Sweet Potato Scones with Maple Pecan Glaze
Sweet Potato Scones with Maple Pecan Glaze! Packed with sweet potato puree, whole wheat-flour and pecans. Drizzled with maple frosting and covered with more pecans.
Pour a big cup of coffee and make these sweet potato scones with maple pecan frosting.
Tender scones with mashed sweet potatoes, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves topped with a sweet maple drizzle and extra crushed pecans on top. One of these and an oversized cup of coffee? The perfect morning.
I first had a sweet potato scone at a local STL spot years ago, and wanted to recreate my own after trying theirs. I find that scones are the perfect make-ahead breakfast option, especially if I have friends coming over for coffee. Prep the dough ahead of time, then bake in the morning.
My strawberry lemonade scones are my favorite spring scone recipe, and these sweet potato scones are perfect for fall. See below for more details, or scroll to the bottom for the full recipe.
Ingredient Notes
- Sweet potato puree: You can find canned sweet potato in the baking aisle or vegetable aisle in some grocery stores during the fall. Otherwise, use leftover baked sweet potato and just scoop out the flesh, discarding the skin.
- Vegan Buttermilk: To help tenderize the dough, you’ll use a quick buttermilk of vinegar and oat milk. You can use any non-dairy milk you’d like, but I prefer using oat milk in baking as it browns better and gives more color to the scones.
- Whole-wheat flour: I like a mix of whole-wheat flour and all-purpose flour to give these scones a wholesome boost of whole grains. However, you can use all regular flour if you wish. I don’t recommend all whole-wheat flour, as it will make for a very dense scone.
- Cold vegan butter: I prefer the Earth Balance or Miyoko’s brand, but you can use any vegan baking butter for this recipe. You can also use regular butter if you don’t need it to be vegan.
- Maple Glaze: The maple glaze is optional for this, but I highly recommend it. The sweet potato scones themselves are not very sweet by design, and the added glaze on top makes this a nice bakery-style glaze.
How to Make these Sweet Potato Scones
Make the Sweet Potato Puree
You can use store-bought puree, or just scoop out the flesh of a cooked sweet potato and mash slightly. The puree should be creamy and smooth.
Make the Vegan Buttermilk
Whisk together the vinegar and milk to create a vegan buttermilk and set aside. This is what helps to tenderize the gluten, make for a more airy scone and help activate the baking powder.
Mix the Dry and the Wet
Add all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter, until the butter resembles wet sand.
Mix Together
In a separate bowl, mix together the wet, including the sweet potato puree and buttermilk. Add the wet to dry and mix together, using your hands or a wooden spoon until just combined.
Shape, Bake and Glaze
Scoop the thick batter onto a prepared parchment sheet and shape into a circle. Cut into 8 pieces, then bake. Drizzle the glaze on top and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Tips for Success
You can find sweet potato puree in the canned vegetable aisle (or, dare I say, substitute pumpkin puree), but it’s also simple to make at home. Bake for an hour until soft, then peel and mash the flesh.
Once you combine the batters, it will look like there isn’t enough liquid, but trust that it comes together. You may need to put down the spoon and knead with your hands to incorporate it fully.
The beautiful part about scones is that rustic is in. They don’t have to be perfect, so don’t stress over rolling them out or slicing them just right.
Bake until tender, then drown in that maple cinnamon glaze. Yes, it’s pretty much all sugar. It’s not necessary, but it’s completely delicious.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
If you try this sweet potato scone recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag your Instagram photos with #delishknowledge . I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking!
Sweet Potato & Pecan Scones with Maple Glaze
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweet potato puree, see notes*
- 1/3 cup non-dairy milk, I use oat milk
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped, divided
- 6 tablespoons cold vegan butter, sliced into pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Maple Glaze:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- If you need to make the sweet potato puree, bake the sweet potato and scoop out the flesh. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine the milk and vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes to curdle slightly. This is your buttermilk.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is in tiny pieces.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sweet potato puree, milk mixture, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the potato puree to the flour and stir together until the ingredients are completely mixed together. The mixture will be thick, and you may have to use your hands to knead the dough for it all to come together.
- Transfer the dough to a cutting board and form into a 1″ thick circle. Use a knife or pizza cutter to slice the circle into 8 slices.
- Place the slices on a lightly sprayed or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
- While the scones are baking, make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon until smooth and creamy. Drizzle the glaze over the scones and sprinkle with the remaining chopped pecans.