You’ll love these hearty breakfast scones filled with added oatmeal, toasted
walnuts, and chewy dried fruit. Using buttermilk gives the homemade scones
great added flavor and texture, as does deliberately blending the recipe’s two
flours: all-purpose and whole wheat flour. Ready within 35 minutes, the recipe
yields 20 drop scones.
Buttermilk Oatmeal Scones for Breakfast are the Best!
With oatmeal, and a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, these scones have more texture and a heartiness that makes them perfect for breakfast. Not as light as buttermilk strawberry scones, but the butter and buttermilk create a soft interior with a crumbly exterior, just like you want in a scone.
You get toasted walnuts and and fruit throughout which adds a great flavor. They are finished with a sprinkle of Turbinado sugar added for just a hint of sweetness. For those who like a bit more sugar in the morning, you can drizzle a simple glaze over the top.
While I love light and fluff lemon glazed blueberry scones, this buttermilk oatmeal version is great when you’re looking for a heartier breakfast or snack. Not too sweet but still buttery and delicious and the toasted walnuts are amazing.
I first starting making these oat scones years ago when Taylor brought a friend home to watch football, I love guinea pigs! I’ve tweaked them a few times to get just the right combination of textures and flavors.
These look a little more rustic which is how I think scones should be. You can add any type of dried fruit or nuts. I’ve tried dried cherries, blueberries, raisins and cranberries and their all great.
While these might not pass muster in England, Southerners have lots of experience with biscuits and the base for both is pretty similar. Now if I could only find clotted cream!
Why You’ll Want to Make These
- These hearty scones will fill you up without giving you that sugar rush.
- You can change up the dried fruit, pick your favorite.
- Perfect for a quick breakfast on the go.
- Make some to enjoy, freeze a batch for later!
You may be wondering if there is any difference between a scone and a biscuit. My Southern biscuits are very similar to a breakfast scone. However, you wont find oatmeal, or whole wheat flour in a Southern biscuit, it will make it too dense and you won’t get the light and flaky layers.
Basic Ingredients
- Dried fruit – try dried blueberries or cherries, cranberries, apricots or raisins will all be delicious add ins.
- Oatmeal – you will need the old fashioned rolled oats, not instant or quick cooking.
- Walnuts – toast the walnuts first to bring out their flavor. You can substitute pecans.
- Buttermilk – as with biscuits, buttermilk gives these a great flavor and texture.
Pro tip: If you’re out of buttermilk, you can make your own with just two ingredients. Here are three different methods for how to make your own buttermilk.
- Butter – you’ll need 2 ½ sticks of cold butter.
- Turbinao or Demerara sugar – these are coarse sugars that are great for topping breakfast scones.
- Flour – I used both whole wheat and white. Using all whole wheat makes them too dense but adding a mixture adds flavor without sacrificing the texture.
- Pantry staples – sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and an egg.
Pro tip: As with biscuits, you want the butter to be very cold and you want to handle the dough as little as possible.
Just a Couple Steps to Warm Breakfast Scones
Step 1: Add the butter
Similar to making biscuits, combine the dry ingredients and add very cold butter. Use a food processor or pastry cutter to incorporate the butter so that it’s about pea size, then add oatmeal and dried fruit and nuts.
Step 2: Add the liquid
Combine cold buttermilk and an egg and barely mix it with the dry ingredients. The dough should barely be mixed together.
Now you have two choices depending on how you want your scones to look. Use an ice cream scoop to place it on a cookie sheet. Or you can shape the dough into a circle and cut it like a pie into triangles. Brush with a little of the buttermilk/egg mixture and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.
Step 3: Bake
Bake for a few minutes at 400º then reduce the temperature to 375º, they should be a beautiful golden brown.
You’ll want to let these cool for a few minutes on a cooling rack before serving.
Combine powdered sugar and milk to make a glaze and drizzle over the top before serving.
How to Store Scones
Scones, like biscuits, are best the day the are made. They will stay fresh in an airtight container for about a day on the counter. Don’t refrigerate them. For longer storage, place in the freezer.
Since they freeze so well, you can take one out of the freezer the night before and have a fabulous breakfast that you can eat on the run or enjoy with your tea or coffee.
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Oatmeal Breakfast Scones with Buttermilk
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups flour
- ⅔ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ¼ cups butter cold and cut into ½ inche pieces
- 2 ⅓ cups oats
- 1 cup dried fruit
- ¾ cup toasted walnuts chopped
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- 1 egg
- turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, and process until they are combined. Add butter and process again until the the butter is the size of peas. Transfer to a large bowl and add oats, fruit, and walnuts stirring until just combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Remove ⅓ of the mixture and set aside. Pour the remaining liquid over the dry ingredients and lightly and briefly stir them together, just until everything is moistened. Don’t over mix , it should look shaggy.
- Use a ¼ cup ice cream scoop and scoop dough onto baking sheets. Don’t try to press them down or squeeze them together. Using a pastry brush, dab the reserved buttermilk mixture over the tops and sprinkle them with turbinado sugar. In the alternative, you can divide the dough in half and shape into 2 circles about 2 inches thick. Cut into 16 triangles.
- Bake for 15 minutes reduce heat to 375º and bake for 5 minutes longer until golden brown on both the top and bottom. Remove from the pan to cool on a wire rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
- You can add a glaze mixing ½ cup powdered sugar with 2 teaspoons of milk. whisk until it is smooth and drizzle over scones.
Video
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- You can substitute any type of dried fruit.
- Pecans will work instead of walnuts.
- Make sure the butter is very cold and handle it as little as possible.
- Do not over mix the dough.
- If you want triangle shaped scones, pat the dough into a circle and cut it like a pie into triangles.
- A glaze can be added if you want a sweeter scone.
Nutrition
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Barbara Curry says
I haven’t been to the bakery, but the recipe is from their cookbook, The sweeter side of Amy’s Bread. Next time I’m in the area, I hope I can try it out in person.
Shelaugh says
Could all-purpose flour be used in this recipe?
Barbara Curry says
Yes, you can leave out the whole wheat flour and use all purpose flour instead.