These Chai Scones are tender and flaky, packed with warm spices and finished with a vanilla chai glaze. An incredibly delicious breakfast or afternoon treat – with plenty of glaze options to make it your own!
Lover of chai spice? Make sure to make Chai Spiced Pear Oatmeal, Chai Zucchini Pumpkin Muffins and Dirty Chai Energy Balls.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The ultimate breakfast treat for the best time of year.
- Super customizable thanks to a homemade chai blend and glaze variations!
- Tender scones with flaky layers are easy to achieve with tips and tricks along the way!
- A whole wheat and vegan friendly (egg-free!) recipe.
Recipe Ingredients
The ingredient list for this chai scone recipe is broken down into two parts – scones and glaze. Here’s what we need for each one:
Chai Scones
- whole wheat white flour – go for softer whole wheat white flour for a tender crumb. To achieve the same consistency, you can also use half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour.
- granulated sugar – for all-around sweetness.
- chai spice mix – make your own chai spice blend (recipe linked) or pick up a store-bought version. Look for it near the ground spices in the grocery store.
- ground cardamom – for additional warmth and spice.
- baking powder – to add lift and make these scones light and fluffy.
- fine sea salt – to enhance all those buttery, chai flavors.
- unsalted butter – make sure to use cold butter. I like to cut my butter into pieces first, then pop it in the fridge and keep it chilled while I gather together the rest of the ingredients.
- vanilla extract – for sweet vanilla essence.
- non-dairy milk – go for almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk – or feel free to use regular dairy milk. The amount of milk your scone batter needs will vary based on temperature and moisture in the air. Start with 2/3 cup and work your way up from there. I often find you typically need a little more with the thickness of canned coconut milk, and a little less using something like soy milk.
Glaze
- powdered sugar – for sweetness and to achieve that smooth glaze consistency.
- chai spice mix – a dash of ground spices intensifies those warm spices.
- vanilla coffee creamer – I like the pop of vanilla coffee creamer to really enhance the vanilla flavor, but you can use the same non-dairy or dairy milk you used in the scone dough.
- vanilla extract – for even more vanilla essence.
Scroll below to the recipe card for the ingredient measurements and recipe instructions.
How to Make Scones
Chai spiced scones are easy to whip together with the right tools. You can use a food processor foe ease but by hand works too! If making the dough by hand, a pastry cutter helps with the butter and it’s always nice to have a bench scraper nearby for easy clean-up. Here’s how to do it in a few easy steps:
Combine Dry Ingredients
In the bowl of food processor, add flour, sugar, chai spice, cardamom, baking powder and salt. Pulse a few times until combined.
TIP: If making the batter in a large mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together by hand.
Cut in Butter
Using the S-blade of the food processor, pulse the pieces of butter with the dry ingredients until broken down into small bits about the size of peas. Or, cut in with a pastry cutter or fork.
TIP: If making by hand, you can also grate cold butter using the large side of a box grater.
Add Milk
With the motor running, add the vanilla extract, then slowly add the milk until a dough starts to come together.
Remove the S-blade and use a wooden spoon to continue mixing until combined. Or, transfer to a lightly floured work surface and continue to mix until combined. Be careful not to over-mix.
If mixture seems too wet, stir in a couple more tablespoons of flour.
Shape & Slice
Transfer the dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, then shape into an 8″ circle (use flour on hands if dough is extra sticky).
Using a large sharp knife, make 8 triangle slices, gently pull apart and place evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to the refrigerator for 20 minutes to ensure dough is cold prior to baking.
Note: If you find dough is too sticky to pull apart, simply bake in the pre-sliced circle for 15 minutes, then take out of the oven and fully slice to pull apart and space them out 2”. Then continue baking for 5 more minutes.
Bake
Bake scones at 400ºF for 12-15 minutes, until the tops of the scones have risen and the edges are golden brown.
Allow scones to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make Glaze
While the scones are cooling, make the glaze by combining confectioners sugar, chai spice, milk and vanilla extract in a small mixing bowl.
Spoon or drizzle glaze over the scones and let set. You can place a baking sheet or parchment paper under the wire rack to catch extra glaze.
Enjoy! Scones are best served fresh, but will stay fresh up to 3 days in airtight container.
Inspiring Glaze Options
Tender, flakey scones are just dying for a sweet glaze to finish them off. Rather than the traditional chai vanilla glaze, you can opt for something a little different. Some of my favorite glaze variations include:
- Espresso Glaze: Add 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder along with the rest of the ingredients.
- Maple Glaze: Swap out the coffee creamer for 1 tablespoon maple syrup and 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream.
- Orange Glaze: Replace the coffee creamer with an equal amount of freshly squeezed orange juice (the orange really compliments the cardamom flavors!).
Serving Suggestions
Nothing compliments chai scones more than a hot cup of tea or your favorite chai drink to wash it all down. I love to serve these as:
- Breakfast: Say good morning and enjoy a fresh batch as your first meal of the day.
- Holiday Treat: Enjoy as a sweet treat to your holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, right alongside chai tea lattes.
- Great Britain Style: Take some inspiration from England and serve these with an array of toppings, like clotted cream, butter, jam and your favorite Bigelow tea.
How to Store
Leftover chai scones will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. I find they tend to dry out quickly if stored in the fridge.
Reheating Instructions: Pop one scone in the microwave for 20-30 seconds for a quick reheat, OR, toast in the oven or toaster oven set to 350 degrees F for 5-10 minutes, or until warmed through.
Make Ahead Tips – Freeze Scone Dough
Have some guests coming over for the holidays? Or just want to have a fresh batch of scones any time the craving strikes. Here’s how to make ahead and freeze for later:
- Prepare the scone dough as instructed, then place the unbaked scone triangles on a parchment-lined cookie sheet small enough to fit in your freezer.
- Freeze the dough for 1 hour, then transfer to a plastic freezer storage bag. Label, date and freeze for up to 3 months.
- The morning of, bake the scones as instructed (no need to thaw!), adding 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
Frozen, baked scones will keep for up to 1 month. Thaw to room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
More Scone Recipes You’ll Love:
If you make this Chai Scones recipe, be sure to leave a comment and review on the blog! I love hearing from you, and it helps others learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley
Chai Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour, or do half all-purpose flour, half whole wheat
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon chai spice mix, DIY blend
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ – ¾ cup non-dairy milk, see notes
GLAZE
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon chai spice mix
- 2 teaspoons vanilla coffee creamer, or milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients:In the bowl of food processor, add flour, sugar, chai spice, cardamom, baking powder and salt; pulse until combined. If using a bowl, simply whisk together dry ingredients.
- Cut in butter: Using the S-blade of the food processor, pulse the cubed butter with the dry ingredients until broken down into small chunks.
- Add milk: With motor running, slowly add vanilla extract, then milk until dough starts to form. Then remove S-blade and use wooden spoon to continue mixing until combined. If mixture seems too wet, stir in a couple more tablespoons of flour.
- Shape & slice: Transfer dough onto prepared baking sheet; shape into an 8″ circle (use flour on hands to if dough is extra sticky). Using a large sharp knife, make 8 triangle slices into dough, gently pull apart and place evenly spaced on baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to refrigerator for 20 minutes to ensure dough is cold prior to baking. Note: if you find dough is too sticky to pull apart, simply bake in the pre-sliced circle for 15 minutes, then take out of the oven and fully slice to pull apart and space them out 2”, continue baking for 5 more minutes.
- Bake at 400ºF for 12-15 minutes, until scones have risen and edges are lightly golden.
- Let scones cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
- Glaze: While the scones cool, make the glaze by combining confectioners sugar, chai spice, milk and vanilla extract. You can place a baking sheet or parchment paper under wire rack to catch extra glaze. Spoon or drizzle glaze over the scones and let set.
- Enjoy! Scones are best served fresh, but will stay fresh up to 3 days in airtight container.
Recipe Notes:
- Espresso Glaze: Add 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder along with the rest of the ingredients.
- Maple Glaze: Swap out the coffee creamer for 1 tablespoon maple syrup and 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream.
- Orange Glaze: Replace the coffee creamer with an equal amount of freshly squeezed orange juice (the orange really compliments the cardamom flavors!).
- Prepare the scone dough as instructed, then place the unbaked scone triangles on a parchment-lined cookie sheet small enough to fit in your freezer.
- Freeze the dough for 1 hour, then transfer to a plastic freezer storage bag. Label, date and freeze for up to 3 months.
- The morning of, bake the scones as instructed (no need to thaw!), adding 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
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