These fall-inspired, vegan scones with orange zest, caramelised hazelnuts and dried cranberries are great for breakfast and taste particularly good with homemade vegan orange curd.
If you ask anyone in Germany I am pretty sure only a few will know what scones are. I think we should change that. So let's start with these vegan scones with nuts and dried cranberries.
As you may know, scones are traditionally prepared with cold butter. The result is this special alsmost flaky consistency, like a mixture of short bread and a croissant. Ok, this probably doesn't make much sense. Aynway, let's make some vegan scones!
No butter needed
Of course, this vegan scone recipe is free of butter or margarine. Instead, I used vegan sour cream which works just a great. Since it's autumn or fall, I decided to add a few fall flavours: lightly caramelized hazelnuts, cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest and a few dried cranberries. A super tasty combination, you'll see!
So all that's missing is flour, some cane sugar and baking powder - that's it. The dough is quickly made and the scones are just as quickly in and out of the oven. Pretty simple, right?
Scones are traditionally served in England with clotted cream which is comparable to thick whipped cream, I guess. Correct me if I am wrong. I actually decided for another also traditional scone spread: Curd.
Instead of lemon curd I went for a quick citrusy orange curd which is made from just three ingredients. Of course you can eat the scones without the orange curd or spread some them with some jam. By the way, these vegan scones are best when served straight out of the oven. Make yourself a cup of golden milk or hot chocolate and dig in!
If you give these vegan scones with orange curd a try, leave me a comment or rate the recipe. You can also show me your creation on instagram (@veggiejam). It makes me so happy when you try my recipes.
Recipe
Vegan Hazelnut-Cranberry Scones with Orange Curd
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 scones 1x
- Category: breakfast, snack
Description
These fall-inspired, vegan scones with orange zest, caramelised hazelnuts and dried cranberries are great for breakfast and taste particularly good with homemade vegan orange curd.
Ingredients
Scones
- ½ cup hazelnuts ((70 g))
- ¼ cup dried cranberries ((30 g))
- 1 tbsp rice or maple syrup
- 2 cups spelt flour ((330 g))
- ¼ cup cane sugar ((50 g))
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tbsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup vegan sour cream
- Zest of 1 orange
- 3-5 tablespoon orange juice
Orange Curd
- 1 orange, juiced (½ cup)
- 3-4 tablespoon rice or maple syrup
- 2 tbsp natural cashew butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180°).
- Coarsely chop the hazelnuts and cranberries. Put the chopped hazelnuts in a hot pan and dry roast (approx. 1-2 minutes). Add 1 tablespoon rice or maple syrup and stir. Remove from heat and let the nuts cool on some baking paper.
- Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and packing powder in a large bowl. Add the vegan sour cream, vanilla extract and orange zest and work in with a fork. Then knead with your hands and add the 3-5 tablespoons of orange juice one by one until the dough comes together.
- Finally, add the caramelized hazelnuts and chopped cranberries and fold in using your hands.
- Place the dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper and form a circle of approx. 18-20 cm. Then cut into 6 equal pieces. Pull the individual pieces apart, brush with a bit of orange juice (optional) and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Best served warm with the orange cream.
For the Orange Curd
- In the meantime, place ½ cupl freshly squeezed orange juice with the remaining ingredients for the cream in a small pot, bring to the boil and allow to thicken at low temperature for 2-3 minutes while stirring constantly.
This post is also available in German (Deutsch).
Natalia M says
This recipe sounds fantastic, and the scones look delicious! Do you make your own vegan sour cream or buy it?
Melanie J says
Thanks so much, Natalia. In this case I used a store bought vegan sour cream but I am pretty sure a homemade version will work just as well.