Tender Gluten-Free Scones with Almond Flour

Tender, buttery gluten-free scones made with almond, oat, and sweet rice flours that are undetectably gluten-free. Heavy cream brings the dough together, adding moisture and richness. The dough takes 20 minutes of active time to make and shape. After a 30 minute rest, the scones bake up with crispy edges and tender middles in 20 minutes.

Mix in juicy blueberries, try the lemon-ginger and orange-currant variations, or play around with your favorite flavors and mix-ins. I hope you love this community-favorite recipe with loads of 5-star ratings!

This post was sponsored by Vermont Creamery. All opinions are my own.

Scones were one of the first “fancy” pastries I learned how to bake as a food-obsessed tween. My scone addiction followed me through college and into my twenties when I'd wake at the crack of dawn and bake batches to sell at my local coffee shop where I worked as a barista.

I found the methodical process of rubbing cold butter into flour soothing. I loved the feel of the cool, clay-like dough as I shaped it into rounds. And that moment of seeing the baked scones in their gently sloped, conical shapes post-baking was like magic.

I never grew tired of playing with different scone flavor combinations – the wilder the better – some of which I've shared on TBG in the past such as maple apple bacon, chocolate bergamot, brown sugar banana, and these reader-favorite buckwheat flour scones studded with jammy blueberries. Find these and more in my library of biscuit and scone recipes.

And don't miss my almond flour buttermilk biscuits, the savory cousins to these lightly sweet cream scones.

Why almond flour makes the dreamiest scones

I shared a few gluten-free scone recipes in my award-winning gluten-free cookbook made with sweet rice, millet, and oat flours: blackberry, banana teff, amaranth cinnamon peach, and chestnut fig.

But I was curious to see how almond flour would play in that same formula since I love almond flour recipes so much. Would this high-protein flour add more structure? Would the extra fat add richness? Would the warm, nutty flavor enhance the buttery taste and tender texture?

The answer to all these questions turned out to be a resounding yes! With a few tweaks to the method and ingredients, I had an almond flour scone recipe that rivaled its wheaty counterparts. These gluten-free scones are so light, tender, buttery, and classic-tasting, I keep forgetting that they're gluten-free!

When you take your first bite of a fresh-from-the-oven scone, crispy, golden edges give way to plushy, warm middles fragrant with buttery steam. Top with a pat of butter and savor the delicate sweetness mingling with creamy, buttery bliss.

Here's what one reader had to say about the recipe:

Key Ingredients

This recipe comes together with just a handful of pantry-friendly ingredients.

Flours

Instead of using a storebought gluten-free all purpose flour blend, I use a trio of flours, plus some tapioca starch, to build a flavorful scone with a dreamy texture that tastes and feels shockingly like wheat-based scones. You can nerd out on more fun flour trivia in my gluten-free flour guide.

Be sure to use flours that are certified gluten-free to avoid any gluten contamination. You can also use a good gluten-free all-purpose blend in place of any or all of the flours listed here, such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF all-purpose flour.

• Blanched almond flour provides structure and richness.
• Gluten-free oat flour makes the dough floofy, tender, and wheat-like.
• Sweet rice flour helps stick the dough together.
• Tapioca starch makes these scones light and pillowy.

Other Ingredients

• Great scones start with great butter! I used Vermont Creamery cultured butter here, but any high-quality butter will do.
• Sugar adds subtle sweetness.
• Egg adds additional structure. Wheat scone recipes typically don't contain egg, but here it enhances the texture and makes up for the lack of gluten. For egg-free, see recipe notes, below!
• Cream brings the dough together and adds richness. Chilled full-fat coconut milk will work for a dairy-free option.
• Use any mix-ins you like! More on this below...

Gluten-Free Blueberry Scones, Plus other Flavors and Mix-Ins

Scones take well to a variety of flavors and mix-ins – sweet or savory – so feel free to go wild! I've shared three of my favorite classic scone flavors here:

• gluten-free blueberry scones with jammy, baked bluebs and a hit of vanilla
• lemon ginger scones laced with candied ginger and fresh lemon zest
• orange currant scones studded with plump currants and kissed with orange zest

Method

This recipe for breakfast scones is easy to make, and a few techniques really make them shine! They take about 20 minutes of active time to whip up, and the recipe makes 8 scones.

Tips for Baking Gluten-Free Scones

• Keep your ingredients and dough cool. Scone dough is similar to pie dough in that small pebbles of butter not fully incorporated into the dough add flake to the finished product. Make sure your butter is cold to start with, work quickly, and chill the dough as directed.
• Chilling the dough also helps the gluten-free flours absorb moisture, resulting in a smoother consistency in the final scones.
• Scones’ bottoms tend to darken rapidly when baking, so always stack two baking sheets on top of each other, line with parchment paper, and bake in the upper third of the oven.
• Do ahead: The dough can be made, shaped and refrigerated airtight overnight. Cut, unbaked scones can be frozen for longer storage and baked to order from frozen at 375ºF for about 20 minutes.

Bojon appétit, my sweets! If you make this, I’d love to know. Please leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.

4.91 from 71 reviews

Tender Gluten-Free Scones with Almond Flour

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Tender, buttery scones made with almond, oat, and sweet rice flours that are undetectably gluten-free. These scones take 20 minutes of active time to make; for best results, chill the dough for 30 minutes before baking.

Mix in juicy blueberries, try the lemon-ginger and orange-currant variations in the notes below, or play around with your favorite flavors and mix-ins!

Alanna Taylor-Tobin

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 scones

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• ⅔ cup (110 g) sweet white rice flour*
• ⅔ cup (75 g) blanched almond flour**
• ⅔ cup (69 g) GF oat flour***
• 3 tablespoons (22 g) tapioca flour****
• ¼ cup (50 g) organic granulated sugar*****
• 2 ½ teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Wet Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (85 g) cold Vermont Creamery unsalted cultured butter, sliced ⅛-inch thick
• 6 tablespoons (90 ml) heavy cream, more as needed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon GF vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cup (165 g) blueberries (fresh ones look prettier but frozen will work!)

For Serving (optional)

• Crème Fraîche, butter, honey, and/or jam

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Make the Scone Dough

• In a large bowl, combine the sweet rice, almond, oat, and tapioca flours with the ¼ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
• Add the butter slices (and citrus zest, if you're using any). Blend with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the butter is broken down into the size of small peas.
• If you're using fresh or dried fruit, toss them in at this time. Pop the flour mixture in the fridge for 10 minutes or longer to cool the butter back down.
• Whisk together the 6 tablespoons cream, egg, and vanilla (if using) in a measuring pitcher. Chill until needed.
• Remove the flour mixture from the refrigerator. (If you're using frozen fruit, toss it in now.) Gradually add the cream mixture, working with a flexible silicone spatula until the dough holds together when you give it a squeeze. If the dough is too dry, add a few drops of cold cream directly to the floury bits.

Shape the Scones

• Gently but firmly press the dough together with your hands and shape it into a rough ball. Place on a piece of beeswax wrap or plastic wrap and form it into a disk that measures 6 inches across and about 1 ¼ inches high. Don't worry about overworking the dough since there isn't any gluten to toughen here!
• Wrap and chill the dough disk until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Bake the scones

• When ready to bake, position a rack in the uppermost spot of your oven and preheat to 425ºF. Stack a rimmed baking sheet atop a second rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper. This will all keep the scones' bottoms from over-browning.
• Remove the dough round from the refrigerator, unwrap and place on a cutting board dusted lightly with oat flour. Brush the top of the scone with a little cream and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Use a large, sharp chef’s knife to cut the scone into 8 wedges and place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet, spaced well apart.
• Bake the scones until golden on top and cooked through, 20–25 minutes, rotating the pan after 15 minutes to brown them evenly.
• Remove from the oven and transfer the scones to a wire rack. Let cool until warm, 10-20 minutes; they are still baking from residual heat. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Video

Notes

I use Bob's Red Mill flours for these scones. See below for substitution suggestions for the individual flours. If you prefer, you can use any all-purpose gluten-free flour blend in place of some or all of the flours by weight. 

*Sweet rice: Can sub by weight GF all-purpose flour such as Bob's Red Mill or cassava flour

**Blanched almond: Can sub by weight almond meal, hazelnut flour, or millet, sorghum, or tiger nut flour for nut-free

***Oat: Can sub by weight buckwheat, teff, or chestnut flour

****Tapioca: Can sub by weight arrowroot or corn starch

*****Sugar: Can sub ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (50 g) maple sugar or coconut sugar

Do-Ahead: The scone dough can be made up to 1 day ahead and shaped, wrapped, and chilled until needed. Or freeze the dough round for longer storage and bake from frozen, increasing the bake time as needed. 

Reheating scones: Scones are the most sublime fresh from the oven with crispy edges and plushy warm middles. But leftover scones keep beautifully in an airtight container in the fridge (for up to 4 days) or freezer (for longer). To reheat, place scones in an oven or toaster oven at 350ºF for 10 minutes (longer for frozen scones) until lightly crisped on the outside and heated through. They'll taste just like fresh-baked!

Variations

Lemon Ginger: omit the vanilla and blueberries. Add ½ cup / 75g finely chopped candied ginger + zest of 1 large lemon.

Orange Currant: add ⅓ cup / 50g currants plumped in 2 tablespoons hot water for 10 minutes, then drained + zest of 1 large orange.

Extra-Buttery Scones: Butter lovers can make this recipe with 8 tablespoons of butter. Note that these tend to flatten out and spread more in the oven, but they taste extra delicious!

Dairy-Free: Use a good vegan butter such as Miyoko's in place of the butter and use chilled full-fat coconut milk in place of the cream. 

Egg-Free: Use a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons hot water, left to thicken and cool 20 minutes) in place of the egg. 

Vegan: Combine the dairy-free and egg-free variations above!

Paleo Scones: (I haven't tested this yet, so proceed at your own risk!) Omit the sweet rice and oat flours, using 1 cup each cassava and almond flours, plus the tapioca flour. Use coconut sugar or maple sugar in place of granulated. Use chilled full-fat coconut milk or cream instead of heavy cream.

Stollen Scones: (From a reader comment that sounds amazing!) Add ~1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg to the dry ingredients. After working in the butter, toss in ~1/3 cup chopped candied citrus peel and ~1/3 cup currants soaked in a few tablespoons rum or brandy. Add in some marzipan crumbles too if you like! 

Nutrition values are for 1 of 8 scones. 

Nutrition

Calories: 313kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 6gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 358mgPotassium: 88mgFiber: 3gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 470IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 115mgIron: 1mg

Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!

Scone Pairings & a Brunch Cheeseboard

Scones are delightful for breakfast, brunch, or tea in the afternoon. Make it a party by serving them on a board along with your favorite accompaniments. Here are some of mine:

• honey butter
• crème fraîche
• homemade lemon curd
• fresh and aged chèvre (shown here from Vermont Creamery: blueberry thyme chèvre, strawberry spritz chèvre, Cremont, and Bijou)
• jam (especially fond of this strawberry rhubarb chia jam)
• fresh seasonal fruit

However you serve these scones, I hope you love them as much I've loved sharing my recipe with you!

I also asked for favorite scone flavors on social media, and here are a few sweet and savory reader suggestions that I'm eager to try next:

• matcha scones
• feta spinach olive
• apricot pistachio cardamom
• cranberry orange
• chocolate ginger cardamom
• maple oat (these would be amazing topped with this quick maple butter glaze)
• cherry corn
• earl grey tea and mango
• lemon blueberry almond
• honey-candied kumquat
• Stollen scones with candied citrus, boozy dried fruit, and spices (cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg)