Treacle Scones are a firm favourite in our house (and across Scotland, we think!).
Actually, scones, in general, are popular all over the country. Alongside the original plain, fruit, or cheese scone, there are also Drop Scones and Tattie Scones too. All of which are quite different!
We’ve previously shared “Grandma’s Scone Recipe”, as Sonja’s Grandma has always been well-known for her scones. It’s always been one of the most popular recipes on our site, so we decided to share another variation with our Treacle Scone Recipe too.
Pin for later!
What is treacle?
Treacle is an uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar. It is used as a sweetener in British cooking. The most common type is golden syrup, a light treacle, but there is also a dark or black treacle.
In the USA, molasses is similar to black treacle and would be used in the same way.
So we suppose this is also a Molasses Scone recipe!
Why treacle scones?
Scones are usually made with just butter, flour, and milk. Some recipes add an egg, but this isn’t really traditional. In addition to adding black treacle, treacle scones usually have delicious spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger—along the lines of pumpkin spice—so that also means these could be called Pumpkin Spice scones!
Treacle scones often remind us of autumn with their cinnamon and nutmeg flavour, as these are often used in baking and hot drinks around that time of year, but let’s be honest, we can devour these all year long!
The origin of treacle scones isn’t exactly clear, but they’re now popular in cafes and tea rooms across Scotland.
Scones are thought to have originated in Scotland around the 1500s, although we’re sure a variation of them has been around for a long time. They originally contained oats (of course!) and were made into one large scone cut into wedges, similar to a bannock.
Treacle was originally used in medicine in the 17th century, but at some point, someone decided it would be delicious in scones too! Luckily for us…
We’ve laid out our Treacle Scone recipe below with step-by-step photos and followed it up with some of our top tips for making scones in general. Happy baking!
Things you’ll need to make Treacle Scones
- Baking Tray
- Baking Paper
- Large Bowl
- Pastry/Dough Blender (makes combining the butter and flour easy! Not essential, but we love it)
Ingredients for Treacle Scones
Servings: 7-9 scones
Prep time: 25 minutes
Baking time: 15-18 minutes
- 360g self-raising flour (plus extra for dusting) (2 ¾ cups)
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 60g butter (cold, chopped) (1/4 cup + 1 tsp)
- 2 tbsp black treacle
- 200ml whole milk (plus extra for brushing – optional) (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
How to make Treacle Scones – Step by step method
Line a baking tray with baking paper and preheat the oven to 190C.
Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Whisk well to combine.
Add the butter and rub this into the flour with your fingertips until well incorporated. You can also use a pastry or dough cutter to do this and then just use your fingers for any extra bigger pieces of butter.
Add the milk and treacle to a saucepan and stir together over a medium heat until combined.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the milk/treacle mixture.
Stir with a wooden spoon until everything comes together into a soft dough. You can switch to using your hands once the dough is no longer sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Then using your hands or a rolling pin, squash it down into a disk approx. 1 inch thick.
Dip a round metal cutter into your flour, then use it to cut rounds out of the dough. You may need to regather and squash down the dough a few times.
Place the scones onto your prepared baking sheet. You can brush the tops with some milk for a shiny finish if desired.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until risen and golden.
Transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool before serving with butter, jam, clotted cream or your favourite toppings.
Variations to Treacle Scones
We love the spice combination in this treacle scone recipe, but you can play around with different flavours if you like. Try Mixed Spice as a substitute, or Pumpkin Spice if it’s available to you. We’re sure “Pumpkin Spice Scones” will take off at some point!
How long do Treacle Scones last?
Scones are always best when eaten the day they’re made. Store in an airtight container and they’ll last another day or two but will start to dry out and become more crumbly in texture.
Can you freeze Treacle Scones?
Yes, you can actually freeze scones! This is best done the day they’re made. Pop them in a ziplock or tied bag, and then you just need to take them out of the freezer and pop them on a plate covered with a tea towel for 2-3 hours until they defrost to room temperature. You can then re-warm in the oven if you like.
How do you serve Treacle Scones?
These treacle scones are perfect with just butter, or add jam and cream for something a little more decadent!
Top tips for the perfect scones
- Always use cold butter. It makes rubbing it into the flour harder but it’s absolutely essential for great scones! You can use really cold butter and grate it in, chop it into small pieces, or use a dough cutter to help you with the process and save your fingers a bit.
- Try not to handle the dough too much. Just use a light touch with your fingertips. Don’t overmix or knead it.
- Don’t twist the cutter when you’re cutting out the individual scones. This can make them rise unevenly.
- If you want to know if the scones are cooked, check the bottom. It should be lightly browned and sound hollow if you tap it.
And that’s our favourite Treacle Scone recipe! Give it a go alongside side our original scone recipe, and let us know which you like best. We also have Cheese and Marmite Scones if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, or delicious Date Scones too.
Delicious Treacle Scones Recipe
Treacle scones are made much the same as the original, but with the addition of black treacle and delicious spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, giving them a pumpkin spice sort of taste!
Ingredients
- 360g self-raising flour (plus extra for dusting) (2 ¾ cups)
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 60g butter (cold, chopped) (1/4 cup + 1 tsp)
- 2 tbsp black treacle
- 200ml whole milk (plus extra for brushing – optional) (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
Instructions
- Line a baking tray with baking paper and preheat the oven to 190C.
- Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Whisk well to combine.
- Add the butter and rub this into the flour with your fingertips until well incorporated.
- Add the milk and treacle to a saucepan and stir together over a medium heat until combined.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the milk/treacle mixture.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until everything comes together into a soft dough. You can switch to using your hands once the dough is no longer sticky.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Then using your hands or a rolling pin, squash it down into a disk approx. 1 inch thick.
- Dip a round metal cutter into your flour, then use it to cut rounds out of the dough. You may need to regather and squash down the dough a few times.
- Place the scones onto your prepared baking sheet. You can brush the tops with some milk for a shiny finish if desired.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until risen and golden.
- Transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool before serving with butter, jam, clotted cream or your favourite toppings.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
9Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 214Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 595mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 5g
These values are an estimate only.
I haven’t come across treacle scones before but really want to try these, especially as I have a tin of treacle sitting unused on my pantry. Scones that are a day or two old are great toasted and buttered. I imagine that would work with these too.
Add 1tsp bicarbonate and 1/2tsp cream of tartar to help the rise treacle is a bit heavy in the mix.
I found the dough too sticky to work. Is there a trick to it?
We would suggest adding a tiny bit of flour to your work service and your hands. Different butter and flours around the world can produce slightly dryer or stickier results. Be careful not to add too much though!
TY. It is very damp here currently so that may be adding to the issue, I let it rest for 10mins in the fridge and that seemed to help.
This is now a firm favourite in our house. I was baking them for a competition and they got a respectable 15/20 (best score was 16). I did find adding the bicarb and cream of tartar helpful as well as being generous with the tablespoons of treacle (possibly another reason it was sticky).
They taste devine though.