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.) 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.
I made these twice and the consistency is crumbly. Like eat with a spoon crumbly (which is fine with me!), however I wanted to give them as a gift and wished they could have been handheld eaten. The first time I could not find oat flour and ground up oatmeal in the food processor as someone else suggested in this thread. They were good, but crumbly. Second attempt I found oat flour at Harris Teeter. Not in the flour/baking section but in another aisle for gluten free stuff. I don’t think I over mixed it or added too much flour. The dough was a little wet. The results are delicious, but a very crumbly consistency. Any suggestions, or are they supposed to be crumbly? Thanks.
Hi Shelly ~ maybe you needed a bit more liquid in your dough, if the dough seems very dry and doesn’t come together easily you can drizzle in more buttermilk. And then be sure to work the dough enough so that it forms a nice cohesive disk before you slice it. That being said, yes, scones are supposed to be somewhat crumbly, they have a completely different texture from our cakes, muffins, and even biscuits, etc. Hope this helps!
Thanks Sue. The dough was a wet dough, yet I was able to form it into a disk. Wet and was a bit sticky. Normally I would have added more flour to a dough that was wet like this, but restrained since they were crumbly the first time. Very delicious though. I’ve made scones before but this is a different texture than what I’ve experienced
. Thanks again. We love your site and the recipes.
I really miss the Starbucks scones but this version is wonderful! I whipped up a batch and my children gobbled them before I had a chance to put the icing on! I didn’t have oat flour so I ground up the oats, I also ground in the walnuts since my children don’t like chunky stuff like nuts in their scones. The flavor and nutrition is still there when they are ground in. I also used white whole wheat flour instead of white. Turned out great!!!
I love to use white whole wheat flour, great tip Lisa!
Made these just now. Kitchen smells amazing. But, the scones were way too wet & spread out on the baking sheet too much. They don’t look as beautiful as yours but they sure do taste wonderful.
Hi Lea! Scones require a little bit of a judgement call when it comes to how wet the dough should be. It can vary according to your flour, and also your flour measuring techniques. It should be wet, but not too wet. Sometimes you will not need all the liquid in the recipe, or you may need to add a bit more flour as you turn the dough out from the bowl. I hope you give these another go, they are my favorites!
I’m going to add this to the “tips for success’ — thanks for bringing it up!
scones? meh. scones with a glaze like that? yes please!
It’s bedtime here but you’ve got me itching to go to the kitchen and make scones. These look wonderful, I love the maple and walnut combination!
My favorite scones ever.
I have never made glazed..I think my husband would just love these.
Thanks!
Gorgeous!! I’d love several of these scones right now! 🙂
Maple Walnut is a favourite around here.
I love scones and that maple walnut pairing is so good!
Thanks, Laura, we just the last ones this morning and I’m missing them already!