High Altitude Carrot Cake Walnut Scones
These flavorful carrot cake scones are made with grated carrots, nutty walnuts and lots of spices. For a beautiful finish, top them with vanilla icing and sugared edible flowers.
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 cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled (plus extra for rolling out the dough)
- ⅓ cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
- ¾ cup (4 oz) finely grated carrots (from 2-3 carrots)
- ½ cup walnuts or pecans finely chopped
- ⅓ cup whole milk, cold
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Icing
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder, optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp milk
Instructions
Make the Dough
- In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, spices and salt.
- Cut the cold butter into slices or chunks, scatter it over the flour mixture, then use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until the remaining chunks of butter are no larger than peas.
- Peel the carrots, then grate them using the "fine" side of a box grater. You'll need 3/4 cup (or 4 ounces) of grated carrots.
- Add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts, milk and vanilla to the flour mixture, and stir into a crumbly, shaggy dough. Then use your hands to work the moisture into the dough until it sticks together.
Cut and Chill the Scones
- Dump the dough out onto a clean work surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough and gently press it out to about 3/4 - 1 inch thick.
- Use a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter to cut rounds of dough, pressing the cutter straight down and lifting it back up, without twisting it. Gather up the scraps of dough, press it out again, and cut as many scones as you can. You should be able to cut around 11-12 scones.
- Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper, and set the cut scones on the baking sheet, 1/2 - 1 inch apart. Set the pan of scones in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 425F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the frozen scones for about 20 minutes, until golden brown on top.
Icing
- For the icing, combine the powdered sugar and meringue powder in a bowl. (The meringue powder is optional, but does help to set the icing so it doesn't get sticky). Add the vanilla and milk, and stir until smooth and thick.
- While the scones are warm, spoon the icing on top of the scones, letting it drip over their edges.
- Before the icing sets, decorate the scones with a few chopped walnuts.
- I also added edible flowers, which I picked from my own garden. Please do your own research and use caution when consuming any wild plant. This article by Frolic and Fare has lots of great info on making sugared edible flower petals.
Notes
Cool leftover scones completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Reheating the scones can soften them if they get stale, but will also soften and melt the icing.
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