Fluffy, buttery and flaky, these scones are infused with brown butter, loaded with toasted pecans, and drizzled in absolutely no shortage of brown butter icing!
I’ve been on a brown butter kick lately. Although brown butter isn’t necessarily a seasonal flavor, for some reason, fall just screams BROWN BUTTER to me.
Last week, I shared a recipe for Brown Butter Maple Walnut Pizookie, which was nothing short of divine. This week, I decided to continue the brown butter theme with a classic breakfast pastry…
Why These Scones Are The Best
Tall, Moist, and Flaky: Unlike some scones, which can be on the dry and crumbly side, these are perfectly moist, tender, and deliciously flaky on the inside. The exterior is delicately crisp and golden, and they bake up EXTRA tall.
Brimming with Brown Butter: Not only is there brown butter throughout the dough, but the icing is infused with brown butter as well! Every blissful bite contains the nutty, toasty notes of brown butter.
Packed with Pecans: TOASTED pecans, to be most specific. The toasted pecans provide a nice crunch, which contrasts so well with the moist and fluffy scone.
Important Ingredients
COLD Brown Butter: This crucial ingredient infuses the scone with a natural nuttiness and toasty flavor with notes of caramel and toffee. It’s as simple as cooking your butter just long enough for the milk solids to brown, yielding a golden-amber color and a warm, rich, and deeply fragrant aroma. Once the butter is nicely browned, it’s poured into a shallow bowl (for quick and even cooling), and chilled in the freezer until solid. The brown butter must be COLD before it’s incorporated into the dough, or you’ll end up with dense flat scones.
Baking Powder: These scones rely on baking powder to give them that extra lift and sky-high rise. The dough contains a whole tablespoon of baking powder, so they bake up nice and tall.
Brown Sugar: I love the maple sweetness that brown sugar provides, and it blends so well with the caramelized and nutty notes of the brown butter. You could also try half brown sugar and half granulated sugar, but I personally believe that the brown sugar provides a nice warmth and softer texture.
Sour Cream and Heavy Cream: Most scone recipes rely on either milk, buttermilk, or heavy cream to create that moist crumb. However, I’ve found that an equal ratio of sour cream and heavy cream produces extra soft and fluffy results. Heavy cream adds a richness to the scones, while the sour cream adds an extra tang and keeps the scones extra moist.
Cream Cheese: I know that this isn’t a typical ingredient in scone recipes, however it definitely provides a richness that you can’t get from butter alone. Similar to sour cream, cream cheese gives the scone a slight tang and results in more tender, flaky layers.
Toasted Pecans: To enhance the flavor of the pecans, I toast them BEFORE adding them into the dough. Toasting not only intensifies the flavor, but it gives the pecans an added crunch. You can either toast them on a large baking sheet in a 350ºF preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or you can toast them in a dry skillet until lightly-browned and fragrant.
Tips for the Best Scones
Bake at High Temperature: These scones are baked in a 400ºF oven for about 20 minutes. The high temperature instantly melts all the tiny bits of butter throughout the dough, creating nice steam pockets which puff up the dough. The high heat also helps to set the shape of the scone, causing them to rise up, rather than spread out.
Don’t Over-Work the Dough: Over-working dough almost aways results in a pastry that’s tough, dense, and rubbery. So once the wet ingredients are added to the butter-flour mixture, I use a rubber spatula to stir everything together until it’s mostly mixed, but still very crumbly. Then I add the chopped pecans, and use my hands to gently fold and press the dough onto itself until there’s no loose crumbs.
Laminate Instead of Knead: The laminating technique produces taller, flakier scones. It also prevents you from over-working the dough and over-developing the gluten which can lead to a tough scone.
To laminate the dough, all you have to do is shape the dough into a rectangle. Fold the dough in half, press it down slightly, then turn the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again. Repeat this process 2-3 more times before shaping the dough into an 8-inch disc that’s about 1.5 inches tall.
Chill Before Baking: Placing the raw scones in the refrigerator for 1 hour before baking allows the dough to rest while also chilling the fat. This results in tender scones that are lighter and fluffier.
Brush with Heavy Cream: This simple, yet totally necessary step is what creates that perfectly golden sheen on the scones. It also provides a delicately crisp exterior.
Can I make these ahead of time and bake them later?
Yes! You can either wrap the disc of dough in plastic wrap, or you can place the individual wedges onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover them with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them. I wouldn’t wait longer than 3 days to bake them though since the baking powder can lose some of its rising power if left in raw dough for too long.
Brown Butter Pecan Scones
Ingredients
Brown Butter:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter*
Dough:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces brown butter, diced and very cold
- 2 ounces cream cheese, cut into small cubes
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk, for brushing scones
Brown Butter Icing:
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons brown butter (about 20 grams)
- 3-4 Tablespoons heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Make the Brown Butter:
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, it’ll start to foam, then turn a clear golden color. Continue to stir the butter, scraping up any browned specks from the bottom of the pan as it starts to brown. It should have a nutty aroma. Once browned and nutty, remove from the heat. Pour into a shallow bowl (for quicker cooling), and place in the freezer until chilled solid.
Make the Dough:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together.
- Dice cold brown butter into small pieces, and add to the flour mixture. Add the cream cheese. Then use a fork or pastry blender to cut the brown butter and cream cheese into the flour. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the heavy cream, sour cream, egg, and vanilla together until combined. Pour wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir with a spatula until dough comes together. You might need to use your hands to mix the rest of the loose flour into the dough. Toss in the chopped pecans, stirring to evenly distribute.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Laminate the dough by shaping it into a rectangle. Fold it in half, press it down slightly, then turn the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again. Repeat this process 2-3 more times before shaping the dough into an 8-inch disc that's about 1.5 inches tall. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, slice into 8 even wedges. Place them on the baking sheet 2 inches apart. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.**
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Brush scones with milk or cream. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. If scones start to get too brown, tent a sheet of aluminum foil over them. Remove scones from the oven and allow to cool at least 5 minutes before drizzling icing on top.
Make the Icing:
- In a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, brown butter, cream, vanilla, and salt together until smooth. Drizzle icing over scones. Serve and enjoy!