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
Question: I find even small amounts of coffee or espresso to be overpowering. Is there a substitution you can recommend?
Doubled all the chai spices (did 1/2 tsp. of each) because I couldn’t smell them in the flour mixture with just the 1/4 tsp. Of each and I’m so glad I did! Also did not use almond flour (only all-purpose) and put in the freezer for 30 minutes- awesome results, beautiful, flaky layers in the dough and great texture after 16 minutes of baking! Thanks for the inspiration!
I’m so happy you liked these Mallory, I think the extra spices were a good idea.
From the moment I read your recipe I was hooked. I made them with the espresso glaze and we are hooked. So, so yummy! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Cris, I haven’t made these in years, you’ve inspired me to bake up a batch.
Hi, Sue! Do the egg & buttermilk need to be at room temp? I’m new to making scones 🙂
They can be straight from the fridge for this, Kristen.
These are delicious!! My whole family loved them!
One thing – I had a little trouble cutting them neatly & transferring them to the sheet pan…does that mean I needed more flour? Thanks for a great recipe!
Scones are notoriously hard to cut and move before they’re baked, I sometimes cut them right on the pan itself. Your dough might have been a bit too wet, and a little more flour briefly kneaded in might have helped.
These look amazing. My sister in law in a chai addict and I would love to make her these for her birthday. Would you be able to freeze the leftovers if you only want one or two at a time?
These look wonderful! I have a bottle of liquid chai concentrate, could I incorporate that somehow?
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When headed to Starbucks a Chai latte for me is preferred over all else.
i’ve never been a scone lover, but i’ve been obsessed with chai tea from the moment i took my first sip. great idea, flavoring scones with those spices!
You mean the vanilla bean ones? I like them too, but now that I’ve been making my own scones for so long, I find theirs a little dry. But I do like the idea of making them teeny tiny next time, thanks Stephanie!