Soft and tender carrot cake scones feature lots of toasted pecans, shredded carrots, and a silky cream cheese glaze drizzled on top.
I’ve fallen head over heels in love with a scone today and can you really blame me? Carrot cake + scone is a pretty unmatchable breakfast combo.
Especially when we’ve got beauties like this gracing our Easter brunch table all dressed to impress with toasty nuts and THICK drizzles of cream cheese glaze.
You definitely do not need to be a professional baker to bake a good bakery-style scone! I’ve been baking scones for many years now and have picked up game-changer tips that make for a tall, flaky, and most importantly, NON-DRY scone every time.
My latest party trick inviting carrot cake to the scone party went even better than I could have dreamed.
These Scones Feature…
- A light and flaky texture
- Sweet shredded carrots and toasted pecans
- A silky cream cheese glaze
Making the Scones
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Carrots
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Spices
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Heavy whipping cream
- 2% or skim milk
- Vanilla extract
- Pecans
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
Tips for Perfect Scones
- Squeeze liquid out of shredded carrots – place the carrots in the center of a kitchen towel and tightly squeeze liquid out. This step prevents excess moisture from getting into the dough.
- Measure flour correctly – I use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
- Use cold butter – scones rely on cold fat to build the flaky layers while they bake so it’s important that your butter is as cold as possible. I recommend grating your butter on a box grater and throwing it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Toast the pecans – toss the nuts around in a nonstick pan over medium heat 3-5 minutes until fragrant. Toasting the nuts brings a lot of flavor out and gives them a crunchy texture.
- Do not overwork the dough – over stirring and kneading of the dough will cause gluten to form resulting in a tough scone.
- Build layers into scones – pat the dough out into a 1-in thick circle, cut into 4 pieces, stack the 4 pieces on top of each other, flatten them back down to 1 inch, and cut out scones. This is a quick little trick for getting tall scones with lots of layers.
- Chill scones before baking – again, you want everything as cold as possible prior to baking. Stick the scones in the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill prior to baking.
- Brush scones with heavy cream – this helps the scones brown nicely while they bake.
Recipe Variations
Try these ideas for a different twist on these scones.
- Use another nut – try walnuts or almonds in place of the pecans.
- Add coconut – fold 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut into dough.
- Try another glaze – use a simple powdered sugar glaze or a drizzle of melted white chocolate.
Storing and Freezing Scones
Allow scones to cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days. For best results, I recommend waiting to top scones with glaze until just before serving.
To freeze scones, allow to cool completely, and do not top with glaze. Wrap scones well and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw scones completely at room temperature and store up to 4 days.
One bite of these moist, flaky scones and you’ll be a scone believer! The shredded carrots provide a rustic moistness to the texture reminiscent of a dense carrot cake and the crunchy pecans and cream cheese glaze are just the bow on top.
Your Easter brunch NEEDS this, trust me!
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
More scones to bake next!
Carrot Cake Scones
This recipe may included paid links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
Scones
- 1 cup shredded carrot (shredded on large holes of box grater)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted cold butter, shredded on large holes of box grater and frozen
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream, divided
- 1/4 cup 2% or skim milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 1 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2-1 tablespoon 2% or skim milk
- Additional toasted pecans for topping
Instructions
Scones
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place shredded carrot in the center of a kitchen towel. Tightly squeeze to drain water out of carrot. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, both sugars, spices, baking powder, and salt. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to work frozen shredded butter into flour mixture until crumbly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk egg, 1/4 cup heavy cream, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Pour liquid mixture, shredded carrots, and pecans over flour mixture and gently fold until a shaggy dough forms. Turn dough out onto a surface and gently knead several times until dough comes together.
- Lightly flour surface and pat dough into a 1-inch thick circle. Cut circle into 4 wedges using a benchscraper or knife and stack the pieces on top of one another. Use your hands to flatten dough back down to 1-inch and pat into a circle.
- Cut dough circle into 8 wedges and arrange 2 inches apart on prepared sheet pan. Place pan in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill the fats in dough before baking.
- Brush scones with remaining 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Bake scones at 400F 15-18 minutes until golden-brown. Allow scones to cool 10 minutes on sheet pan then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Glaze
- Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and use a handheld electric mixer to beat until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and just enough milk to give glaze a drizzling consistency.
- Drizzle cooled scones with glaze and sprinkle with additional toasted pecans if desired. Allow scones to set 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply