These easy vegan scones are buttery and delicious, perfect as a teatime treat with a dollop of homemade jam, or for a fancy afternoon tea!
A decadent afternoon tea with a glass of champagne and towering cake stand laden with sweet treats might be something you imagine to be not particularly vegan-friendly. But there's absolutely no reason why every element shouldn't be made plant-based, and these fruity vegan scones are a perfect example.
Some of the most popular scone recipes I found whilst researching don't contain eggs in any case, and butter and milk are so easy to replace with excellent vegan alternatives that these taste identical to the very finest homemade scones.
I think even National Trust tearooms would be proud to serve these!
What you need to make your Fruity Vegan Scones
Ingredients
Dairy-free margarine It is much better to use a good quality block margarine, (rather than a tub of spread). Block margarine has a much lower water content so it behaves much more like butter in baking.
Vegetable fat The use of 'lard' (or its vegan equivalent here) is a suggestion from the National Trust Tearooms recipe which gives a light, fluffy and well-risen scone. I use Trex vegetable fat (found with the butter and margarine in most supermarkets) and it really is worth looking out for in the quest for a perfect scone. If you can't get hold of any, just substitute in more block margarine instead.
Dairy-free milk Any unsweetened plant milk will do here, but I usually go for oat or soya as they don't have a strong flavour. I would avoid coconut or hazelnut, as you may taste them in the finished scone.
Dried fruit and orange juice I used sultanas in my scones - soaking them in orange juice makes them plump and moist and gives a lovely citrus edge to the fruit. However I've also had great success with other fruits - especially dried cranberries, dried blueberries or even sour cherries.
To serve:
Jam Have you tried my Morello Cherry & Raspberry Jam recipe? It's a winner!
Cream The whipped cream pictured in my photos is Elmlea Plant Double - it whips up just like real cream (though takes a little longer than real cream so stick at it!). I sweeten mine with just a teaspoon of icing sugar. It is brilliant in cakes too like my Vegan Victoria Sponge, though the cream does 'flop' a bit after a few hours so add it just before serving, and make sure you eat the whole lot in one sitting!
Vegan Afternoon Tea Ideas
If you were creating your very own vegan afternoon tea, you could include:
- Cucumber sandwiches (with the crusts cut off, if you're being really fancy!)
- Vegan cream cheese and watercress sandwiches
- My Vegan 'Cheese' Scones which have rave reviews from readers who have tried them so far
- Mini Vegan Victoria Sponge cakes (this recipe is a winner, and you could make mini ones by making the sponge in a large rectangular tray then cutting out small circles with a pastry cutter and sandwiching them together with jam)
- Slices of Easy Vegan Carrot Cake
- Plus of course these fruity Vegan Scones with a little pot of jam, and some coconut cream if you like
And a few more great British bakes from blogging friends:
- Kate's Vegan Chocolate Cake from Veggie Desserts
- Camilla's Vegan Banana Cake from Fab Food 4 All
- Bintu's Peanut Butter Banana Brownies from Recipes from a Pantry
- Choclette's Chocolate Banana Cashew Cake from Tin & Thyme
- Jac's Dark Treacle Banana Gingerbread from Tinned Tomatoes
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tagging me @thevegspace or using the hashtag #thevegspace to show me how you got on!
For more quick and easy vegan recipes take a look at my latest book Vegan in 15.
"Brilliant! Chock full of easy recipes and great tips and advice" Hello! Magazine
Free 4-Week Vegan Meal Plan
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IF YOU LIKED THAT...
.... you might also enjoy these vegan baking recipes from The Veg Space:
Banana Muffins
Or take a look at my Vegan Baking Recipes index for lots of ideas.
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📖 Recipe
Fruity Vegan Scones
Ingredients
- 65 g dried fruit (eg. sultanas, sour cherries, blueberries, cranberries or a mix of these)
- 4 tablespoon orange juice
- 235 g self-raising flour
- 35 g dairy-free margarine
- 35 g vegetable fat (vegan lard) (eg. Trex)
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 70 ml dairy-free milk
Instructions
- Place the dried fruit into a small bowl or mug and cover with orange juice. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (fan) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a baking tray with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.
- Tip the flour into a large bowl, then rub in both the fats with your fingertips.
- When the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs, drain the orange juice from the fruits, and tip the fruit into the bowl then add the caster sugar.
- Add the milk little by little, until a soft (but not sticky) dough has formed - this might require more or less than 70ml milk so don't take that as an exact measurement - just add a bit at a time, and if the dough becomes too sticky, add just a little more flour.
- Tip the dough out onto a floured surface, and roll it out to about 1.5cm thick. Use a pastry cutter to cut out as many scones as you can, placing them onto the baking tray as you go. Roll the off-cuts into a ball and re-roll to 1.5cm thick, and keep cutting out scones until all the dough has been used.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until just turning golden brown and well risen, then put onto a wire rack to cool. Serve with vegan butter, jam and shipped dairy-free cream.
Anita Wall says
Can you freeze these scones?
Kate Ford says
Yes they freeze really well - nice to heat them up slightly just before serving, so they taste like they are warm from the oven!
Ann Smith says
Lovely flavour but mine didn't really rise, not sure why as i've always been able to make light scones. Any thoughts please?
Milen Moony says
This is looking delicious. I would love to bake this for the coming occasion Thanks for sharing the recipe
Eve Carter says
They look so good! I noticed that you put British under cuisine. Is there a difference between American and British scones?
Lisa Huff says
Oh these scones would be perfect for a nice Valentine's Day breakfast!
Jillian says
Oh! These look fabulous! I could eat these breakfast, lunch and dinner and be quite happy!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
So, I have a weakness for breakfast scones -- they're what I want for Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day - and definitely Christmas and New Years... and any stray weekend when I can fit them into the day. Would these freeze well? Would love them on a random Tuesday morning too.
kim says
These look fabulous! I love that you made them vegan too!
Adriana Lopez Martin says
I am not a baker, so I appreciate a foolproof recipe for my favorite things and scones are one of those. I need to test your method soon as I am always craving a good scone.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Thanks Kate for including one of mine although it reads like it was make from tinned tomatoes lol. Eugh! I love fruit scones. Sharing now.
Camilla Hawkins says
Your scones looks utterly divine and I love a fruity scone! My daughter doesn't so I always end up having to make plain scones here!