Gluten-Free Cinnamon Currant Scones (Vegan & Oil-Free)

Rich, flakey, melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon currant scones are biscuit meets cake only better. This gluten & oil-free recipe has just the right texture from fluffy date sugar and buttery coconut cream. Gently spiced with cinnamon, these vegan scones are a must-try for your weekend baking plans!

Oh holy scone, how I love you. My adoration for this easy-to-make pastry runs deep. That slightly crusty exterior and fluffy, flakey interior, dotted with sweet, plump currants, is guaranteed to make you smile. In fact, I love these vegan cinnamon currant scones so much, we make them every year for Christmas breakfast!

Seriously though, don’t wait for the next holiday to enjoy these. You can whip these beauties up in just over half an hour. They’re lightly sweet making them ideal for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up enjoyed with a cup of tea and a good book. Each bite is fluffy, flakey, and satisfying.

Keep scrolling for tips and tricks to making the perfect gluten-free vegan scones!

Why this recipe works

Gluten-Free Flour I use a one-to-one gluten-free baking flour in this recipe. It does a good job of replacing wheat-based flour. I find that gluten-free flour has a slight metallic taste so I’ve balanced that with warm cinnamon and vanilla. Use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients, if you have one. This helps get the right dry to wet ingredient ratio for best texture.

Date Sugar This is a key ingredient to making light and fluffy scones. Date sugar is just finely chopped dry dates and is one of the healthiest sweeteners out there. Its powdery and slightly dry texture helps create the perfect wet to dry ingredient ratio which prevents gumminess. I’ve found that granulated sugar melts while cooking, resulting in gummy scones.

Coconut Cream The secret to creating oil-free scones, is coconut cream. When chilled and solid, it behaves similar to vegan butter in this recipe, resulting in soft, light, flakey scones. To get coconut cream, place a can (13.5 oz. / 398 ml.) of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge for 24 hours. The coconut cream will become solid and separate from the liquid in the can. Open the can and scoop out the solid cream, saving the liquid for another use. You can also purchase a can of pure coconut cream (13.66 oz. / 403 ml.) and set it in the fridge overnight to solidify.

These plant-based scones are lightly sweet. If you like a sweeter scone there are 3 ways to sweeten them up without changing the dry to wet ratio of the ingredients.

1. Use sweetened almond milk.

2. Sprinkle the dough with date sugar instead of flour if it feels sticky.

3. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the unbaked scones instead of plain cinnamon.

Ready to bake up some vegan joy?... Steep some tea, grab a friend, and let’s get our hands dirty!

A big thank you to Let’s Date for sponsoring this post and for making the delicious and healthy date sugar that I use in this recipe!

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Currant Scones made with Date Sugar by Let’s Date

If you like this gluten-free cinnamon currant scones recipe, please give it a 5-star rating in the recipe card below, and lemme know how it turns out in the comments. I love hearing from you! And if you’re looking for more yummy vegan inspo, check out my Pinterest and Instagram Page!

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Cinnamon Currant Scones

o 1½ tablespoons (10 grams) of ground flaxseed whisked with 2 tablespoons of water

o 2½ cups (313 grams) of gluten-free baking flour

o ½ cup (72 grams) of date sugar (see note)

o 4 teaspoons of baking powder

o 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt

o 2 teaspoons of cinnamon (plus more for sprinkling)

o ¾ cup (6 oz. / 150 grams) of coconut cream, chilled and solid (see note)

o 1 cup (145 grams) of currants

o ¾ cup (6 oz.) of almond milk (plus extra for brushing the tops)

o 2 teaspoons of vanilla

Makes 8 scones. Click on the ingredients in bold to learn more and to see what I use in this recipe.

Method for making Gluten-Free Cinnamon Currant Scones

Gluten-Free Vegan Cinnamon Currant Scones-2.jpg — Steps 1-4:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F (220 C / gas mark 7) and line a sheet pan or a cookie tray with parchment paper.
2. Create a flax egg by whisking the ground flaxseed (also called flax meal) with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl until it starts to gel and become creamy. You can use a fork, a small whisk, or a milk frother. Set aside to thicken.
3. Add the flour to a large mixing bowl. I recommend using a **kitchen scale** to get the exact amount. This helps the dough from becoming too wet or too dry. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, use the scoop and level method. This is where you spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level the top with the flat end of a knife.
4. Add the rest of the dry ingredients: sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to the flour and whisk until well blended.

Gluten-Free Vegan Cinnamon Currant Scones-3.jpg — Step 5:

5. Cut the chilled coconut cream into the dry ingredients, using a pastry cutter or two knives, scissor style. This is similar to making pie crust, where you want a coarse, crumbly texture, leaving some chunks the size of peas. Stir in the currants.

Gluten-Free Vegan Cinnamon Currant Scones-4.jpg — Step 6:

6. In a small bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together: flax egg, almond milk, and vanilla. Sprinkle over the dry ingredients, a little bit at a time, gradually working the liquid into the flour mixture with a fork until moistened. Once combined, use your hands to gently gather the dough into a ball.

Gluten-Free Vegan Cinnamon Currant Scones-5.jpg — Step 7:

7. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and, using your hands, pat into a round disk that is 8” across and ¾“ thick. If the dough seems a bit sticky, sprinkle with a little bit of flour. Cut the disk into 8 equal-sized triangular pieces, just like cutting a pie.

Gluten-Free Vegan Cinnamon Currant Scones-6.jpg — Step 8:

8. Use a spatula to carefully transfer the scones to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with almond milk and sprinkle with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar.

Gluten-Free Vegan Cinnamon Currant Scones-8.jpg — Step 9:

9. Bake for 20 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve warm or let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy as a mouthwatering breakfast or an afternoon snack with your favorite cuppa!

Notes:

Date Sugar: I highly recommend using date sugar (which is finely chopped dry dates) in this recipe. Its powdery and slightly dry texture helps create light and flakey scones while preventing gumminess. Regular sugar melts while cooking and will result in gummy scones. My favorite date sugar is by Let’s Date.

Coconut Cream: You can use the coconut cream from a can (13.5 oz. / 398 ml.) of full-fat coconut milk (the kind that comes in a can not a carton). To separate the cream from the liquid, put the can in the fridge for 24 hours, to allow the cream to separate and become solid. Then scoop out the hard cream, saving the liquid for another use. You can also use canned coconut cream (13.66 oz. / 403 ml.) (thicker than coconut milk) which has been chilled and is solid. Coconut cream is replacing butter in this recipe, so it needs to be in a solid form for nice flakey scones.