These Starbucks Copy Cat Maple Oat Nut Scones are a personal favorite of mine, they have the perfect moist, flaky texture, and a wonderfully warm, rich maple walnut flavor. Starbucks may have discontinued them, but I’ve brought them back!
The wonderful warm combination of maple and walnuts makes these maple walnut scones the ultimate late fall breakfast. The little bit of oat flour is the secret to their light and fluffy texture. The glaze caps off every bite with a bit of pure, intense maple flavor, and the warm scone just falls apart in your mouth. (If I can’t eat my scone fresh from the oven I always zap it for a few seconds in the microwave.)
what you’ll need for maple walnut scones
- all purpose flour + oat flour
- brown sugar
- maple sugar
- butter
- eggs
- buttermilk
- maple syrup
- maple extract
- walnuts
- baking powder, baking soda, salt
Scone dough is a relatively wet dough, and that’s a good thing, because it bakes up tender and flaky like a biscuit. It contains just enough flour to come together and no more. In this recipe I add a heaping cup of walnuts to the processor as I mix up my dough, which results in a lovely flavor and a speckled, nutty interior.
the secret to maple flavor
I’ve used three layers of maple to boost the impact: maple syrup, maple sugar, and maple extract. Try to find natural maple flavoring if you can. Maple sugar can be a little harder to find, and you can substitute brown sugar if you want to.
The glaze is an essential part of the experience, so don’t be tempted to skip it. It provides the strongest maple presence and adds sweetness (the scone itself isn’t very sweet.)Â The glaze is made with sifted confectioner’s sugar whisked together with pure maple syrup until it becomes a glossy glaze. You can add a dash of maple extract if you like.
Be sure to let the scones cool a bit before you glaze them or it will melt right in. You don’t want that. You want a thick rich layer on every scone. Sprinkle a few chopped nuts over the top and they’ll look irresistible. They easily last a few days on the counter… just revive them with exactly 20 seconds in the microwave before you dig in.
Tips for scone success
- Make sure your butter is cold, and cut it in pieces before adding it to the flours so it can be evenly dispersed.
- Don’t be tempted to add more maple extract or flavoring than is called for, it is very intense and can be bitter if you use too much.
- Don’t over process the dough. It will be crumbly in the processor, and you will bring it together with your hands when you turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Don’t over work it, it is supposed to look rough and ragged. The less you handle the dough, the more tender your scones will be.
- You may need to adjust the amount of liquid according to your particular flour, and how you’ve measured it. The dough should be wet, but not too wet. Add a little less liquid, or a little more flour, accordingly. Once you make scones a couple of times you will get the hang of it.
- I like to put the tray of scones in the freezer for about 10 minutes just before baking. This ensures that the butter is nice and cold.
- Make sure your oven is at 400F before you put the pan of scones in. The magic happens when the chilled bits of butter in the dough meet the super hot oven.
coffee shop classics
- Better than Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bread
- Gingerbread Loaf Cake
- Better than Starbucks Banana Walnut Bread
Maple Oat Nut Scones
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple sugar, substitute regular sugar if you can't find
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut in chunks
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 -2/3 cups cold buttermilk, or substitute half and half or milk
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp maple extract, or substitute vanilla or almond
- 1 cup (heaping) walnut halves or large pieces
Maple Glaze:
- 1 cup (heaping) powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp maple extract or flavoring
- chopped walnuts for topping
Instructions
- Set the oven to 400F
- Put the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugars into the bowl of a processor and pulse to combine.
- Add the cold butter and pulse about 30 times until the large chunks of butter are incorporated and the mix is grainy.
- In a liquid measuring cup beat the egg, and then add the maple syrup, and extracts. Then add enough cold buttermilk to bring the liquid up to 1 cup.
- Add the walnuts to the processor, and then, while you are pulsing the machine, pour the liquid into the dry just until it starts to come together. You may not need all the liquid.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface and bring together into an 8 inch disk. If it is VERY wet, knead in a little more flour until it comes together. Cut the disk into 6 scones and lay them carefully on a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet. The dough will be wet, almost like a drop biscuit consistency.
- Put the tray in the refrigerator or freezer, if possible, for 15 minutes, while you clean up.
- Bake for about 18-20 minutes, until firm on top and lightly browned. Cool them on a rack while you make the glaze.
- Stir or whisk together the powdered sugar, the maple syrup, and extract, beating until smooth and glossy. Add more syrup if it's too thick, or a little more sugar if it's too thin.
- Spread a layer of glaze on each cooled scone and top with crushed walnuts.
This recipe was nearly a disaster. It was sooo wet, I added more flour . Cut it in six enormous
Scones. When I took them out of the oven, they had spread into huge circles. I’ve never had a scone failure before! Anyway, they taste fine, but certainly are not scone like texture…way more like cake.
I’m assuming the brown sugar and maple syrup are both cup measurements? 🙂
the brown sugar and maple sugar are in cup measurements, yes.
I love the flavor of these but the consistency is too crumbly and dry (despite the dough being very wet). I’m going to experiment with doing a bit of kneading before flattening and cutting and/or using bread flour instead of AP. I make a lot of scones so I know what consistency they should be. Maybe with a little development of the gluten these would hold together more?? Any suggestions would be welcome. Great combination of flavors!
I love a dry, “tasteless-ly delicious” cookie and this was my first crack at making scones. I am a maple fiend! These fit the bill but I did not like the confectioner sugar taste of the glaas so I added a few tablespoons of softened salted butter and the salt/sweet taste was just what was needed! Delish!
Thanks Cara, I was just pinning these yesterday and got a strong craving to make them 🙂
Try this glaze: Every fall I take 1/2 gallon of cider and reduce it down over low heat until about 1 1/2 c. remain. I keep this is in a bottle in the refrigerator all winter to add to gravies, brines, etc. Recently I made a similar scone and used about 1 1/2 tab. of the cider concentrate with powdered sugar and 1-2 tab. melted butter. OMG did it add flavor. Maple syrup works but I do not think the flavor is intense as this glaze. Also try taking old fashioned oats, toasting on a sheetpan and cooling. Grind to a flour in the food processor. The toasting adds another depth of flavor.
This is brilliant Aly, I’m going to try it for sure. I think what you made is a cider molasses, which I’ve been meaning to make and post about for a long time…maybe next year. Toasting the oats is such a great idea, too, I can just imagine how good your scones tasted!
I loved them before and I love them again! They look amazing and I’m sure much cheaper than Starbucks!
Thanks for bringing this post back! I always loved this scone from starbucks – do they still make it? Never mind, the homemade version is undoubtedly better!
I would love to sink my teeth into one of these for breakfast! I particularly love the walnuts in them and I can picture a plate of this with plenty of steaming hot coffee on a cold morning. They look great, better than any I’ve seen at Starbucks! Happy holidays!
This must be a fantastic treat for breakfast or brunch! Love maple scones and these look wonderful. A must try – especially since I never had the Starbucks version 🙂
My next adventure for sure! I have recently made my first batch of scones EVER! Unfortunately not from here, although they were amazing, and I cannot WAIT to try these!
Once you master scones, which doesn’t take very long, you’ll never go back 🙂