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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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!
Made these this morning and used buckwheat honey….omg they were good…..ate one hot out of the oven! My apples were el denté, used honey crisp apple but my cubes were pretty big. Wouldn’t change them though…..thanks for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them, Sandra :) Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Hi there! This recipes looks delicious, wondering if I can swap out honey for agave?
Thanks!
Hi Sarah and thanks :) And yes, you can totally use agave in place of honey in this recipe.
Oh god these look like my idea of comfort food heaven. I really need this in my life asap!!!
Thanks Sarah. These were really good for some simple baking!
Oh wow these would be perfect for breakfast on a Sunday! Mmmm I love the smell of freshly made scones in the morning and with the apple and honey in them I’m sure the smell would fill up the whole house!
Thanks Linda and yes, the aroma is wonderful!
I adore scones and they are one of the best breakfast treats! Loving these, Jennifer! Crisp apples and honey sounds just perfect! Can’t wait to try these delicious beauties! Cheers, friend!
Thanks so much, Cheyanne :)
What scrumptious scones, and perfect for a weekend baking project!
Thanks Laura :)
What a delight these would be with a cup of hot coffee for breakfast! Im currently drooling over these!
Thanks so much, Bethany. We really enjoyed them!
Oh, these look so delicious, Jennifer. Just what we need on this cold and wintry day! Everything you make has me longing for a big bite!
Thanks Robyn :) Spring-y weather is on the way this week. Enjoy!
Oh my word, I can only imagine the incredible aroma as these bake. Oh yes, and sitting down with a cup of tea and one of these would be the highlight of the day!
Thanks Chris. And yes … my idea of a perfect weekend moment :)
These look just heavenly Jennifer! Love the flavor!
Thanks Mary Ann. We ate them up pretty quickly here :)
If you told me that you invented scones I would totally believe you. Your biscuits are always on point girl! These are no exception!
Thanks Katrina :)
These look so fantastic, I just LOVE scones and the flavors in these is irresistable!
Thanks so much, Diane :)
I’m in full scone mode here this weekend, the weather is finally cooperating with some cozy rain. I love the idea of these apple scones, sharing!!
Thanks Sue :) Rainy weekends are perfect for scone making!
Hello weekend! I love your weekend baking series and these lovely scones are the perfect way to start the day. Honey is a favorite sweetener in our house and the combination with apples is perfect!
Thanks Tricia :) I love sweetening with honey, too and it’s fun to try different honey for different flavour profiles!
Sounds so good. Thank you and have a good weekend
Thanks Liz. You, too! :)