Made with fresh apples, warm spices, and a delicious apple glaze (with a secret ingredient), these apple cider scones taste like fall any time of the year!
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.
In the bowl of a food processor, add your flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and apple pie spice. Pulse for 2 seconds to integrate.
Add cubed cold butter to flour mixture in the bowl of the food processor. Mix for 5-10 seconds or until it makes coarse crumbs.
Add the extract, egg, and half of the heavy cream. Pulse 2-3 times and then add the remaining cream and chopped apple. Process for 2-5 seconds or until the scones look like large crumbs. You may need to add slightly more cream. If you can squeeze the dough and it holds together, it's ready.
Pour the crumbly dough onto your prepared baking sheet or a lightly floured surface. Knead it into a ball, then press it into a thick circle approximately one inch tall.
Cut it into 8-10 pieces and separate them for easy baking.
If you'd like a little extra crunch, sprinkle the tops of the scones with coarse sugar.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow the apple cider scones to cool on the tray.
Assemble the glaze by whisking all of the ingredients together. When the scones have cooled, drizzle them with the glaze and allow it to set.
Enjoy!
Notes
If you don't have a good processor, you can make the dough with a pastry cutter and a medium bowl. Be sure to grate your frozen butter into your dry ingredients and then add in the wet ingredients.
Form your scones however you'd like. You can squeeze it into clumps with your hands and bake drop scones instead of triangles.
If you pour out your scone dough and it's too dry, never fear! You can add a splash of cream and work it in gently with your hands. Consider chilling the dough before baking if you do this.
Brush your scones with an egg wash for a golden crust. I love these scones without this extra step, so I never bother!