Easy and quick to make with only 6 ingredients! Fluffy, light and moist grain free English scones – best enjoyed with strawberries and cream. Perfect for low carb and keto diets.
Decluttering, guys. It’s wonderful!
I’m moving house next week, which means that my place looks like a bomb site (orderly chaos, but you get the picture). Everything has been pulled out of the attic. No pictures on the walls. There are boxes everywhere.
There has been one major silver lining amidst this mother-load of extra work: getting rid of unnecessary stuff.
Over the last few weeks I have been collecting bags and bags of children’s clothes, books we never really liked, toys and bric-a-brac and shipped it off to local charity shops.
Living lighter feels goooood!
I kind of feel like telling the movers to take the rest away and keep it. And I can begin a totally clutter-free, minimalist and totally zen existence.
My kitchen is the only safe zone left in the house. It looks untouched, normal, box-free – for now. So, to distract myself from packing, I decided to treat us to some proper English scones – healthified, naturally.
Easier said than done!
My first specimen were so hard you could have used them as cannonballs. Edible, but definitely not shareable.
But then.
I changed the quantities here and there, and my second attempt was the bulls-eye (lucky that, because I would not have had time nor the energy for a third attempt).
Say hello to the fluffiest and deliciously moist grain free English scones!
The key to success here is to work cold butter into the almonds – I did this with my fingers, which was kind of fun. Then I added the egg and mixed with a fork until everything was just combined.
The first time round I had just chucked all ingredients into a food processor and ended up with a heavy clump of dough that had not an iota of air left in it.
I recommend you cool the dough in the fridge before forming the scones and baking them. This is something I was actually too impatient to do myself. I believe if you cool the dough the scones will retain their disk shape better when you bake them. Mine lost their perfectly sharp sides and spread out a little bit.
If you’re busy packing like me and don’t mind, by all means, skip this step.
We ate these grain free English scones with whipped double (heavy) cream and sliced strawberries. They would also be great with sugar free jam – I don’t have a sugar free strawberry jam recipe in my repertoire yet, buy you could have them with my raspberry vanilla chia jam or this sugar free blueberry jam.
Fun fact: According to the Webster’s Dictionary, scones were invented in Scotland in the 16th century. They became popular as a tea time treat through Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, who loved them so much she rang for them every afternoon a 4 pm.
No time for high tea? Grain free English scones can, naturally, also be enjoyed for breakfast.
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Grain Free English Scones
Ingredients
- 250 g / 2 1/2 cups almond flour NOT super-fine (to my UK readers - ground almonds work fine here)
- 60 g / 1/4 cup cold butter, unsalted
- 45 g / 1/4 cup granulated sweetener
- 2 tbsp thick double/heavy cream
- 1 medium egg
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum optional
- optional: 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean powder
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Cut your butter into little cubes and work it into the almond flour, rubbing with your hands, until the butter cubes are gone and the mixture resembles crumbles.
- Add the double cream and the egg. Mix with a fork until combined.
- Form a big ball, cover with cling film and let the dough chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius/350 Fahrenheit.
- Form 8 balls with your hands (mine weighed around 50g each) and flatten until they resemble fat discs.
- Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for ca 18 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Let the scones cool down before cutting. They are a little more crumbly and delicate than regular wheat scones. That's why I used a smooth (not a serrated) knife for cutting.
- Fill with whipped double cream and sliced strawberries or sugar free strawberry jam.
Recipe Notes
I calculated the nutrition info for 1 scone without filling (cream/jam/strawberries). My scones weighed around 50g each.
The scones in the images are made with ground almonds, which is equivalent to regular / coarser almond flour in the US. If you want to use super-fine almond flour, I suggest you reduce the amount of almond flour by 1/4 cup as super-fine almond flour absorbs more liquid.
The xanthan gum is optional - it gives baked goods a stronger crumb structure. The scones in the images are baked without. If you don't use xanthan gum, definitely wait until the scones are fully cooled before you cut them.
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Michelle Curtis says
Hi – I’ve baked your scones twice both batches have worked well and looked great however both batches leave a nasty bitter chemical taste. What am I doing wrong? I am using Erythritol Confectioners sweetener should I try a different sweeter?
Katrin says
Which brand do you use? Maybe it’s a problem with the brand. I like Sukrin, SoNourished and Lakanto. You’ll never get around the slightly cooling taste when baking with erythritol, but it should not be bitter.
Michelle Curtis says
I am using NKD Living powdered Erythritol,
Katrin says
Hi Michelle, maybe you just don’t like the taste of erythritol then. You could consider trying inulin. It’s less sweet than erythritol (I think it only has 30% of the sweetness), but it does not have an aftertaste. No point sweetening with something you can’t get on with 😉
Leanna says
Hello, Wonderful to find some grain free, sugar free scones. Thank you for presenting this for all. I do not use artificial sweeteners. Would it be possible to make these scones without adding an artificial sweetener to the ingredients or is the sweetener essential to the recipe working please? Thanks
Katrin says
You could use any sweetener you like. Real sugar, coconut sugar, a bit of honey – or none at all, if you prefer.
Annette says
The bake was too crumbly… think I may add in some psyllium husk or xanthan gum to bind the bake next time
..
Katrin says
Hi Annette, I do remember the scones being more fragile than wheat scones – especially whilst they are warm. Once they are cool, I was able to easily slice them. However, using a teaspoon of xanthan gum is a good way to give these a stronger crumb structure.
Patty says
Can I use Heavy whipping cream, which is the only heavy cream I can find where I live.
Katrin says
Yes, here in the UK we call it double cream, in the US it’s called heavy cream. Heavy whipping cream is exactly what you’re looking for.
Kelly Charbula says
I made these today and thought I followed tilt exactly but they did not rise. They were more of a thick sugar cookie. I noticed little bits of distinguishable butter when I took the dough out of the fridge. I used almond flour.
Can you help?
Katrin says
I think you may need to knead the dough a bit longer until the butter is fully incorporated. There should not have been butter clumps. Maybe that wasthe reason why yours did not rise as well
Kelly says
Thank you for the answer.
I am a very literal person. It did not say to knead the dough so I did not. I will try these again kneading the dough. How long should I knead it?
Katrin says
Hi Kelly, I‘ll be sure to clarify this in the method description. Just rub the almond flour and butter between your fingers and palms until there are no butter lumps. Thank you for the comment
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Katrin says
They’re fine for a few days. And you can freeze them too!
Karen Churchill says
I’ve just stumbled on your blog. So far, I have pinned about 10 recipes! I am anxious to try them. I have a question about sweeteners. I bought some Monk fruit sweetener in different forms (actually a monk fruit/erythritol blend). Have you tried monk fruit? I have nearly zero experience cooking with sugar substitutes and I’m a little nervous about it.
Katrin says
Monkfruit is not sold in the UK, so ai haven’t tried it. I hear from my US based blogger friends that the taste is really good though. I normally use a erythritol/stevia blend. Erythritol has a slightly cooling taste, but if you use it sparingly and with other strong flavours such as vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate or fruits, it blends in well and you can’t detect it. I hope this helps 🙂
Jaci says
Hi
Shoukd I subtract the fibrefrom total carbs?
Lovethem by the way x
Katrin says
Yes, that’s how I do it 🙂 And I’m happy you like them!
Ali says
Sorry, I’m a bit confused…did you make your scones with almond flour or ground almonds?
Thank you
Katrin says
Hi Ali, the ones in the picture are made with ground almonds. Most of my readers are from the US, and over there they call almond flour what we generally call ground almonds here in the UK – even here in the UK there is some confusion about the terminology. I have, for example, tried a brand called Carbzone which sell “almond flour” that looked EXACTLY like ground almonds to me. I have, however made them with the Sukrin almond flour too, which is very finely ground.
Ali says
Hi Katrin, thank you for your reply. I’m in the UK and I found some almond flour in Holland & Barrett to make the scones with, but I’ve got ground almonds too. Which do you think would be best? Also, I’ve found Stevia Sweet crystals which are Erythritol and Total Sweet Xylitol. Do you know which would work better?
Katrin says
The finer the almond flour is, the more the texture will be like wheat flour. This recipe I really liked with the ground almonds, they were very light and fluffy. You could even use half and half! I think I tried the stevia sweet crystals when I first started the blog and they were ok. I haven’t tried the xylitol – both would do the same job, I guess it’s just about finding a sweetener brand you like the taste of. Recently, I have used Natvia and Sukrin, both erythritol with stevia.
Ali says
Thank you again! I think it’s brilliant that you not only share you’re wonderful recipes, but actually help afterwards – I really appreciate it. I guess I might not be so appreciative if they hadn’t gone well, but they have turned out pretty yummy! I used all almond flour although it felt just like ground almonds (but twice the price!!) and I used Stevia. I refrigerated for about 20mins first. I have a fan oven and baked them at 160C and they were done after 15 mins. The discs dropped a bit and spread but they’re still thick enough to cut and fill. They were quite sweet for scones but the Stevia is twice as sweet as sugar, so maybe I should have used less. The sweetness was nice and made it a bit more like a cake, but I think because of that the flavour of the blueberries was lost. Or maybe the blueberries are just a bit tasteless! Overall, delicious!!
Katrin says
I’m glad they ended up a success! Actually I remember now – I think that granulated stevia you bought IS twice as sweet as the same amount of sugar – the erythritol I use is 1:1. Definitely doublecheck your stevia pack and you can amend next time. Probably then the sweetness of the blueberries will come through more 🙂
Susi says
….egg and cress, thinly sliced peeled cucumber and smoked salmon crustless sandwiches and a slice of Coffee Walnut Cake and/or fruit cake for your Cream Tea nicely rounds it off … Al Fresco, with a large pot of tea and some sunshine it cannot be beaten… So, a recipe for Coffee Walnut Cake for tea-time would be nice ma’am… Thank you once again for your lovely recipes, and the fact that you take the time to print grams as well as cup measures… I am most grateful…
Susi says
Your recipe is perfect – thank you… I shaped them first and then remembered to put them in the fridge but they turned out perfectly… Being a diabetic is not all bad… Scones with cream and jam is a meal, its called a Cream Tea – tea-time is around 4pm and scones taste perfect at that time… Clotted cream from Cornwall is the icing on the cake, if you know what I mean… 🙂 Thank you for all your lovely recipes…
Katrin says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! And I absolutely agree…clotted cream from Cornwall is THE BEST!!!!!
Mary Ann says
Can I use regular heavy cream?
Angel Hall says
I have these in the oven now and I think I’ve gone wrong somewhere. The dough was sticky, more of a batter consistency. I did use almost flour as it’s all I had and I followed your recommendation to use 1/4 less but then added it back to help the stickiness but it didn’t seem to. It’s spread as out as it’s baking and they’re quite thin. I did accidentally Dd to much sweetener, hoping they still taste good even not being quite as original recipe. Any suggestion to help next time?
Katrin says
If you can, just follow the recipe as closely as possible and use ground almonds. This way you can guarantee to get the right batter consistency. I found one of the keys was to use cold butter as well. I do hope that your result tasted good, even if they did not look like scones!!! Good luck for the next time 🙂
Angel Hall says
No thanks to autocorrect on my previous comment, I did use almond flour. Lol. But yes I’ll definitely try again with ground almonds next time, scones are a must to get perfected here. They turned out about the thickness of a nice cookie/biscuit and pleasantly moist. My girls ate them as is and I sandwiched two with jam and clotted cream. All is still right in the world. Thank you!
Katrin says
Great news! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Alison says
Thank you so much for creating this dish! I don’t ha h
have ground almonds only almond flour. Do I have to make any adjustments?
Katrin says
That’s a good question. I’m not sure about the exact measurements for almond flour. I would definitely use less as it’s much finer, maybe 1/4 less. Start with that and check the consistency of the dough, adding as required until you get a consistency that is still light and fluffy but you can easily form discs with flat edges. I hope that helps. If you try I’d love if you could leave another comment and let us know how much you ended up using.
Meredith says
I tried these with almond flour. I used 1/4 less as you suggested. The taste is great though they didn’t rise very much. That didn’t seem to matter as we just piled the berries and cream on top rather than inside two layers. Yum! I will definitely make this again though might try the blanched almonds next time to try the difference.
Katrin says
Hello Meredith, thanks for letting me know! I’m glad you enjoyed them. xx
Maggie Summers says
Oh, and I love the look of your scones. Thanks for the recipe
Katrin says
Aw, you are so welcome Maggie! Have a lovely day
Maggie Summers says
I totally agree about owning too much stuff. I’ve made it a habit to declutter once a year. It’s amazing how many things we accumulate that we do not actually need.
Katrin says
Taking stock once a year sounds very sensible. Great plan 🙂
Georgie Beeman says
How many scones per serving?
Katrin says
Because they are made with ground almonds, they are actually quite filling. One is plenty.
Hannah says
Your photos look so delicious I wish it was tea time right now…
Katrin says
Haha, you could also have them for breakfast! We did that on day 2 🙂
Jane S says
I adore scones and have not had ANY since going sugar free. Time to change that 🙂
Katrin says
That makes 2 of us! I’m very happy about how well these turned out.
Kerstin says
Thank you so much for adding nutrition facts to your recipes. For those of us with Type 2 Diabetes it’s a real help.
Katrin says
It’s always interesting to see the nutrition of a recipe. I try to be as accurate as possible, but I always advise people to make their own calculations if necessary.
Sarah says
Wow! These look amazing. On my list!
Katrin says
Awesome Sarah! Let me know how yours turned out