Tender almond flour scones with the sweet kick of gingerbread spices and a sugar-free cream cheese glaze. This wonderful keto scone recipe is perfect for winter mornings and holiday brunches.
Have you noticed that I have a wee obsession with gingerbread? Okay, let’s call it what it really is: a full-on, all-consuming passion for all things gingerbread spice.
Every year, as the mercury begins to drop, I look forward to indulging in that old-fashioned flavor. It heralds the holiday season with spicy warm deliciousness.
And I am certainly not alone in this regard. I have so many mouthwatering gingerbread recipes that readers love. Fan favorites include Keto Gingerbread Cake, Classic Keto Gingerbread Cookies, and Easy Keto Gingerbread Muffins.
These almond flour keto scones have been on my site since 2012, and in my gingerbread craze, I decided it was time to give them an update.
Scones made with almond flour
Scones have long been one of my favorite breakfast treats. So when I embarked on a low carb diet, I simply had to find a way to make them keto-friendly.
It took a few tries to get the proportions right, and quite a bit of experimenting with various keto flours. But I was delighted that almond flour scones were not only possible, but were just as delicious as the conventional variety.
And the flavor variations for almond flour scones are virtually endless. If you love scones, try a basic recipe like keto blueberry scones, or something a bit more adventurous, like keto maple pecan scones.
Ingredients
- Almond flour
- Brown sugar substitute
- Coconut flour
- Cocoa powder
- Spices
- Baking powder
- Cream cheese
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Heavy cream
How to make keto gingerbread scones
This is an easy keto recipe that I modelled after my Strawberry Cream Cheese Scones. But to make the dough really cohesive, I used my food processor. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Pulse the dry ingredients. Simply add all of the dry ingredients into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine well.
- Add the cream cheese in dollops. Scoop the softened cream cheese in small spoonfuls over the dry ingredients in the food processor. Pulse a few times to cut the cream cheese into the dry ingredients.
- Add the egg and vanilla right into the processor as well and pulse again on high until the dough starts to cling together. If there are a lot of dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl, remove the lid and scrape them up with a rubber spatula, and then pulse again to work them in.
- Lightly dust the work surface. The dough will be a bit sticky, so prep your work surface with a light dusting of almond flour or coconut flour.
- Pat in a circle and cut into wedges. I find that a 7-inch circle makes really nice-sized scones that aren’t too thin.
- Bake until golden.
- Whip up the glaze and drizzle it on!
Frequently Asked Questions
Almond flour has a lot of moisture and fat, so adding a bit of coconut flour gives keto scones a better consistency. You can replace it with another ¼ cup of almond flour.
The cocoa simply gives the scones a darker, more gingerbread colour. It won’t flavor the scones at all.
Yes, absolutely. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl, the cut in the cream cheese with two sharp knives or a pastry cutter. Add the egg and vanilla until the dough comes together.
Sure! Use a good dairy-free cream cheese alternative for both the scones and the glaze. Then use some coconut cream instead of the heavy whipping cream.
Yes, they will. I recommend flash freezing them on a sheet pan first, to harden the glaze, before placing them in an airtight container.
Gingerbread Scones
Ingredients
Scones:
- 2 cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup Swerve Brown packed
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
- 2 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener or powdered erythritol
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- Water to thin, as needed
Instructions
Scones
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Lightly sprinkle with almond or coconut flour.
- In a food processor, place the almond flour, Swerve, coconut flour, cocoa powder, spices, baking powder, and salt. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the cream cheese in small dollops over the top of dry ingredients and pulse a few times to cut it in. Add the egg and vanilla extract and pulse on high until the dough clings together in a ball.
- Turn the dough onto the prepared pan and pat into a 7-inch circle. Using a very sharp knife, slice into 8 even wedges. Use an offset spatula to carefully lift and separate the wedges. Space around the baking sheet.
- Bake 18 to 23 minutes, until the scones are lightly browned and firm to the touch. Remove and let cool completely on the pan.
Cream Cheese Glaze
- Beat the cream cheese with the sweetener and vanilla until well combined, then beat in the whipping cream until smooth.
- Beat in water, a few teaspoons at a time, until a drizzling consistency is achieved. Drizzle over the tops of the cooled scones.
Joan says
What brand of sprinkles do you recommend? The SF sprinkles I found on Amazon get some fairly negative reviews. What’s your favorite brand?
Carolyn says
I actually got the ones in this recipe from Etsy. Search The Sprinkle Company.
LuAnn says
does the nutritional info include the frosting?
Carolyn says
Always includes everything I use in the recipe! 🙂
Darlene says
As one person commented, I follow the recipe but not strickly. I mixed all the ingredients by hand and just pressed it into a parchment lined pan. Cut this into 8 and cooked it. Mine needed about 30 minutes cooking. This came out wonderful. For the icing I used regular Monk Sugar and it turned out great. I’ve made quite a few recipes from alldayidreamaboutfood and I’ve always been more than happy. Thank you.
Sheri says
This looks yummy! I saw at one point in the early comments that you were going to try freezing the dough…how did that work out?
Audrey says
Followed directions to the letter, using Swerve brown, no molasses, Philadelphia full fat cream cheese, Nature’s Eats almond flour and Mementa coconut flour, and got a VERY wet & sticky dough/batter. Brands specified because it’s possible they weigh differently than what you use. Dusted the top of the circle as well as the work surface with coconut flour to firm up the dough and let it sit 10 minutes to get it to the point of firmness where it could be cut. Probably would have worked out better if metric (weight) measurements were available rather than volume. Any way to add them(please)?
Jo says
Made Christmas morning. Delicious. Thank you and merry Christmas.
Larkyn says
Yum! Planning to make this recipe for Christmas brunch.
Jeanne says
Hi, how much molasses is used in the recipe and is it substituted for one of the other ingredients or in addition to? I don’t see it listed anywhere and would like to use in the scones. Thanks!
Carolyn says
There is no molasses in the recipe anymore. If you’d like to add some, add 2 teaspoons in with the wet ingredients.
Genevra says
I just made these, and they are delicious! They are very enjoyable with our without the icing. I substituted the swerve sweetener with brown sugar swerve, and I did add the molasses. Thank you for creating such a fantastic recipe 🙂
Amy says
I made these a couple of weeks ago and loved them. The batter was a little wet so I added a couple tablespoons of golden flax seed and they were great! I am bad at not using exact measurements so I probably used too much butter or had an extra large egg or something. Also added a little fresh ginger. The texture was great . Getting ready to make them again! Thanks for all your recipes!
Eliz says
Hello! May I know the full nutrition facts for a serving of this scone? 🙂
Shelby says
When I was reading about the weather my thought process was, she really isn’t that far from me, could she really be having that different of a fall? haha. Then I realized the date of your post was not this year! We had 80 degree weather earlier this week, not a typical new england fall here this year 🙂 I love your scones, and I think your photos were fabulous, dreary day or not!
Carolyn says
Ha, yep. It’s been a warm few days here too!
Julie B. says
These are in the oven now. I found them difficult to separate after cutting
Too moist. Suggestions?
Carolyn says
Not really sure, they shouldn’t be too moist. What brand of almond flour did you use?
Julie B. says
I use Honeyville. The scones came out great, though. I just ‘scored’ the circle, and them separated them the last 5 minutes of baking. Worked just fine!
Mindy says
Yum,now I’m torn between making these or the gingerbread donuts!
Alison says
Just made these with brown Ideal as I’m not a fan of Swerve. Yummy is the word!
WereBear says
These were AMAZING. Now, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly: I used 4 packets of Truvia and 1 tsp of molasses, and added 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar, because I wanted drop cookies. 8 minutes in my oven.
And these were so light and fluffy; so many low carb baked goods turn out dry and crumbly. Thanks, this one is a keeper!
beth says
Has anyone frozen these? I wonder if I could freeze the dough and then bake it off when I’m ready, or if I would freeze the finished product? With Christmas, I keep looking for LC recipes that I can make ahead so I can relax a bit on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
Carolyn says
Hi Beth. I am attempting to do the same with some cranberry scones (same basic recipe, minus the spices, and then adding in chopped cranberries) for Christmas brunch. I am going to try freezing or refrigerating the unbaked dough and see how that works, so I can bake them nice and hot on the morning of. I think it would be similar to flour-based scones, but I really can’t say for sure until I try!
beth says
Great minds think alike. Except, I pretty much just steal all of your delicious ideas 🙂 I think I’ll try freezing the unbaked dough as well.
Carolyn says
Let’s hope it works for both of us!!! Good luck.
Amy says
I made these last weekend but I used the maple glaze from the maple scone recipe on them…they were fantastic. I am about to make another batch 🙂
Kathy says
These look really good! I’ll be making these for my kids and would like to use real sugar (gasp!). What is the equivalent for that? Thanks! Can’t wait to try them!
Carolyn says
In the scones themselves, you wouldn’t want too much sugar. Maybe a 1/4 cup at most (scones are usually pretty low in sugar). Then just replace the same amount of powdered sugar as erythritol in the frosting. If you find it too thick, add some liquid. Too thin, add a little more powdered sugar.
Kathy says
Thanks!! I agree, I don’t like to use too much sugar, but my kids don’t need the alternative stuff and I’m not that advanced of a baker to know how to switch it up. 🙂 Can’t wait to try these!
John says
Your recipes always look great. I am on a no/low-salt diet and was wondering if these can be modified for that.
Carolyn says
Absolutely, just leave out the salt and use unsalted butter.
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
I don’t know what to do with gloomy days either. I would say I’m okay with sunny days and absolutely terrible with dark days. I hope your lesson with your friend goes well!
And these sound amazing. I’m in the mood for gingerbread now!