Healthy Apple Scones

Now that it's officially October, we are in the height of apple season. There's no better way to celebrate apple season than with these healthy apple scones. They are tender, flaky, and filled with my favorite fall combination--cinnamon, maple, and apple.

The best apples for baking

Anyone who follows me on Instagram and watches my late night shopping stories knows that I am very particular when it comes to apples. My kids usually get whatever is on sale, but I always pick up honeycrisp apples for the adults. Like I always say, you deserve the expensive apples. Don't let anyone treat you like a red delicious.

Honeycrisp apples are crisp, sweet, and keep their texture even when baking. That can't be said about most apples. The best apples for baking are: Honeycrisp (duh), Granny Smith, Jonagold, Cortland, and Braeburn apples. I am and will always be team honeycrisp. This recipe calls for about 2 cups of diced apples which amounts to one big honeycrisp (they really are huge). Splurge and get a few next time, you deserve it.

I am a big believer in Greek yogurt as a butter replacement in baking

Have you ever eaten plain Greek yogurt? I hate it. I give the people who eat it a ton of credit, but I just don't get it. Greek yogurt in baking, however, I love. Don't get me wrong, you can't swap everything with Greek yogurt, but I have found you can swap 2/3 of your typical butter in a recipe for Greek yogurt.

Seriously, I stand by it. I use it in my light biscuits, my lightened up cornbread, and my healthy banana pancakes. By keeping some butter, you still get the benefits of the butter flavor and the steam of using butter (this helps create the rise. The Greek yogurt adds the needed acidity to activate the leavening agents in the baking powder. In conclusion, Greek yogurt is not tasty but makes a darn good baked good. Plus, it adds protein and stuff.

Tips for baking scones

The butter in scones and biscuits need to be as cold as possible. I typically keep a stick of butter in my freezer for baking. You will see in the directions, I tell you to chill the scones for at least 15 minutes before baking. This allows everything the cool so the butter isn't melting. When cooked, the butter will create steam and give these scones their rise.

We are not folding the dough or over mixing. Like my biscuits, we are mixing the dough until it is a shaggy dough. Once the ingredients are mixed together, pour the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a disk. An overworked dough will lead to a tougher scone. This is another reason why we let the scones vibe out in the refrigerator--it relaxes the gluten.

Glazing the apple scones

After the healthy apple scones bake for twenty minutes, they need to rest again. You need them to rest so you can drizzle on a glaze. You'll see in the recipe that there are only 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. These will be sweet with the apples and brown sugar, but not overly sweet. I wanted a balanced flavor profile, and the glaze is made with powdered sugar.

Like my pumpkin scones, this is a simple glaze of 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 2-4 tsp of milk. Can you use Swerve or other sugar substitutes? I believe so, but I don't do that. It's not a medical or science reason, it's simply that I prefer to stick to ingredients I know and feel comfortable feeding my kids. I know many people have successfully used sugar substitutes in my other ingredients with much success.

Frequently Asked Questions about baking scones

• Can I freeze scones? Yes. Many people have frozen the cooked scones. Let thaw overnight or bake at a low temperature from frozen until they are warm. We rarely have leftovers to freeze.
• Can I make the dough the night before? Yes, you can make scone dough the night before. You may need to add a few extra minutes, but I've done this plenty.
• Can I freeze the dough? Yes, you can mix and cut scone dough and freeze it. My recommendation is to freeze the scones on a baking sheet, uncovered, until they are fully frozen. Once they are frozen, transfer to a freezer bag.

Yield: 8

Healthy Apple Scones

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Warm apple scones are the perfect fall breakfast treat. These bakery sized scones drizzled in a sweet glaze will fill your kitchen with the warm smells of autumn. Made with fresh honeycrisp apples, these healthy apple scones make a great start to a fall day.

Green - 7 SP

Blue & Purple - 6 SP

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Additional Time 20 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups self rising flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp cold butter, cut into pea sized cubes
• 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt (FAGE preferred)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cashew milk (you can sub for other milk)
• 1 tsp maple extract (you can use vanilla, but maple give it great flavor)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups diced honeycrisp apple (1 giant apple)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2-4 tsp milk (any kind)
• preferred cooking spray

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon.  Stir in butter and incorporate the butter into the flour mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, mix yogurt, cashew milk, egg, apples, apple cider vinegar, and maple extract.
4. Make a well in the dry bowl, and pour the wet mixture into the middle.  Use a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients together. Try to mix just enough to fully incorporate and not over mix.
5. Once the ingredients are mixed and shaggy, dump out the dough onto a lightly floured cutting board, and shape into a disk.  The dough should be roughly 1 inch high and 9 inches wide.
6. Cut the dough into 8 equal triangles.  Place triangles about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or sprayed with cooking spray). Give the tops a spritz of cooking spray for safe measure.
7. Refrigerate scones for at least 15 minutes .Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400° until the tops are golden.
8. Allow scones to cool completely. Mix powdered sugar and milk to make the glaze. Drizzle over scones using a fork.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1 scone
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 197Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 629mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 2gSugar: 13gProtein: 6g

Want more WW baking recipes?

Aww, I knew you would. Don't worry, I got your back. If you love my healthy apple scones, you should check out my other baking recipes. Here are my favorites:

• Pumpkin Scones
• Blueberry Scones
• Lightened Up Cornbread
• Light Biscuits
• Peach Cobbler
• Light Cream Puffs
• Orange Cranberry Scones (ebook exclusive)
• Savory Ham and Cheddar Scones (ebook exclusive)
• Cheddar Bay Biscuits (ebook exclusive)

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