Seeded Whole-Wheat Scones
Updated Sept. 10, 2025
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 5ounces (1⅓ cups) whole-wheat pastry flour
- 2ounces (½ cup) all-purpose flour
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- 3ounces (½ cup) raw brown sugar
- Scant ½ teaspoon salt
- 3ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
- ⅔cup buttermilk
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6tablespoons mixed seeds (for instance, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax and poppy)
For the Seeded Whole-wheat Scones
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
164 calories; 8 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 137 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
For the Seeded Whole-wheat Scones
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Step 2
Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Dump anything remaining in the sifter into the bowl with the sifted ingredients. Place in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.
- Step 3
Combine the buttermilk and vanilla and, with the machine running, add to the flour mixture. Stop the machine and add the seeds. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Step 4
Flour your hands and a spatula, as well as your work surface, and scrape out the dough. Gently shape into a rectangle 1 inch thick. Cut into 6 squares, then cut the squares diagonally to give you 12 triangular scones. The dough will be tacky but should not be too sticky to work with. If it is, add a little more flour.
- Step 5
Place the scones on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart and bake 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, or serve warm.
- Advance preparation: These will keep for a couple of days at room temperature and freeze well.
Private Notes
Comments
I have made these many, many times. We have modified them for family tastes, and have made them slightly less healthy. I find that there is too much buttermilk, and have reduced it to 1/2Cup, otherwise they spread greatly. We have also added 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips. Not a huge increase in sugar, and the boys love them, so it’s a good balance. Also, have often swapped in chopped pecans for seeds, if we are out of them.
These are delicious. I substituted a mix of yogurt and milk for the buttermilk, since I didn’t have any. No egg in this, which conserves eggs for other purposes during the pandemic. I used 1Tbsp. of caraway seed, which was very aromatic, along with 2 Tbsp each of sesame and sunflower seeds and 1.5 Tbsp of slivered almonds.
Added 1/2 tsp or so each of ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom and loved the extra depth it added to the scones. Perfect served with a tiny bit of honey.
Really really good, and plenty sweet. I used regular whole wheat flour and didn’t sift (just mixed dry ingredients in food processor), soy milk with a tbsp of apple cider vinegar, and non dairy butter. I also added a half tsp of cinnamon cardamom and ginger as suggested by another comment. For seeds I used pepitas, sunflower seeds and shaved almonds. I also measured out all the ‘buttermilk’ but didn’t add it all; I maybe left a tbsp or 2 out. The mixture was crumbly but held together.
Add more flour, an additional 3/4 cup; as the liquid and butter cannot be properly absorbed by the small amount of flour, especially if you use an ancient grain flour like einkorn or a nut flour like almond flour. The NYT whole wheat ginger scones are perfectly balanced for liquid to dry ingredients.
Delish. Halved the sugar. Anise seed, poppy, and sesame mix. Liquid seemed just right. Measured flour with scale…