These cinnamon swirl scones are filled with a buttery cinnamon sugar filling, and topped with more cinnamon and sugar and drizzled with icing. They taste like a cinnamon roll in scone form!
Be sure to follow all of my tips and tricks below for making these coffee shop inspired goodies. Getting the right dough and filling consistency is key!
Quick Tips
- If the dough seems too sticky, or your filling seems too runny, just pop it in the freezer for a few minutes to make them easier to work with.
- Put your chopped butter in the freezer for a few minutes to make sure it is extra cold.
- Allow the scones to cool to room temperature before adding the icing.
Equipment
- bench scraper, pastry cutter, or forks to combine cold butter and flour mixture
- pizza cutter or knife to cut the scones before baking
- large sheet pan
- Silicone spatula is always helpful for scraping down bowls
Ingredient Notes
For these cinnamon roll scones, you will need a few common baking ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen!
- Flour – All purpose flour works fine for this.
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Unsalted butter – You will need some cold, and some softened.
- Eggs
- Heavy cream
- Ground cinnamon
- Light brown sugar
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
Looking for other pastry recipes?
How to make cinnamon swirl scones
These scones have the flavor of classic cinnamon rolls in scone form. This is a great recipe for breakfast or a snack served with coffee.
For this scone recipe, there are 3 separate components:
- Cinnamon butter filling
- Scones
- Icing
How to make cinnamon butter filling
The scones will be filled with a cinnamon butter filling giving them extra cinnamon deliciousness.
Use a fork to mix together the filling ingredients (softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon) in a medium bowl until well combined.
The mixture should be thick and not runny. If it is runny, place in the freezer while you make the scone dough (for no more than 10 minutes). Set mixture aside.
How to make cinnamon scone dough
Now it’s time to make the cinnamon scone dough.
In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder and set aside.
After that, chop the cold unsalted butter into small cubes using a knife or bench scraper. You want to use very cold butter. You can even put the cut pieces in the freezer for a few minutes to make sure its very cold for mixing into the dry ingredients.
Use forks or a pastry cutter to work the cubed butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand. You can also use your fingers, but do this quickly, as the heat from your hands will start to melt the butter.
Instead of your hands or a pastry cutter, you can use a food processor to combine the cold butter cubes with the flour mixture. Pulse a few times, but be sure not to over mix. Be careful not to allow the mixture to heat up too much and cause the butter to melt.
Some remaining butter hunks are fine, since this will help give the scones a flakey texture. Any leftover pieces of butter shouldn’t be larger than the size of peas.
Set this mixture aside.
In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients (eggs and cream).
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix together until all of the dry ingredients have been coated.
I usually use my hands at the end of mixing to make sure everything is well incorporated
Putting the scones together
Next, line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flour the parchment paper. You can also do this on a cutting board or kitchen counter work surface with parchment.
Lightly flour your hands and pick up the dough. Spread the dough out on the floured surface until it is ½-1 inch thick. The dough will be sticky. Add a little more flour if needed.
Spread the filling evenly across the scone dough, leaving a 1-inch boarder around the dough empty.
Gently fold the scone dough over the filling around the edges, working it with your hands into a 7-8 inch circle with the filling completely covered with dough.
If the filling gets too runny or the dough gets too sticky during this process, just throw the pan into the freezer for a few minutes to allow everything to re-set. Pinch together any areas where filling is showing through.
Freeze the dough for about 5 minutes to set once you have formed it into a circle.
Spread out dough on parchment 
fold dough around filling 
Form dough into a n 8 inch circle
Remove the dough from the freezer and use a sharp knife, bench scraper, or a pizza cutter to slice the scone dough into 8 equal sections, like you would a pizza.
Separate the pieces and pinch the edges of each scone together in order to avoid leaky filling.
Evenly space the scones on the large prepared baking sheet on parchment, leaving at least an inch in between each scone. Brush them with heavy cream and generously sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar. Place the scones back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (while you preheat the oven).
cut dough into 8 equal wedges 
The filling will look like this after slicing 
pinch edges to seal in filling
While the scones are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
When the oven is ready (or after about 10-15 minutes), remove the scones from the freezer and immediately place them in the oven. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the corners and bottoms have just begun to turn golden brown.
The scones will spread slightly and the filling may leak out in a few places – that’s okay! If some does leak out, then break off the sugar after it cools.
Let scones cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet. Then place them on a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
How to make scone icing
The icing for these cinnamon bun scones is a simple glaze made with powdered sugar.
In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons heavy cream and mix well.
Add additional heavy cream as needed until you have reached desired texture. The icing should be runny enough to drizzle over the top of your scones.
When the scones have cooled to room temperature, drizzle the sweet glaze over them. They are ready to serve! You can also sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the icing before it sets if you wish.
How to store leftovers?
Store leftover scones in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days. You can reheat in the toaster oven for minute or two few seconds to get them warm again.
FAQs
To get fluffy scones, the butter has to be cold so it takes longer to melt in the oven. Cold butter also gives a better flakier texture.
To prevent dense and tough scones, don’t overwork the dough. Also make sure the butter, cream, and eggs are all cold when making the dough. Popping them back in the freezer before baking also helps with this.
Cinnamon Swirl Scones
Ingredients
For the filling
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter softened *NOT melted
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
For the scones
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
For the topping
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream to brush over scones
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
For the icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
To make the filling
- In a small-medium bowl, use a fork to mix together softened butter, cinnamon and brown sugar until well combined. The mixture should be thick and not runny – if runny, place in the freezer while you make the scone dough (for no more than 10 minutes). Set mixture aside.
To make the scones
- In a medium-large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder) and set aside.
- Next, chop the cold butter into small pieces. Use your fingers, forks, or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Any leftover butter chunks shouldn't be larger than a pea. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients (cream and eggs).
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix together until all of the dry ingredients have been coated. *I usually use my hands at the end of mixing to make sure everything is well incorporated
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flour the parchment paper.
- Next, lightly flour your hands and pick up the dough. Spread the dough evenly across the pan until it is ½-1 inch thick (see photos above). The dough will be sticky – add a little more flour if needed.
- Spread the filling evenly across the scone dough, leaving a 1-inch boarder around the dough empty.
- Gently fold the scone dough over the filling, working it with your hands into a 7-8 inch circle with the filling completely covered with dough. If the filling gets too runny or the dough gets too sticky during this process, just throw the pan into the freezer for a few minutes to allow everything to re-set. Pinch together any areas where filling is showing through.
- Freeze the dough for ~5 minutes to set once you have formed it into an 8-inch circle.
- Remove from the freezer and use a knife or a pizza cutter to slice the scone dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Separate the pieces and pinch the edges of each scone together to avoid leaky filling (see photos above).
- Evenly space the scones on the large cookie sheet, leaving at least an inch in between each scone. Brush them with heavy cream and generously sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar. Place the scones back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (while you preheat the oven).
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Remove the scones from the freezer and immediately place them in the oven. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the corners and bottoms have just begun to brown.
- Let scones cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet. Then place them on a cool rack to cool to room temperature.
To make the icing
- In a small-medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons heavy cream. Mix well.
- Add additional heavy cream as needed until you have reached desired texture (the icing should be runny enough to drizzle over the top of your scones).
- Drizzle the icing over the cooled scones.
Emma says
Can I use half and half instead of heavy cream in this recipe?
Jackie says
Yes you can!
Steve Vaske says
Your ability to distil details into absorbable parts is impressive.