Description
Flaky, buttery homemade scones laced with warm chai spices – cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg – & finished with a sweet maple chai glaze. These Chai Scones with Maple Chai Glaze are festive, flavorful, & perfect for fall, winter, & holiday baking!
Ingredients
Scale
for the Chai Scones:
- 12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter, diced into cubes
- ½ cup very cold heavy cream
- 2 large eggs, divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out scones
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon chai spice blend
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
for the Maple Chai Glaze:
- 1 heaping cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons chai spice blend
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- pinch of kosher salt
Helpful Equipment:
- Food processor
- Bench scraper
Instructions
- Prep the wet ingredients: Pull the butter, heavy cream, and eggs out of the refrigerator.
- Butter: Working quickly, dice the butter into 1/4 tablespoon squares. I like to cut the butter in half both lengthwise and widthwise, then chop it into slices along the tablespoon lines of the butter wrapper to get 48 uniform squares of butter out of 1 stick. Place the diced butter on a plate and set it in the freezer.
- Measure the heavy cream into a 2-cup liquid measure, then whisk in 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk. (Reserve the remaining egg white for brushing the scones.) Set the heavy cream mixture in the freezer to chill while you measure out the dry ingredients.
- Prep the dry ingredients: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, chai spices, & kosher salt. Pulse a handful of times to quickly bring the mixture together.
- Add the wet ingredients: Pull the butter out of the freezer and add it to the flour mixture in the food processor. Pulse it into the flour until the butter begins to cut into the flour mixture, about 25-30 pulses. Some pieces of butter will be very small and coated with flour (it will look like fluffy parmesan cheese!), and some pieces of butter will still be large, which is ideal for a tender, flaky scone. Pull the cream & egg mixture out of the freezer. Slowly and gradually pulse it into the butter & flour mixture, until the dough just forms a ball and starts to pull away from the sides of the food processor. The dough should be slightly wet to the touch, with pieces of butter still visible. You may not need to use all of the cream mixture – that’s okay!
- Rest the dough: Transfer the scone dough to a lightly floured surface. Working quickly, form it into a ball and press it into a disc. The dough may break apart a little bit, and that’s fine! Just work quickly to get it into another ball, then pat it down into a disc. Wrap the dough in plastic & transfer it to the freezer to rest for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the scones: Remove the scone dough from the freezer, placing it on a lightly floured surface. For full-sized scones, roll the dough into a circle, 1 inch thick. Use a sharp knife or bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 wedges. For mini scones, roll the dough into a rectangle, 1/2-inch thick. Cut the rectangle into strips, about 2 inches wide. Slice each strip into smaller triangles, 2 inches wide & 3 inches long.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet & brush generously with the egg wash.
- Bake the scones for 20-22 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove from the oven & allow to cool before glazing. Mini scones can be baked at the same oven temperature & for the same duration just be sure to check periodically for doneness & remove from oven to cool once the scones begin to puff & the edges begin to brown.
- Make the maple chai glaze: Meanwhile, as the scones bake, combine powdered sugar, chai spice, vanilla extract, heavy cream, maple syrup & salt in a small bowl. Whisk until combined into a thick glaze.
- Glaze the scones: Submerge the top of a scone into the glaze, generously coating each scone. I like to glaze the scones once, let them set up for a little bit, then glaze them a second time, in order to get a very thick layer of glaze. Let the glaze set up for 10 minutes or so before serving the scones. They’re great with coffee or tea! Enjoy!!
Notes
- Storage: Homemade chai scones will keep, stored in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: These chai scones are also incredibly freezer-friendly. To freeze: arrange on a baking sheet & flash freeze until chilled through. Transfer to an airtight freezer container or bag & store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Make-ahead: One of my favorite hostess tricks is baking fresh scones for guests using dough I’ve made ahead of time. Major wow factor! To make-ahead, prepare & roll out the chai scones according to Steps 1-5, above. Arrange on a baking sheet & flash freeze the scone dough, until firm. Once firm, transfer to an airtight freezer container or bag & store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To bake fresh scones, thaw the dough out overnight in the refrigerator. Bake & glaze according to Steps 6-9 – easy!