Carrot Cake Scones
Simple scone dough sweetened with light brown sugar then mixed with raisins, finely grated carrots, toasted pecans, spices and topped with cream cheese icing for a hearty and delicious breakfast treat.
Ingredients
Scones:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp. light brown sugar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. cardamom
- 1/4 tsp. all-spice *optional
- 4 oz. butter, chilled and cut into small 1/2-inch pieces (8 tbsp. or 1 stick, or 1/2 cup)
- 1 cup currants rehydrated - see directions below
- 3/4 cup milk or half and half - your choice
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup toasted pecans (coarsely choppes)
- 1 cup finely grated carrots
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans pieces (for garnish on top of the icing)
Vanilla Icing
- 2 oz. cream cheese (softened to room temp)
- 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp. milk
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425⁰. Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper.
- To rehydrate the raisins, place them in a small bowl. Pour about 1 cup of boiling water over them and allow this to sit for about 15-20 minutes. Strain or squeeze excess water out of the raisins before adding them to the dough. You can use a strainer for this or cheese cloth.
- Sift flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, (allspice if using), and cream of tartar into a bowl. Stir in brown sugar. Using a pastry cutter or cold fingertips, cut the butter pieces into the dries until the pieces of butter are like small peas. Stir in the raisins, carrots and pecans. Mix well.
- Add milk all at once and mix just until integrated. Turn dough onto floured cloth or board and gather into a ball. You may need to absorb a little of the extra flour for this step, but be careful to not over handle your dough. Use a very light touch. Remember, as our British au pair once told me, “The keys to good scones are cold hands and a warm heart!” 💕
- Roll or flatten the dough ball out to about 1 ¼ inch in thickness. Cut dough into 8 triangles for large scones, or 12 triangles for smaller scones. Or, you can also use a biscuit cutter dipped in flour if you prefer round scones.
- Place scones on prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for approximately 10-15 minutes, or longer. Remove from oven and bake for approximately 12-14 minutes, or until the tops begin to turn golden-brown. Remove from oven and cool completely before icing.
Make the Icing
- While the scones are baking, it’s time to make the icing. Simply blend the sifted powered sugar with the softened cream cheese. Whisk in the vanilla and enough milk to get to a thick icing consistency. If accidentally add to much milk, just add a little more sugar, and if it’s too thick, then add more milk, a tiny bit at a time!
- Spread the icing over the cooled scones with a spoon or offset spatula and then top with extra toasted pecan pieces. If you want to serve the scones warm, store them without the icing, and once reheated, spread the icing over them just before serving. These scones store very well in the refrigerator even once iced, but if you want to freeze them, we suggest icing them when you’re ready to serve them.
Notes
You may find that you need a little more or less milk than 3/4 cup. If so, just compensate by adding a little more milk or a tiny bit more flour to get to a soft dough that you can roll out. We find that different flours act differently and cause some variation in the amount of liquid they can absorb.
Also, be sure to squeeze as much of the excess water out of the rehydrated raisins before adding them to the dough.
We use the very fine part of the grater for the carrots.
If you plan to freeze the scones for later consumption, we recommend freezing them without the icing and spreading the icing on them when you’re ready to serve them.