These healthy apple scones are soft and tender, packed with fresh apples, and super easy to make. Vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free!

Why We Love These Vegan Apple Scones

Healthy and Delicious: These scones are made with wholesome ingredients like oat flour, chickpea flour, walnut butter, and applesauce. But they taste so good! Tender and rich, lightly sweet and cinnamon-y, with chunks of juicy apples in every bite.
Vegan, Gluten-Free, and Oil-Free: No eggs, dairy, butter, wheat flour, or even oil needed!
Easy to Make: Since these scones don’t contain butter, there is no laminating process, and you don’t have to worry about keeping everything super cold. Just mix the dough, chill, cut, and bake! You can even make them as drop scones if you don’t want to deal with shaping/cutting them into wedges.

Key Ingredients & Substitutions

Below is a brief look into the main ingredients and why they work in this recipe, plus any possible substitutions. See the recipe card at the bottom for the full ingredients list and quantities.

Apples ⟶ Any kind of sweet, crisp apple (or a mix of your favorites) that won’t get too mushy when baked. My go-to’s for baking are Honeycrisp and Pink Lady. See the FAQ section for more apples that are good for baking.
Oat Flour ⟶ An affordable, delicious, easy to find, and nutrient-packed gluten-free flour! I make my own by simply blending rolled oats in a high speed blender.
Chickpea Flour ⟶ A little bit of chickpea flour helps bind the dough and prevents the scones from being overly dense or gummy as is common with oat flour baked goods.
Walnut Butter ⟶ Instead of butter, these scones get their fat from walnut butter which adds a deliciously rich, nutty flavor (and also provides some omega-3’s!). See how to make your own walnut butter here.
Applesauce ⟶ For moisture, natural sweetness, and extra apple flavor.

How to Make

Step-by-step photos and additional tips to help you get the best results!

Whisk together oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
Add diced apples and toss to coat. Tossing the apples with the dry ingredients first helps them incorporate better into the dough.
In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, sugar, walnut butter, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
Add chickpea flour and whisk to get rid of any lumps of flour.
Mixing the chickpea flour with the wet ingredients first ensures a smooth, lump-free batter.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir to form a dough. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes – this gives the oats time to hydrate and soften and makes the dough easier to handle.
Divide the dough in two and shape each into a disc about 1-inch thick.
Cut into 6 wedges.
Arrange the scones on a lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake at 375°F for 13-15 minutes until browned to your liking.

Serving Suggestions

These scones are delicious as-is, but if you want to elevate them more you can add a glaze (a maple glaze would be particularly tasty!), drizzle with caramel, or serve them with some butter or apple butter. If you’re looking to round out your breakfast, some high protein yogurt and berries or a little chia pudding on the side would be perfect!

How to Store Apple Scones

Room Temperature: Due to the extra moisture from the fresh apples in these scones, I don’t recommend storing them at room temperature for more than one day.
Fridge: Store for up to 5 days. They may dry out slightly in the fridge, so warm them before eating. Heat them in the oven at 325°F for 5-10 minutes, or microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Freezer, Baked: Store for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for 1-2 hours, then warm in the oven at 325°F for 5-10 minutes. If you’re in a rush, you can microwave from frozen for 20-30 seconds (but the texture is best using an oven).
Freezer, Unbaked: Arrange the uncooked, cut scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours until frozen solid, then transfer the scones to a freezer-safe bag. Bake from frozen and add 5-10 minutes to the total bake time.

Vegan Apple Scones FAQ

Unless you like your apples soft and mushy, choose firm, crisp apples that hold their shape well during baking. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Jazz, Cosmic Crisp, and SweeTango are some common varieties that are great for baking with. Fuji and Gala apples are very common and generally more affordable, but they turn softer during baking, so I would only use them for things that have a shorter bake time like scones and muffins. Avoid baking with Red Delicious apples as they are very mushy.

Traditional scones are made with butter for the flakiest texture. These apple scones are made healthier without any butter or oil, so they don’t have the same flaky texture as traditional scones. However, they are still deliciously soft and tender inside! They’re also a lot easier to make since you don’t have to worry about keeping everything cold to prevent the butter from melting.

Chickpea flour helps bind the scones and makes them more tender and fluffy. Using only oat flour can result in scones that are too dense and gummy especially without eggs.

More Vegan Apple Treats

If you try out this recipe, don’t forget to leave a comment/rating down below and tag me in your photos on instagram @ellielikes.cooking. I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!

Prep Time:15

Cook Time:13

Rest Time:3 20

Servings: 12 small scones

Ingredients

180 grams (1½ cups) gluten-free oat flour*
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
⅛ tsp salt
120 grams (½ cup) unsweetened applesauce
36 grams (3 tbsp) granulated sugar
90 grams (6 tbsp) walnut butter*
1 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
60 grams (½ cup) chickpea flour*
2 small apples diced
2 tbsp soy milk optional

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add diced apples and toss to coat.
Tip: I find that mixing the apples with the dry ingredients first helps incorporate them into the dough better.
In a separate bowl, whisk applesauce, sugar, walnut butter, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Add chickpea flour and whisk to get rid of any clumps of flour.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to form a dough.
Chill the dough in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 pieces. Shape each into a disc about 1-inch thick. Cut into 6 wedges.
Place the scones on the lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Brush the tops with soy milk (optional for better browning).
Place into the oven to bake for 13-15 minutes, until the edges are browned and crisp (increase time if necessary). Keep a close eye on them as they can burn easily towards the end.

Nutrition Facts

**Nutrition information is a rough estimate and intended for informational purposes only. I am not a registered dietitian or certified nutritionist, and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration.

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