Chai Latte Scones bring all the flavors of a coffee shop chai tea latte into your kitchen with these buttery scones topped with a spiced vanilla glaze.
Chai latte scones pack all the warm and cozy flavors of a coffee shop chai latte into a perfect little breakfast treat for the fall and winter. I like this assortment of spices because it gives a hint of fall and the holidays without being too obvious. The beauty of chai spices is that they meld together into something more than the sum of their parts, so you get a unique flavor that goes so well with the hint of espresso powder in the dough.
scones – my favorite thing to bake!
A scone is a flaky pastry closely related to a biscuit. They’re super easy to make, and once you get the hang of handling shaggy dough you can whip them up in no time. They might just be one of my very favorite things to bake, so I’ve made a lot of them over the years! Here’s just a sampling to get your scone recipe collection started:
- Perfect Pumpkin Scones
- Cinnamon Scones
- Toasted Nut Scones
- Peanut Butter Scones
- Perfect Lemon Scones
- Classic Cream Scones
Once you’ve mastered scones, learn How to make Clotted Cream so you’ll always have something wonderful to spread on them!
spice mix for chai latte scones
The mix of spices can vary with authentic chai tea – the ones I chose for this recipe are ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves and white pepper. It’s the white pepper that gives chai its kick. You can purchase pre-made chai spice, but it’s easier and fresher to put it together yourself.
I’ve also added some espresso powder to my dough to put the “latte” in “chai latte”, but you could also add a bag of chai or plain black tea, finely crushed, instead. Either one gives a nice depth of flavor to the scones.
For the glaze you have a wonderful choice. Pull out your favorite spice from the chai blend, or you can do an espresso glaze, a vanilla glaze, or a plain sugar glaze. I’m doing a vanilla nutmeg glaze because I’m crazy for nutmeg!
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Chai Latte Scones
Ingredients
Scones
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 cup almond flour, (or use more regular flour)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- chai spices, 1/4 tsp each: ginger, allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, white pepper
- 1 egg
- 1/2 -2/3 cups buttermilk , or milk or half and half
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut in pieces
Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- milk or cream to thin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Put the dry ingredients (with the exception of the espresso powder) into the bowl of a food processor and pulse till combined.
- Beat the egg in a liquid cup measure. Add buttermilk till it reaches the 1 cup mark. Dissolve the espresso powder into the liquid and set aside.
- Add the butter to the food process and pulse until dispersed and crumbly.
- While pulsing, slowly pour in the buttermilk mixture, adding just enough for the dough to come together. You may not need the whole amount, I didn’t quite.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a 6″ round, adding a little flour if it’s too sticky.
- Cut the dough into 6 or 8 sections and place on a lined baking sheet.
- At this point I like to slip the pan into the freezer for about 10-15 minutes to re-chill the butter, but this is optional.
- Bake for 15 – 18 minutes, depending on your oven and how many you’ve cut. They should be risen, lightly browned and firm on top. Don’t overcook them, they don’t take long.
- Cool on a rack before glazing.
- For the glaze, Combine the sugar, spice and extract and add just enough milk or cream to create a glaze. You can turn the scones upside down and dip them right into the glaze, spread it on with a knife, or drizzle it. Dust the finished scone with a little nutmeg or with whatever spice you’ve chosen to flavor your glaze.
Nutrition
You know those teeny tiny scones at Starbucks….well I used to be quite into those. But these just blow that version away, obviously. But they do remind me of those. Yours look so fluffy and spiced so nicely. These would be great in the fall. Thanks! 🙂
I can smell those lovely spices already. These are beautiful scones. Let’s get together and have some with a cup of coffee. What time will you be over? Ha ha – absolutely drooling over these.
Love to!
Such a delicious, unique scone recipe, I love all the wonderful variations!
Thanks, Chris, I know not everyone loves scones, so I take a chance posting so many, but I just can’t help myself.
A homemade scone and a fresh cup of coffee are my idea of a perfect breakfast. Delicious!
Me too 🙂
Love the idea of chai scones, and they`re so tall and fluffy looking! Starbucks could probably make a fortune selling these 🙂
Finally I beat Starbucks to a good combination, I’d love to see their version of these.
I love the idea of using Chai tea spices in a scone – it’s the wonder of Chai. And then that peppery glaze – that combination is for me!
I’m trying to expand my spice horizon this fall so I don’t get stuck in the pumpkin pie spiced rut.
Beautiful styling with the cup and saucer and spice bowl. I swear 1/2 my fun is looking at the layout and colors of your photographs. Then there is the 1/4 joy of trying a new and exciting recipe.. or twist on a familiar one.
Thank you!
Oh! the other 1/4 fun??
Why that is imaging we are great friends and you’ve just invited me over!!! 😉
Thanks Kate, sometimes it’s a real challenge to keep taking photos when all I want to do is eat!
I loved the photograph of the spices sitting in that great blue dish. Could almost smell them.
I think I was a spice-monger in a previous life, I love it too.
A white pepper glaze? Now THAT’S not something you read about every day! I love the sounds of that and these scones. Chai-spice is so lovely. Not sure what LA is like but it’s 102F today in *coastal* San Diego. I can only imagine inland! I need these scones when the weather cools down with a cup of coffee!
I don’t think the rest of the world knows what we’re going through…107 today!
Ok, you just trumped everything else this week (and with you that always says a lot). I do love chai tea and just the thought of the flavors with the glaze on top… I bet the white pepper would be incredible as well!
I hope you are enjoying every minute of your weekend!
I really should have made the gutsy choice and gone with the pepper!