Sourdough Cinnamon Brown Sugar Scones
These sourdough cinnamon brown sugar scones may just be one of the most nostalgic and delicious scones you’ll ever eat. Each bite tastes like a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch cereal, but better. When you enjoy one of these scones with a hot cup of coffee, you’ll see why they’ve become one of our all-time favorites!
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Sourdough Cinnamon Brown Sugar Scones Recipe Inspiration
I wanted to create a new scone flavor to kickstart fall, so I decided to go with one of my favorite flavor pairings, brown sugar and cinnamon. My husband can’t get enough of these scones. They are one of his new favorites! Ever since I developed this recipe, he’s asked me to make them many times. After one bite, you’ll be craving them too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s just like my other scone recipes, super easy!
- You can whip them up quickly
- These scones make the perfect breakfast or snack
- They pair perfectly with a cup of coffee!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Scones
- all-purpose flour
- brown sugar (not packed)
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- baking powder
- cold stick butter (not margarine)
- milk (dairy or dairy-free)
- sourdough starter (fed or discard)
- pure vanilla extract
- a large egg
Topping
- melted butter
- brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
How to Make Sourdough Cinnamon Brown Sugar Scones
Preheat the oven to 400°F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make the Dough
Add flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
Incorporate butter by using a cheese grater (large side) or cutting it into the mixture with a fork until pea-sized pieces form. Stir to evenly distribute butter pieces.
Add milk, sourdough starter, vanilla, and egg. Mix gently using a spoon then use your hands to completely incorporate the rest of the flour.
IMPORTANT: Depending on the hydration and consistency of your sourdough starter, your dough may need a little more milk (2 Tbsp – 1/4 cup). Add this only if the dough is too crumbly and won’t come together.
Shaping Scones
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough in half then in half again or until all excess scone mix is incorporated.
Shape dough into a 2-inch high, 6-inch diameter circle with the palms of your hands.
Slice dough into 8 pieces like a pie, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined sheet pan. (at this point you can continue the recipe or place the sheet pan in the fridge for up to 24 hours).
Make the Topping
Continue the recipe by melting 1/2 Tbsp butter for the topping and brush it on top of the scones.
In a small bowl stir together 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture over the tops of the scones until it’s all used up.
Baking
Bake for 18-20 minutes then place on a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!
My Tips for the Best Scones
- Avoid overworking/over-mixing the dough to keep the scones soft and fluffy.
- You can use either sourdough discard or fed starter for this recipe (both turn out great).
- When cutting in the butter use a cheese grater to make the process easier.
- Use cold stick butter to make scones, never margarine.
Storing & Freezing
Room Temperature Storage: store in an air-tight container for up to 2 days.
Refrigerator Storage: You can store it in the same container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
Freezer Storage: store in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months in the freezer baked or 1 month unbaked.
How to Serve these Scones
My favorite way to serve these scones is with a hot cup of coffee for breakfast or an afternoon snack. They are also delicious for lunch with some kind of uncured ham or bacon!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can. Place the dough in the refrigerator overnight, up to 24 hours before baking.
Yes, you can! You can use fed starter or discard.
My starter is this exact consistency so no you shouldn’t. But starters are always different so if your dough won’t come together, add 1-2 Tbsp of liquid extra.
Shop My Scone Baking Tool Kit
More Sourdough Scones You’ll Love
- Sourdough Espresso Chocolate Chip Scones
- Easy Sourdough Pumpkin Scones with Chocolate Chips
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones
- Sourdough Jalapeno Cheddar Scones
If you try this recipe and love it, come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @plumbranchhome
Recipe
Sourdough Cinnamon Brown Sugar Scones
Ingredients
Scones
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar not packed in the measuring cup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup cold stick butter not margarine
- 1/4 cup milk or buttermilk
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter (fed or discard) (! needs to be thick, not runny)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg
Topping
- 1/2 Tbsp butter melted
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
- Incorporate butter by using a cheese grater (large side) or cutting it into the mixture with a fork until pea-sized pieces form. Stir to evenly distribute butter pieces.
- Add milk, sourdough starter (make sure your starter is thick and not runny!), vanilla, and egg. Mix gently using a spoon then use your hands to completely incorporate the rest of the flour.
- IMPORTANT: Depending on the hydration and consistency of your sourdough starter, your dough may need a little more milk (2 Tbsp - 1/4 cup). Add this only if the dough is too crumbly and won't come together.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough in half then in half again or until all excess scone mix is incorporated.
- Shape dough into a 2-inch high, 6-inch diameter circle with the palms of your hands.
- Slice dough into 8 pieces like a pie, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined sheet pan. (at this point you can continue the recipe or place the sheet pan in the fridge for up to 24 hours).
- Continue the recipe by melting 1/2 Tbsp butter for the topping and brush it on top of the scones.
- In a small bowl stir together 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture over the tops of the scones until it's all used up.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes then place on a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
You had me at “scone!” THESE scenes look FANTASTIC! Totally making a batch today!🤩
I’m so happy to hear that! You’re going to LOVE them! My husband almost ate an entire batch when I first created this recipe haha!
This is on my fall recipe bucket list for sure!
Yay! You’re going to love them!
Scones are one of my favorites but I’ve never tried this version! Thanks
They’re my favorite too! You’re welcome
Wow! Looking good! Cant wait to try this recipe!
You’re going to love it!
These remind me of the brown sugar poptarts I loved as a kid! Making me hungry right now. 🙂 They look incredible!!
Yes!! That’s exactly what they taste like but better! Thank you so much!
Hello, It’s supposed to be 2 cups of flour, not 3, as my recipe states. Your starter must be more hydrated than mine that I use to develop these recipes. This is not a problem, it just means your dough will be more wet and less crumbly.
My starter is fed a 2:1 ratio of flour to water making it very thick and a 50% hydration whereas if you’re feeding it a 1:1 ratio it will be at 100% hydration. If you’re using discard this still applies. This means you will need to add less liquid when making these scones. Any sourdough recipe can differ depending on your starter’s consistency, hydration, and even the weather.
If you already have the liquid in you can also add just a little more flour but I don’t recommend doing an entire cup. If you ever have soft scone dough you can place it in the freezer (not the fridge) for 10 minutes to help make it easier to shape. Hope this helps!
Oh no! That’s definitely not the right consistency. So sorry you’re having issues. It sounds like your starter is more hydrated, which is easy to fix. For my scone recipes you’ll want a 50% hydrated starter so it’ll be pretty thick.
To do this feed your starter 4-12 hours before starting this recipe. You don’t need a fed starter but you do want a thick starter. I recommend feeding it a 2:1 ratio of flour to water to get the same results as I do when you make this recipe.
Example: Feed 1 cup flour + 1/2 cup water and let the starter sit on the counter at room temperature. Then make this recipe.
If you still have issues or need help don’t hesitate to reach out!
This recipe is amazing! It was simple and delicious. I will definitely be making this again! I did use more topping for the recipe and I wasn’t sad I made that choice! I never made scones before because it seemed complicated by grating butter but it wasn’t hard at all. I froze my butter and it made it super easy.
Thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear you love this recipe and found it easy! That’s always my goal with scones, I want everyone to be able to make them!
Do you have easements in grams by chance?
At this time I don’t calculate grams for my recipe measurements (I’m wanting to start in the near future!). But until then you can use this really good cups to grams converter: https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/cooking/cups-grams.php
I just made this recipe, modified for gluten free. Used all gluten free ingredients, including my starter. Substituted 30 gms of flour with Egg White Protein powder. They turned out amazing and larger than I thought. Wish I could post a picture. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them with your gluten-free substitutions! Thanks for sharing!
SO YUMMY!! These are some of the best scones I’ve had and made. A little on the sweet side if you’re craving a yummy, warm treat.
Yay! Thank you so much! I’m so glad you loved them!
I’ve never made scones before and was nervous to try, but this recipe was easy to follow and they turned out great! I have now made them a couple of times and they never disappoint. My family loves them. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!