Recipe

These Lactose-Free Scones Literally Melt in Your Mouth

By Allison Curley at Wake Forest University

If you've ever eaten baked goods in a restaurant or bakery, it's very unlikely that any of them were dairy-free. Even when you don't necessarily taste or see a creamy consistency, baked goods, especially scones, contain butter, milk, or cream—sometimes all three.

Dairy-free baked goods are hard to come by unless you make them yourself. I'm an avid baker with a dairy allergy, and my specialty is using dairy-free substitutions as seamlessly as possible. Most of the time, no one knows the difference. These dairy-free scones are the perfect breakfast treat, snack, and even dessert scone recipe that don't contain any lactose/regular dairy.

Dairy-Free Scones

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Servings: 8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 5 tablespoons frozen Crisco
  • 1/2 tablespoon Lactaid milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup dried cherries or other dried fruit optional

Allison Curley

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease with cooking spray.

Allison Curley

Step 2

In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Take a whisk and lightly mix all of the ingredients together.

Allison Curley

Step 3

Take the frozen Crisco and chop it up into small cubes.

Allison Curley

Step 4

Instead of using a pastry cutter, put the dry ingredients and the cubes of Crisco in a bowl and use your hands to cut in the Crisco. Don't overtax this.

Allison Curley

Step 5

In a separate bowl, gently combine the egg, milk, and vanilla with a whisk (do not scramble the egg, just mix all together).

Allison Curley

Step 6

Add the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl. Then, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry while it is on a low mixing speed, and stop when everything is combined. Add cherries at this point, if desired.

Allison Curley

Step 7

Place the scone dough on a floured surface and gently knead it. Then, cut the dough into about 1/2-inch thick slices with either a knife or cookie cutter.

Allison Curley

Step 8

Place the scones onto the baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly golden brown. Top with glaze once they've cooled slightly.

Allison Curley

Hopefully, your finished product looks something like this. From the picture below, you can see that replacement baking can change the appearance of some baked goods. The tops of the scones look like they have holes in them, but I can assure you that once you take a bite, they taste exactly the same, if not better than regular scones. 

Another optional addition to these scones is a dairy-free glaze. This is the perfect decoration and touch of sweetness to make these scones more of a dessert.

Dairy-Free Scone Glaze

  • Prep Time: 2 mins
  • Total Time: 2 mins
  • Servings: 20
Ingredients
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Lactaid milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Allison Curley

Step 1

Add the powdered sugar to a bowl. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract with a whisk until it is thin and runny.

Allison Curley

A lot of people might read this recipe and think it's gross to use Crisco as a replacement for butter. However,Ccrisco actually has 50% less saturated fat than butter. As far as baking goes, Crisco bakes exactly like butter, especially in scones, so the consistency doesn't change at all.

In terms of taste, the flavor of Crisco is mild, and with ingredients like vanilla extract and sugar, the taste will never reveal the substitution to anyone other than the baker. You can even buy butter-flavored Crisco if you really want to go all out. Either way, you'll bite into a delicious, dairy-free scone.