Hello There! So what are we making today? If you’ve ever found yourself craving cornbread but not quite ready to commit to a whole pan, these small batch Cornbread Scones might just be your new favorite fix. They’re tender, golden, and just the right amount of crumbly—perfect for cozy mornings, spontaneous soup nights, or that moment when you realize you have a little cornmeal and a lot of curiosity.
I love how these scones come together quickly, with pantry staples and minimal fuss. They’re rustic in the best way: crisp edges, buttery layers, and a hint of sweetness that plays well with savory add-ins if you’re feeling adventurous. Nothing beats a freshly bake scones anytime of the day.
Butter Scone with a Twist
I always love scones for breakfast and snack, and making different variation of it is something that I enjoy doing. Today, I feel like a plain butter scones (lots because butter makes scones taste better!), with a slight twist. We are making Cornbread Scones. Think of it as a cornbread in a form of a scones. It is loaded but butter (as always) and a touch of cornmeal for that gritty cornmeal texture. This is the first time I made this variation and I have to say this could be on my repeat list when I crave for simple scones. Give it a try!
About This Recipe
- Ease in Making the Recipe: Scones is one that I consider to a be a very easy recipe, regardless if you are making sweet or savory version. You can make scones in 1 hr, that already include the chilling time of 30 minutes. This is one pastry that I often prefer to make in the morning when I feel like having it for breakfast. For me, nothing beats freshly baked Scones. With easy recipe like this, baking it the same day you are serving it is what I recommend you do.
- Ingredients: The ingredients are simple and easy to find, not to mention flexible. You can use this base dough to make both sweet and savory variation. All you need to change are the mix in, this recipe uses part cornmeal for a cornbread texture.
- Texture, Taste & Flavor: It’s a flaky buttery scone, that’s for sure. Everything is subtle just the way I like it. It is slightly sweet & salty which was great, with a nice gritty cornbread texture.
- Make-Ahead: Definitely Yes! You can make the dough ahead of time and keep it frozen up to 2 months, But with a recipe this easy, I highly recommend just make it the same day you want to serve it. I always say and I stand by it that scones and biscuit are best eaten the same day they are made, even better few minutes after baking.
Ingredients for Cornmeal Scones
- Cake Flour or All-Purpose Flour – Cake flour produces a lighter crumb Scones and so this is my go to most of the time. This is not saying that you cannot make it using all-purpose flour, you can and it will work too but with slight difference in texture.
- Cornmeal – for that nice gritty grainy cornbread texture. If you do not have one, you can swap it with the same amount of cake flour.
- granulated Sugar – this recipe uses small amount of sugar, only 1 tablespoon. You can make it 2 or 3 tablespoon if you like it sweeter scones.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda – I used 2 leavening agent to give a lift to the scones. Since there is buttermilk which is acidic, adding baking soda makes sense.
- Salt – always add salt to enhance the taste. I used table salt.
- unsalted Butter – I always grate my butter when making scones. Grating the butter makes an even size pieces that easily mix with the dough. Freezing is highly recommended or easier grating and for a more flaky scones.
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk produces a light tender crumbs because of its acidic nature that works with baking soda. To. make your own buttermilk, simply add 1 teaspoon lemon juice or plain vinegar to the 7 tablespoon of milk. If you do not have buttermilk, you can also use full fat milk.
How to Make Cornmeal Scones
Everything in this process is easy. Scones always start with cold butter and mixing it with the dough along with the flour, sugar, salt, leavening agent. The add-ins can vary and is very flexible. This one is a plain scone, but delicious as always. Being plain doesn’t means boring, in fact sometimes simple is the way to go to make the scone taste standout.
Mix the Dry Ingredients
To start the process, sift the dry ingredients in a bowl, excluding cornmeal and sugar. Sifting is important here because we are using cake flour here and cake flour tends to have lumps. Sifting also aerate the flour, making it lighter and fluffier thus producing light and soft scones. Once all all mix, add the cornmeal and sugar then mix to distribute.
Add the Wet Ingredients
Gradually add the liquid which is buttermilk in this case. I often add half of the liquid to start with and then add more liquid as needed. The dough could get easily sticky when you ended up more liquid than required. If this happen, simply add small amount of flour to dry up the dough, and rub your hands with some flour too so it doesn’t stick to the dough. Just do not add too much flour as you do not want ending with a tough scone. Once you can gather it together to form a disk and it is not cracking, then you can stop adding more flour or liquid. This is pretty much applicable to any kind of scones not only for this variation.
Shape, Freeze
Once that is done, wrap the dough and freeze it at least 30 minutes, if you have 1 hr to spare, freeze it for 1 hour. You can even freeze it up to 3 months. No need to thaw when ready to bake, simply add 2-3 more minutes when baking frozen raw Scones.
Bake
Cut into desired portion. Brush the top with remaining buttermilk. Arrange the scones in a parchment lined baking sheet or cast iron pan for extra crunchy bottom and bake in a pre-heated oven. Bake at 400F, hot oven is key to producing a great scone.
The process of making the scone is pretty basic, even if this is your first time making it. I left few tips below on scone making, spare some time and read it because it is crucial to having a soft and flaky scone.
Tips to a Successful Flaky and Light Scones
- Cold Ingredients: This is one of the secret to a flaky Scones just like with biscuit and pie crust. Eggs, cream/milk/water should be cold not only the butter. Using cold ingredients prevents the butter from melting before the scones are baked, leaving it instead to melt in the oven and create a super-flaky end result
- No Over Mixing: Just like when making bread over mixing could result to a tough scones. This is why it is very important to handle the dough with care, slightly and gradually push it around but do not knead it too much to make the texture smooth. Stop as soon as you are able to gather it up together. With scones, lumps and bumps is perfectly fine, it gave the scone a more rustic look
- Chill or Freeze Before Baking: The dough will soften as you handle it because of the warmth of your hands, so as extra precaution, chilling it or even freezing it before baking is highly recommended for a flaky texture.
- Hot Oven – Pre-heated hot oven is recommended when baking scones or biscuits. This is important so that the scones could reach its fullest height and lightest crumb.
How to Make Cornbread Scones
Ok, I think that’s about it. Spare sometime watching the video and carefully read and follow the instructions below. Let’s get started!
Small Batch Cornbread Scones (Easy 4‑Piece Recipe)
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add cornmeal and sugar then Mix to combine. Using a large holed cheese grater, grate the frozen butter.
- Wet Ingredients: Gradually add buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough starts to come together. You may need more or less of the recommended measurement. You do not have to use all of it, once it start to come together, stop adding more. Start by adding half of the liquid first then gradually add as needed.
- Shape the Dough: Carefully gather to bring the dough together. Cut the dough into 4 portions then stack it up on top of each other and then press and re-shape. This stacking creates layers in the scones. It you find some dry spots, add a bit of buttermilk to moisten it. If you find it too wet, add small amount of flou. Form the dough into a 5 (thicker scones) or 6-inch disk.
- Freeze: Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes. You can leave this overnight in the freezer for baking the following day. This can be kept frozen up to 3 months. No need to thaw once ready to bake. Simply add 2 – 3 minutes in the baking time.
- Arrange: Cut the dough into 4 wedges. Place the scones on the baking sheet spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Brush top with remaining buttermilk or egg wash (1 beaten egg + 1 teaspoon water).
- Bake for about 17 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Rotate the pan halfway through. Check at 15 minutes to make sure the top is not browning too fast. If this is the case, simply cover the top with aluminum foil. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Video
Makes 4 scones
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Categories: Baking, Recipe, Scone, Video, Video Recipes
SweetnSpicyLiving
These look so beautifully flaky!