This sweet treat combines two of our favourite things: birthday cake and scones! Flaky, buttery, and just the right level of sweetness – these Vegan Birthday Cake Scones are so good you’ll be asking for them on your birthday instead of cake.
If you scroll through out blog, you’ll know we love scones; from Pumpkin to Cranberry Orange to Blueberry and everything in between. But of all the scones these are without a doubt one of our favourites! A simple, yet delicious buttery scone base with the perfect balance of vanilla and almond flavour for the ultimate birthday cake experience. Plus, what’s birthday cake without a bucket load of sprinkles!?
If you know us, you know neither of us our big fans of cake. Which is one of the many reasons we love these Birthday Cake Scones so much. Everything delicious about cake without the intense sweetness.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- The perfect combination of two favourites!
- Tender and flaky texture with every bite.
- PACKED with sprinkles.
- Comes together with just 16 ingredients.
Top tips for making Vegan Birthday Cake Scones:
- Keep the ingredients (and tools) cold! The most important tip for making delicious scones is temperature. For flaky scones that have a great rise keep all your ingredients and even your tools cold if you can. Chilling your bowls and prep tools is great for beginners, so if you take a little longer to bring your dough together the bowl is keeping your ingredients cold. The key here is to ensure the butter remains in chunks. If the butter starts to get soft place your dough in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes before you continue with the recipe.
- Weigh the ingredients. Baking is a science, especially for recipes that rely on specific textures. To ensure the dough is crumbly but not dry use a scale to weigh out all the ingredients according to the recipe.
- Don’t overmix the dough. This goes for a lot of baking recipes, but if you overmix scones you runt he risk of a tough finished product. Scone dough should be crumbly but hold together.
- Avoid using your hands. Body heat can cause the butter to melt and we don’t want that. For best result use a metal pastry blender and only use your hands when absolutely necessary and for as short as possible.
- The dough should be crumbly. The perfect scone dough is just hydrated enough to hold together but should still be a little crumbly. For a better idea of what you’re looking for, check out our video tutorial.
- Bake the scones from cold. For flaky scones with a high rise it’s best to chill the finished scones before baking them! Just place them in the fridge or freezer for about 10-15 minutes while the oven preheats.
Ingredient Notes:
When it comes to ingredients scones don’t require anything fancy, depending on the flavour profile you choose of course. These are no exception! As long as you have some key pantry staple baking ingredients on hand you can make these delicious fluffy scones.
- Vegan Buttermilk – It’s the key ingredient in scones and to replace that in our vegan alternative all you need is soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Vegan buttermilk is an acidic ingredient so it reacts with the leavening agent allowing your scones to rise.
- Baking Staples – For this recipe you’ll need your favourite all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, icing sugar, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Nothing fancy here, just your favourite brands should work.
- Vegan Eggs – To replace eggs in this recipe we’re using our go-to vegan egg replacement: flax eggs!
- Maple Syrup – To slightly sweeten the recipe we like to use maple syrup instead of sugar.
- Sprinkles – Not all sprinkles are vegan so be sure to check the ingredients. Our favourite vegan sprinkles are from Sweetapolita.
Recipe FAQ:
Can scones be frozen?
Yes! Scones freeze super well before and after baking. To freeze them before baking, form the scones and store them in an air-tight container in the freezer. When ready to eat, you can bake from frozen (you may just need to bake a couple minutes longer) or thaw slightly then bake. To freeze after baking, allow the scones to cool completely and wrap or store in an air-tight container. Allow to thaw completely before eating.
Do you have to use vegan buttermilk?
We recommend using our vegan buttermilk. Without it you run the risk of scones that don’t rise and aren’t tender. If you don’t have apple cider vinegar on hand you can use lemon juice instead.
Is there a vegan butter substitute?
Vegan butter is key for flaky scones with a tender crumb so we’d advise you don’t substitute that ingredient. We used Becel Plant-Based Sticks for this recipe and if you have access we’d recommend using the same, but any vegan butter should work.
Other vegan dessert recipes you’ll love:
How to make Vegan Birthday Cake Scones:
Vegan Birthday Cake Scones
Ingredients
Scones
- 240 mL (1 cup) soy milk
- 15 mL (1 tbsp) apple cider vinegar
- 7 g (1 tbsp) ground flax seeds
- 170 g (¾ cup) cold vegan butter, cubed
- 360 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 12 g (1 tbsp) baking powder
- 3 g (½ tsp) baking soda
- pinch salt
- 30 mL (2 tbsp) maple syrup
- 5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- 2.5 mL (½ tsp) almond extract
- 1/3 cup sprinkles + more for garnish
Glaze
- 120 g (1 cup) icing sugar
- 30 mL (2 tbsp) non-dairy milk
- 5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- To a bowl combine non-dairy milk, apple cider vinegar, and ground flax seed. Mix and set in the fridge until needed.
- In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined.
- Add cold vegan butter to flour mixture and using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Having small chunks of butter in the mixture is what will form the flaky layers.
- To the milk mixture from step x add vanilla extract, almond extract, and maple syrup.
- To the flour/butter mixture, add the milk mixture and fold the liquid into the dry until all the flour is incorporated into a dough. You may need to use your hands to gently fold, but don’t handle it too much or your body heat will melt the butter.
- Add in sprinkles and mix until just combined.
- If your dough is feeling a little sticky, generously flour a clean flat surface and turn out the dough onto it. Sprinkle some flour over top and gently knead 1-2 times and press it into a disk about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife or a bench scrapper cut the disk into pie slices – we opted for 8 total. Place scones on a lined baking sheet.
- (Optional) Brush scones with a 1:1 mixture of non-dairy milk and maple syrup.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool 5-10 minutes before glazing.
- To make the vanilla glaze, combine icing sugar, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Drizzle over scones and allow to cool an additional 5-10 minutes before serving.
Video
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