These easy apple buttermilk and honey scones are full of diced apple, made with buttermilk and sweetened only with honey (both in it and on it!).
These Honey Apple Buttermilk Scones come together quickly and easily. You don’t even need to have buttermilk on hand – simply hack regular milk with some lemon or orange juice, to make your own buttermilk.
There’s lots to love about these scones. First, they have tons of apple in these scones and you don’t even need to peel them! Secondly, they are sweetened only with honey, both in the dough and drizzled warm on top before eating. Finally, they are really, really delicious. So treat yourself this weekend!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Apples – I think any apple would work in these, with a nice red cooking apple being the most ideal. The red colour is lovely in the scones and cooking apples will soften nicely even with only 15 minutes in the oven. Apples like Granny Smith would work, but expect the apple to be a little more firm.
Buttermilk – real buttermilk is recommended, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can make your own. To make your own buttermilk, simply add lemon juice to regular milk, as noted in the recipe above. No lemon juice? Use orange juice or white vinegar instead or, if all else fails, just use plain old milk.
Recipe Tips
It’s on my list to try these with maple syrup instead of honey. I’ll be trying that soon, but if you happen to try it first, let me know how it is!
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Get the Recipe: Easy Apple Buttermilk Scones
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, or 3/4 cup milk with 2 1/4 tsp. lemon juice - let stand 5 minutes
- 1/4 cup honey, liquid
- 2 1/4 all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup butter, cold, cut into cubes
- 1 1/2 cups apple, diced, skin left on (Empire, Ida Red etc)
- 1 Tablespoon whipping cream, half and half or milk, for brushing tops before baking
- Optional 1 Tbsp. turbinado or white sugar, for sprinkling on tops before baking
- 2 Tablespoon honey, for drizzle on baked scones
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk and honey until honey is dissolved. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the cubed butter and using a pastry cutter, two knives until you ave coarse crumbs (or process lightly in a food processor then return to bowl). Drizzle about 3/4 of the buttermilk/honey mixture over the flour/butter mixture and using a fork, stir until a soft dough forms, adding more of the buttermilk mixture, as needed. You may not need every last drop. Dough should be moist (not crumbly) but not super sticky. Fold in the diced apples.
- Remove dough to a generously floured surface and fold over onto itself 2 or 3 times until dough holds together well. Lightly flour top of dough and press or roll into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer the wedges to your prepared baking sheet, allowing at least 1 inch between the slices. Brush tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
- Bake for 14-17 minutes, or until puffed and deep golden. Warm 2 Tbsp. honey and drizzle over scones to serve.
Notes
More Scone Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Very yummy and pretty easy to make
So glad you enjoyed them, Meghan :) Thanks so much!
I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. So glad I did! These scones are delicious and are a perfect fall treat. I’ve made these twice already, and the second time I chose to add a bit more cinnamon in the dough for some extra flavor. I also sprinkled some on top of the whipping cream and sugar, which I would recommend for anyone who is cinnamon-happy like me. I am so happy that I found this recipe, as I anticipate baking these scones every year for the fall season! Thanks for this post, Jennifer!
So glad you are enjoying them, Emily :) Thanks so much!
I made them with maple syrup in place of honey and they are delicious!
I also replaced 1/4 cup of the flour with while wheat flour.
Great recipe, thank you!
So happy to hear, Amanda! Thanks so much :)
Although it is a beautiful Sunday morning here, I had a craving to make scones and a bunch of apples. This recipe fit the bill. They turned out great. I love the texture. I added walnuts for extra crunch and they added a nice flavour as well. I will try them with maple syrup as one of your other readers had noted in a previous post. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed them, Tannis! Thanks so much :)
I haven’t tried the recipe with honey yet, but I did make 2 batches with Canadian maple syrup. They were a hit at home and at work!
Sounds lovely, Jennifer! Thanks :)
Please ignore my comment. I just noticed the cinnamon and nutmeg. I have been looking for a recipe for apple scones forever, so thank you. I have just found your site and look forward to following you.
No worries Elsie and enjoy these :)
Do you ever put spices in these? I’m thinking cinnamon. Thank you.