It's no secret that I'm a big fan of scones, so it was only a matter of time before banana scones were added to my regular recipe rotation. Featuring flaky golden crusts and a decorative brown butter drizzle, these scones are pretty enough to be displayed at your local coffee shop, but easy enough to serve at home, any time of day, with a cup of tea.

Caramelized Banana Scones with Brown Butter Glaze.

Top Tips For Baking The Best Banana Scones

Ways to turn a good scone into a great scone!

Keep the dough cold: It is important that the scone dough stays cold until it enters the oven, as the heat will cause the cold pieces of butter to melt, forming pockets of flaky layers and, as a result, flaky scones. Starting with softened or melted butter will produce dense scones. If you find that the dough has become warm at any point during the recipe, refrigerate it for 30 minutes or until chilled.
Don't overwork the dough: In order to create the aforementioned flaky layers and a tender texture, treat the dough gently when patting it into a round disk (you are not looking for a sticky dough.) A bench scraper is a great tool to help gather dough together.
Use firm but ripe bananas: These scones feature similar flavors of banana bread. That said, you'll want to use bananas that are ripe but still firm when making your caramelized banana mixture (as opposed to the overripe bananas that are traditionally used for banana muffins, cakes, bread, etc.)

Stack of two caramelized banana scones with glaze.

Three Methods for Mixing Homemade Scone Dough

Many of my easy scone recipes call for a food processor when mixing the dough. Here are some alternative methods that also result in buttery, flaky layers:

Box grater: Although a little more effort is required with this method, it helps to create even flakes of grated butter to mix into the dough. Frozen butter works well for this method as it holds its shape during the grating process.
Fingers/hand blending: Rub the cold butter pieces into the flour mixture with your fingers, until you have pieces that are roughly the size of peas. Some pieces will be bigger than others--that's ok! You just don't want any large pieces of butter remaining, and you are looking for a mixture where the butter is evenly distributed.
Pastry cutter / pastry blender: A third option (and probably the one your grandmother used) is to use a pastry blender. Cut your cold butter into small pieces and add it to your flour mixture in a bowl. Hold the pastry cutter handle in one hand and press the blades down into the mixture. Mix with the pastry blender until the butter is broken down into pea-sized pieces and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Ingredients and Special Equipment

Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for specific quantities.

Ingredient Notes for Banana Scones

Dry Ingredients / Flour Mixture

All purpose flour: For a gluten-free recipe, substitute an equal amount of your favorite gluten free flour blend.
Granulated sugar
Baking powder
Salt
Ground cinnamon: If you like a warm spice flavor profile, add a ½ teaspoon ground ginger and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Butter: VERY cold or even frozen butter cubes (see Top Tips, above!)

Wet Ingredients

Buttermilk: If you don't have buttermilk, mix 1 teaspoon vinegar with 1 cup whole milk, let rest for 10 minutes at room temperature, and you have a suitable substitute!
Vanilla extract

Ingredient Notes for Caramelized Bananas and Brown Butter Glaze

Caramelized Bananas

Bananas: Use ripe but still firm bananas to cut into slices so that they hold their shape after being caramelized.
Light brown sugar: Substitute dark brown sugar for a richer flavor
Ground cinnamon
Brandy: If you don't have brandy for the banana mixture, replace it with dark rum, Grand Marnier or even orange juice for a non-alcoholic alternative.

Brown Butter Glaze

Butter: One stick of butter, cut into tablespoon pieces.
Confectioners sugar
Vanilla extract
Whole milk: Substitute heavy cream or half-and-half

Recommended Special Equipment

Pastry blender, food processor, or box grater, depending on which method you choose to mix your scone dough (see Three Methods for Mixing Homemade Scone Dough, above.)
Cooling rack or wire rack
Sharp knife for cutting scones into wedges
Pastry brush for applying egg wash

Step By Step Photos and Instructions

Bananas starting to caramelize in the skillet.

Caramelize the Bananas

Stir the brown sugar with the cinnamon in a medium skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the bananas and cook the mixture without stirring for about 3 minutes, until the sugar starts to dissolve.

Pan of caramelized bananas for the scone filling.

2. Add the brandy and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes more, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture has thickened.

3. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the banana mixture to a medium bowl. Use a knife or the side of a fork to cut the bananas into small pieces and then cool the mixture completely (you don't want to add warm bananas to the scone dough.)

Prepare the Scones

If you are planning to bake your scones right away, preheat your oven to 400℉. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the work bowl of a food processor pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until combined.
Scatter the cold butter pieces over the flour mixture and pulse 8-10 times, until the butter is the size of small peas (see "Methods for Mixing Scone Dough," above, for other ways to do this step if you don't have a food processor.)

Adding caramelized bananas to scone dough.

4. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and stir in the cooled caramelized bananas.

5. Add the buttermilk and mix until just combined and the dough starts to hold together in clumps. Add more buttermilk, 1 tablespoon (15 mL) at a time if the dough is too dry.

6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into two 8-inch rounds, about 1½ inches thick. Use a large knife to cut each round into eight equal wedges. Place the wedges on a prepared parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing apart.

7. Brush the top of each scone with the egg wash (large egg and 1 tablespoon cream whisked in a small bowl.)

8. Bake scones 22-30 minutes in your preheated oven, until the tops are a rich golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the scones cool while you prepare the brown butter glaze

Make the Brown Butter Glaze

In a small saucepan or heavy skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until the mixture starts to foam. When foaming subsides, continue to cook, swirling frequently, until the color turns golden brown and the butter has a nutty aroma (watch carefully to avoid burning!)
Immediately pour the butter into a medium, heat-proof bowl and whisk in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla (mixture will be a bit crumbly.)

3. Add enough of the milk, whisking, until you get a glaze that is smooth and thick but one that you can still drizzle over the scones.

4. Use a small spoon, rubber spatula, or the tip of your whisk to drizzle the glaze over the scones. Allow the glaze to set for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Banana Scone Recipe Variations

Dough Variations

Use whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour.
Add ¾ cup dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips to the dough with the bananas.
Make vegan banana scones by substituting vegan butter for regular butter and coconut milk for the buttermilk.

Topping Variations

Although some may say that the brown butter glaze is the best part of these easy scones, make them even easier by topping the scones with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar before baking.
You can also substitute a peanut butter or maple icing. for brown butter icing.

Size and Shape Variations

This recipe makes generously sized scones. If I am serving a group, I make many smaller scones, cutting the original size in half.
The scones can also be formed into rounds or squares as opposed to wedges. Adjust baking time to fit the larger or smaller size of your scones.

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

How to Make your Banana Scones in Advance

Scones are a good recipe to make in advance, as the scone dough can be fully prepared and then frozen, tightly wrapped, for up to one month. Thaw the dough overnight in your refrigerator before cutting into wedges and baking.
You can also shape the dough into wedges and then freeze them, so that you can bake the scones one at a time as desired. Freeze the wedges for 30 minutes on a cookie sheet before transferring them to a zip top back and placing them in the freezer.

How to Store your Scones

For best results, I always recommend enjoying your fresh scones within a day of baking, but they will keep well at room temperature for up to three days, tightly covered, or sealed in an airtight container.
Baked scones can be frozen in zip-top bags for up to 2 weeks. Thaw overnight at room temperature.

Flaky, buttery scones are always a welcome treat! Try some of my other favorite flavors:

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Caramelized banana scone with brown butter glaze.

Caramelized Banana Scones with Brown Butter Glaze

Julie Hession

These flaky scones featured spiced brown sugar and brandy-caramelized bananas in every buttery bite! I love them served still slightly warm from the oven topped with sweet brown butter glaze, but they are also delicious served at room temperature as part of a breakfast, brunch, or bake sale!

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 22

Servings scones

5 from 17 votes

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Equipment

1 food processor (optional, see "Variations" section in post)
1 pastry brush
2 large baking sheets, lined with parchment