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!
1 ¼cup(165 g) blueberries (fresh ones look prettier but frozen will work!)
For Serving (optional)
Crème Fraîche, butter, honey, and/or jam
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 sugarDo-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!VariationsGluten-Free Lemon Ginger Scones: omit the vanilla and blueberries. Add ½ cup / 75g finely chopped candied ginger + zest of 1 large lemon.Gluten-Free Orange Currant Scones: 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 Gluten-Free Scones: 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 Gluten-Free Scones: 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 Gluten-Free Scones: 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!