Carrot Cake Scones with Cream Cheese Glaze

Have carrot cake for breakfast with these tender, warmly spiced carrot cake scones, finished with a tangy cream cheese glaze. Chock full of carrots, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg, these egg-free scones taste like carrot cake in every bite! Vegan options listed in the recipe.

If you like carrot cake recipes, you’re in the right place.  I’ve made many baked goods with carrot cake flavors including a single layer carrot cake, carrot cake cinnamon rolls, soft carrot cake cookies, and now…carrot cake scones. With a cream cheese drizzle, obviously!

Why you’ll love this recipe

Who doesn’t love carrot cake?  There’s something about it that’s so cozy and comforting about it, and these carrot scones contain all of flavors of carrot cake plus they’re SO easy to make. Here are the benefits of this recipe:

• made in ONE BOWL with no mixer needed – hooray!
• featuring warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg
• flecks of slightly sweet, finely grated carrot throughout
• the contrast of the tangy, soft cream cheese, which sets off the sweetness of the carrot.  It’s indispensable.  I made a simple cream cheese glaze here instead of the traditional cream cheese frosting – just cream cheese, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt.
• the tender, buttery texture we love in a flaky scone (you can use coconut oil and coconut cream if dairy-free or vegan! the results are still incredible)
• would be a great recipe for an Easter brunch or any spring occasion

Fun fact: Brian and I had carrot cake as the top tier of our wedding cake, and we loved it so much that we saved that tier for ourselves.  We ate it in our hotel room after the reception, still in our wedding garb.  That’s dedication.  The other two flavors weren’t bad: vanilla cake with raspberry filling, yellow cake with lemon filling.  But the carrot cake stole the show for us.

Ingredients

All of the elements of carrot cake come together in one bowl with these soft, tender scones:

• all-purpose flour
• brown sugar
• baking powder
• salt
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• cold unsalted butter or room temperature coconut oil (works both ways!)
• finely grated carrots (I find that hand-grating fresh carrots leads to the best texture.  I know, it’s annoying – but if you have a box grater it doesn’t take too long.  You can also use a food processor, but make sure the carrots get shredded very finely or else they will still be crunchy after the scones are baked)
• chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, or any other nut you like)
• unsweetened shredded coconut
• heavy cream or canned coconut cream
• cream cheese, maple syrup, and salt for the simple cream cheese icing over top

How to make carrot cake scones: step by step

For the scones:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  In a large bowl, whisk together dry mixture: flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  
2. Add the cold butter or coconut oil to the dry ingredients and cut it into the flour mixture with a fork, a pastry blender, or your fingers. Stop when the mixture resembles coarse crumbs or wet sand, with a few pea-size pieces remaining.
3. Stir in the carrots, pecans, and coconut.  Pour in the wet ingredients (heavy cream or coconut cream) and stir gently until a shaggy dough is formed.
4. Turn the scone dough out onto a floured surface and pat it into a 1-inch thick disk. With a bench scraper or a very sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 even wedges. Arrange the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Brush a little milk or cream over the top of the scones and sprinkle with coarse or turbinado sugar if desired – this part is totally optional, but delicious.
6. If you have time, place scones on the prepared baking sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes or in the fridge for a half hour before baking. It isn’t absolutely necessary, but it helps the keep their shape and creates a flaky and tender scone.
7. Bake scones for 17-18 minutes, until they are golden brown and smell delicious.  Let cool on a wire rack for a few minutes while you make the cream cheese icing.

For the cream cheese glaze:

In a small bowl, whisk together cream cheese, maple syrup, and salt, until a thick but pourable consistency. Drizzle cream cheese glaze over the cooled scones in any pattern you like. Serve and enjoy!

Additions and Substitutions

• To make dairy-free or vegan: use room temperature coconut oil in place of the cold butter and canned coconut cream in place of the heavy cream. Use a plant-based or dairy-free cream cheese in the glaze. This is already an egg-free carrot scone recipe so no need to worry there!
• To make gluten-free: use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour containing xanthan gum
• Nuts: use pecans, walnuts, almonds, or any other nut you like, or omit completely
• Coconut: you can omit or substitute raisins or more nuts

Storage

These carrot cake scones are best the day they’re made, but they will keep:

Room temperature: if glazed, up to 8 hours (refrigerate after that due to the cream cheese). If unglazed, up to 3 days.

Refrigerator: store in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Freezer: tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and a freezer-safe storage bag, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or 1-2 hours at room temperature before enjoying.

More Scone Recipes

• Strawberries and Cream Scones
• Blackberry Coconut Scones
• Pear and Dark Chocolate Scones

Recipe

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