A high altitude tested recipe for soft, tender and fluffy earl grey scones cut in a mini size, flavored with earl grey tea and lightly sweetened with honey, finished with a sweet lemon icing.
You might also love these recipes for earl grey tea cake with honey whipped cream, earl grey ice cream, and Scottish bannocks (oatmeal scones).
This site contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links. This in no way affects my opinion of those products and services. All opinions expressed on this site are my own.
How to Make Scones Without a Scone Pan
I have over a dozen different scone and biscuit recipes on this site, ranging from sweet to savory. Since I don’t own a scone pan, I’ve used a variety of methods to shape my scones and biscuits. Be sure to see my recipe archives for all the recipes.
- Cut with a Biscuit Cutter. Much of the time, I simply press the dough out onto my counter and cut scones with a biscuit cutter for round biscuits that rise tall and flaky. If I suspect that the dough might spread too much, due to more sugar in the dough, I’ll use one of the next two methods.
- Bake on a Baking Sheet and Cut into Wedges. When making sweet scones, I love shaping these directly on a baking sheet. Simply shape the dough into a thick disk and cut into wedges, but don’t separate the wedges. After baking, you’ll cut the wedges again for perfectly shaped scones.
- Bake in a Baking Pan and Cut into Wedges. For today’s recipe, I pressed the dough directly into a square pan and cut it into small triangles for mini scones. With this method, the center pieces will not have the rustic crusty bits that you’ll get when baking them on a baking sheet.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour.
- Baking Powder.
- Salt.
- Earl Grey Tea. Just use your favorite brand of tea, but keep in mind that these scones will contain caffeine, unless you use decaffeinated tea. I’m sensitive to caffeine, so I always keep decaf tea on hand.
- Sugar. You’ll need powdered sugar as well as honey. You can also add a little granulated sugar to the dough to sweeten them even more.
- Unsalted Butter.
- Whole Milk.
- Lemon Juice.
Instructions
Scones
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line an 8×8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour with the baking powder, salt and tea leaves. For a sweeter scone, add the granulated sugar; however, I didn’t add any additional sugar, and enjoyed the less sweet flavor with just the honey and icing to sweeten.
- Add the butter, and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in until crumbly, and the pieces of butter are no bigger than peas.
- Drizzle the flour mixture with the honey, then add the milk and vanilla. Stir into a sticky dough. Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour, and turn the dough in the flour so it’s coated in flour and not too sticky to handle.
- Scrape into the prepared baking pan. Use your hands to press the dough evenly into the pan, then freeze the scones in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Use a bench scraper or a spatula to cut the dough into 16 mini triangles.
- Bake the scones for about 27-30 minutes until golden brown on top. Cut the scones again, this time ensuring they are baked through, and there is no raw dough in the middle. If they need a few more minutes to bake, return the pan to the oven until the scones are baked through.
Icing
- In a bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and vanilla, until smooth and drizzly.
- Let the scones cool for about 10-15 minutes, then drizzle with the icing and serve warm.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
You Might Also Like
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Mini Earl Grey Honey Scones
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Pastry Cutter
Ingredients
Scones
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tbsp earl grey tea leaves, finely crushed (from 3 tea bags)
- 2-4 tbsp granulated sugar, optional
- 10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks or thin slices
- ¼ cup honey
- ¾ cup cold whole milk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Icing
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ – 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
Scones
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line an 8×8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour with the baking powder, salt and tea leaves. For a sweeter scone, add the granulated sugar; however, I didn't add any additional sugar, and enjoyed the less sweet flavor with just the honey and icing to sweeten.
- Add the butter, and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in until crumbly, and the pieces of butter are no bigger than peas.
- Drizzle the flour mixture with the honey, then add the milk and vanilla. Stir into a sticky dough. Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour, and turn the dough in the flour so it's coated in flour and not too sticky to handle.
- Scrape into the prepared baking pan. Use your hands to press the dough evenly into the pan, then freeze the scones in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Use a bench scraper or a spatula to cut the dough into 16 mini triangles.
- Bake the scones for about 27-30 minutes until golden brown on top. Cut the scones again, this time ensuring they are baked through, and there is no raw dough in the middle. If they need a few more minutes to bake, return the pan to the oven until the scones are baked through.
Icing
- In a bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice, until smooth and drizzly.
- Let the scones cool for about 10-15 minutes, then drizzle with the icing and serve warm.
Notes
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/
Shouldn’t the directions for the scones’ icing be changed to “stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice” vs what it notes as follows:
Icing:
In a bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and vanilla, until smooth and drizzly”.
I made these scones and they are wonderful! Thank you so much for your delicious recipes.
Yes, thanks for catching that!