did you use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat?
Did you use a standard oven or a smaller countertop oven?
How many oven rack positions does your oven have? Which one did you use? (For example, five total positions and the fourth from the top!)
This information will be super helpful to find some solutions!
Hi Amy! Thank you for responding to my comment!
I used a dark metal rimmed baking sheet, parchment paper and a small countertop oven. I have noticed that with other recipes I do need to cook for a shorter time in my small oven versus the normal sized one. I cooked the scones for 13 minutes. It has 2 baking positions and I used the bottom one which is the one I typically use for other baked goods. Like I mentioned before the rest of the scone was perfect so would love to figure out a way to make the bottoms just not brown so quickly. The small oven is just nice for not heating your whole kitchen in the summer months! Thank you again!
Thanks for getting back to us, Leah!
If you’ve noticed that other recipes bake faster, then you could either try (a) baking these scones for a shorter period of time as well or (b) reducing the temperature by 25°F or so. Both of these should help reduce the browning on the bottom!
Two other options would be to use a light metal baking sheet, rather than a dark one, or a silicone baking mat. The lighter metal should reduce browning a bit too, and the silicone mat provides a bit more of a “buffer” between the baking sheet and the scone dough, which also helps.
Finally, one last option would be to try using the other baking position. It seems like a lot of countertop ovens have their heating element on the bottom. If that’s true for yours, then it might be that using the oven position farther away from the heating element will reduce browning. However, without knowing your exact countertop oven make and model, we don’t know whether using the other oven rack position will mean the scones would be too close to the top of the oven, which could lead to the tops turning overly brown instead.
Personally, the first one that we’d try would be to reduce the temperature! It’s probably the easiest and most straightforward. 😉
We’d love to hear what works for you if you decide to try these scones again!