These soft Date Scones are filled with sweet, chewy dates. Enjoy them with a cup of coffee or tea for the perfect easy weekend brunch recipe.
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These homemade Date Scones so good to bite into. They are filled with sweet, chewy dates! This easy recipe is perfect for breakfast or an afternoon treat.
I love how tender and buttery these scones are. Biting into bits of chewy dates makes these scones extra delicious.
For more scones recipes, check out my Lemon Raspberry Scones, cranberry and white chocolate scones, and strawberry cream scones.
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Why This Recipe Works
- These date and orange scones are buttery, moist and delicious!
- Dates are so chewy and delicious to bite into just like in these pinwheel date nut cookies!
- If you love chocolate and orange, be sure to add some dark chocolate. Make sure to try my chocolate orange cookies recipe.
- These easy date scones don‘t require special ingredients or fancy tools just like my carrot cake scones.
Ingredients
Below are useful notes about some of the ingredients.
- Flour: All-purpose flour. Measure flour accurately. Using too much flour can lead to dry scones.
- Baking Powder: Baking powder makes the scones rise.
- Unsalted Butter: It’s best to use frozen butter. Make sure your butter and other dairy ingredients are cold.
- Dates: Dates are sweet, sticky, chewy! I prefer Medjool dates.
- Heavy Cream: Leave the heavy cream in the fridge until it’s time to add it.
- An Egg Yolk: Use an egg yolk from a large egg.
- Granulated Sugar: I use 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. If you prefer slightly less sweet scones, reduce the sugar to 1/4 or 1/3 cup.
Substitutions & Variations
- Swap in whole milk or buttermilk in place of the heavy cream. Make sure it’s cold!
- For some extra crunch, add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts!
- 2 oranges (optional): If you love the flavor of orange, add some orange zest in the scones and orange juice in the glaze. For more delicious orange desserts, try my orange cheesecake and blood orange cookies.
- Chocolate (optional): I I like Lindt 70 % dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is not too sweet and tastes delicious with the dates and orange. It’s also yummy in my orange cardamom olive oil cake and pear cookies recipe!
- Add dried figs, apricots, raisins or cranberries in place of dates.
Instructions
Step 1 (Picture 1 above)– Add the granulated sugar to a large bowl. Add the orange zest (if using). Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar.
Step 2 (Picture 2 above)– Stir the dry ingredients into the sugar til combined. Cut the cold, cubed butter in using a pastry cutter, two forks or your fingertips til butter is the size of peas. Stir in the chopped dates (and chopped walnuts or chocolate if using).
Step 3 (Picture 3 above)– Make a well in the middle. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk, 1/2 cup of the cold heavy cream and the vanilla.
Step 4 (Picture 4 above)–Pour the heavy cream into the well. Use a fork to gradually incorporate the wet and dry ingredients. Add more heavy cream as needed.
Step 5 (Picture 5 above)– The dough sould be moist but not wet. Once you it becomes hard to keep mixing it in the bowl, turn dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface.
Step 6 (Picture 6 above)– Lightly knead the dough briefly til it comes together. Use your hands to pat it into a 7 inch circle. Slice into 8 triangles.
Step 7 (Picture 7 above)– Chill at least 30 minutes. Brush with heavy cream. Bake at 400 F for 16-18 minutes.
Step 8 (Picture 8 above)– Enjoy as is or cool to make orange icing by stirring to combine the orange juice and powdered sugar. Once scones cooled to room temperature, spoon glaze on top.
Expert Tips
- Don’t overmix. Overmixing will make the scones dense and hard.
- Use a pastry cutter, two forks, a spatula or your fingertips to work the butter into the flour.
- Keep ingredients cold. Cold ingredients keeps the butter cold. Cold butter makes scones nice and flaky when they bake!
- Chill scones before baking. Shaping the dough will cause it to warm up. After cutting the scones, chill before baking.
Recipe FAQs
The secret to good scones is cold ingredients. Another secret is to avoid overmixing!
Yes! It’s very important to use cold ingredients when making scones. Keeping dough cold helps prevent the scones from over-spreading when they bake. After mixing the dough and cutting out the dough, chill the shaped scones
Yes! Feel free to add dried figs, apricots, raisins or cranberries in place of dates.
Scones are best enjoyed the day they are made. Store these chocolate orange scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days or the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 2 months.
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Date Scones
Ingredients
Date Scones
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter chopped
- 2½ cups (312.5 g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (1 g) cinnamon optional
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- 1 (1) large egg yolk
- ¾ cup (110.25 g) pitted dates chopped
- ¼ cup (29.25 g) chopped walnuts optional, or chopped dark chocolate
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) orange zest (optional) 1 medium orange (keep juice for glaze)
- ¾ cup (177.44 ml) heavy cream divided, cold, plus more for brushing tops
Orange Glaze (optional)
- 1¼ cups (150 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (29.57 ml) orange juice freshly squeezed, use 2-4 tablespoons orange juice as needed
Instructions
Date Scones
- Place the butter in the freezer for 15 minutes. Next, chop the cold butter in half lengthwise. Turn it on its side and cut lengthwise again. Slice the butter into thin slices. Place butter in the fridge to stay cold as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Chop the dates (and walnuts or chocolate, if using). Set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust a clean workspace lightly with flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and orange zest (if using) Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips.
- Use a spatula or whisk to stir the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into the sugar mixture til just combined.
- Add the chopped butter to the mixture. Use a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingertips to cut/work the butter into the mixture until the butter is about the size of peas. Stir the chopped dates and chocolate in with a spatula til combined. Create a well in the middle of the mixture.
- In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk to combine the egg yolk, vanilla and ½ cup of heavy cream. Pour the mixture into the well. Use a fork to slowly combine the wet and dry ingredients. If you see some dry spots, add a tablespoon more of heavy cream at a time, as needed. Stir mixture with a fork in the bowl until it's too hard to keep mixing.
- Turn dough out onto your lightly floured workspace. Lightly flour your hands. Lightly knead the dough briefly (fold it over on itself and rotate it a few times). Do not overmix. Dough shouldn't be too dry and should be moist but not wet. If dry there are some dry spots, add a bit more heavy cream and if it's too sticky (sticking to your hands a lot), add a little more flour.
- Use your hands to pat the dough into a circle between 6 and 8 inches. Use a long sharp knife or bench scraper to slice the dough into 8 triangles. Place scones evenly about 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator or freezer for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Brush tops and sides with heavy cream.
- Bake scones for 16-18 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top.
- Allow scones to cool to room temperature. Enjoy as is or top with orange glaze.
Orange Glaze (optional)
- In a medium sized bowl, stir to combine the powdered sugar and orange juice. Spoon or drizzle it over the scones.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Aubrey
Hi Natalie,
We tried your date scones this morning and everyone said they were really good!
Best when warm 🙂
Natalie
Hey Aubrey, Thank you so much for giving these date scones a try. So glad everyone enjoyed them! Have a fantastic evening 🙂 -Natalie
Leanne Mcdonald
Made this recipe! Scones turned out delicious, even after a few days my family and I continued to enjoy them. Highly recommended!