Vegan Hot Cross Scones
A quick and easy alternative to hot cross buns for Easter, these vegan hot cross scones have all the flavours of a traditional hot cross bun but in scone form.
Servings 10 scones
Ingredients
- 360 g (3 cups) self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 100 g (7 Tablespoons) vegan block butter cold and diced
- finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- 70 g (⅓ cup) light brown soft sugar
- 200 g (1 ⅓ cups) mixed dried fruit
- 160 g (⅔ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- 30 g (2 Tablespoons) orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crosses:
- 45 g (⅓ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- ½ Tablespoon oil
- 3 Tablespoons cold water
- 1 Tablespoon golden syrup/maple syrup/apricot jam/marmalade to glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
- Stir together the self-raising flour, baking powder, mixed spice and cinnamon in a large bowl.360 g (3 cups) self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons mixed spice, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Add the cold butter and the orange zest and rub it in using your fingertips until no lumps of butter remain.100 g (7 Tablespoons) vegan block butter, finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- Stir in the sugar and mixed dried fruit.70 g (⅓ cup) light brown soft sugar, 200 g (1 ⅓ cups) mixed dried fruit
- Mix together the milk, orange juice and vanilla extract in a jug. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to form a soft, sticky dough.160 g (⅔ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy), 30 g (2 Tablespoons) orange juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface, sprinkle with more flour and pat it out with your hands into a rough rectangle. Fold it in half then pat out and fold twice more.
- Pat the dough out to about 4 cm/1 ½ in thick, use a floured 6 cm round cookie cutter to cut out as many scones as you can. Bring together the scraps and pat out again to cut out more scones. Place them spaced apart on the baking sheet.
- For the crosses, mix together the plain flour, oil and enough water to make a thick but pipeable batter. Spoon it into a disposable piping bag and snip off the tip. Pipe crosses on top of each scone.45 g (⅓ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour, ½ Tablespoon oil, 3 Tablespoons cold water
- Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes until well risen, browned and firm to the touch. They should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Gently warm the syrup, jam or marmalade until runny then use a pastry brush to brush it on top of the warm scones. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool slightly before serving. Best eaten on the day they are baked.1 Tablespoon golden syrup/maple syrup/apricot jam/marmalade
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!