Never dry or bland, Banana Scones are a cross between light and fluffy buttermilk biscuits and moist banana bread. They’re made with basic pantry staples and ripe bananas and topped with a brown butter cream cheese frosting. Not as sweet as a donut but sweeter than a biscuit. Perfect for afternoon tea, brunch or breakfast.
Buttermilk Banana Nut Bread Scones
These Banana Scones with Cream Cheese Frosting are soft and light on the inside, crispy on the outside, and lathered in a rich, brown butter cream cheese frosting. They’re a great way to start off any morning or get you through the afternoon slumps.
You might not think scones are very Southern, but they’re actually just a slightly sweet biscuit, and you don’t get more Southern than a buttermilk biscuit. (I have 15 different ways to make biscuits over on Butter & Baggage if you need a recipe!)
First, you’ll make the scone dough in the food processor, combining the dry and wet ingredients until a shaggy dough forms. Then, you’ll shape the dough into a disk, cutting it into triangles. Of course you can use a biscuit cutter and make circles or any shape you like.
The dough is chilled in the freezer before baked in the oven until the scones are golden brown. Once the scones cool completely, you can frost them with the cream cheese frosting or eat them plain if the frosting is too much.
Finely chopped pecans add some texture to the soft interior just like you have with banana bread.
For the frosting, I went with of my favorite cream cheese frosting starting with brown butter, which really complements the banana flavor. The frosting is thinned down a bit with cream to make it spreadable. You could also increase the cream more and drizzle it over the top.
For something a little different try drizzling a caramel sauce like I use for caramel cinnamon rolls.
The sweet bananas mixed with the tang of the cream cheese makes the perfect treat for any time of day.
You Won’t Be Sorry
- Banana flavor: These scones have the taste of banana bread in a biscuit type of dough.
- Easy: This recipe uses basic ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen, so you can whip it up without heading to the store.
- Frosting: The creamy brown butter frosting is super simple to make and transforms these scones into a bakery-style dessert.
Key Recipe Ingredients
- Mashed bananas: Make sure to use ripe bananas, as they will be sweeter. If you don’t have ripe bananas, you can ripen bananas quickly in the oven.
- Buttermilk: Gives the scones a tender crumb. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own buttermilk.
- Pantry staples: You’ll need all-purpose flour, white sugar, vanilla extract, one egg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cold butter: This is a MUST for scones as it holds their structure.
- Chopped pecans: These add a bit of crunch and flavor, you could easily use walnuts instead.
- Frosting: You’ll need butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and heavy cream. Use full-fat block-style cream cheese.
How to Make This Banana Scones Recipe
Step One: Prep the Wet Ingredients
Mash the bananas and mix them with buttermilk and vanilla. Keep this mixture in the fridge until you’re ready for it.
Step Two: Make the Dough
Add the dry ingredients to a food processor and cut in cold butter. Pulse until it looks like crumbs. Add chopped pecans, then add the banana mixture and pulse just until it forms a dough.
Step Three: Shape and Chill
Shape the dough into a rectangle, fold it a few times to create fluffy layers, and cut into wedges. Freeze briefly to help them hold their shape.
Step Four: Bake the Scones
Brush the tops with an egg wash, then bake in the oven until golden brown. Let the scones cool on a wire rack.
Step Five: Frosting
Brown the butter and let it cool. Beat the cooled butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a little cream until smooth. Spread over the cooled scones and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Layer: Cutting the dough into sections, layering them, and rolling them out again can help create flaky layers within the dough.
- Chill: Place the scones on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes. This step is essential as the butter warms up as you work with the dough. Chilling the dough helps the butter to firm back up, resulting in taller, sturdier scones.
- Cool: Make sure the scones are completely cool before adding the frosting, or it will melt.
- Make-ahead: You can make the frosting up to one week ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
- Line the pan: Use parchment paper to line your baking sheet so the scones don’t stick.
- Food processor: If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients.
- Don’t overmix: Combine the dough just until it comes together. Overmixing can make your scones tough.
Mix It Up
- Chocolate chips: Add in some chocolate chips.
- Walnuts: Swap the pecans for walnuts if you like.
- Spice: A dash of cinnamon or nutmeg can add a bit of warmth.
- Frosting: If you don’t want to make the frosting, you can make a simple vanilla or maple glaze to go on top of the scones. You can also sprinkle with coarse sugar if you like. Cinnamon cream cheese frosting would also be delicious.
Storage
These scones are best eaten the same day or frozen for up to 3 months. Let them thaw on the counter before eating.
Don’t Forget!
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Ingredients
- ½ cup mashed bananas 1-2 bananas
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup cold butter 1 ½ sticks
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
Frosting
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cream
Instructions
- Combine mashed banana, buttermilk and vanilla in a large measuring cup and place in the refrigerator until read to use.
- Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the bowl of a food processor and process to mix. Add cold cubed butter and process until the butter is pea size. Add nuts and process until combined.
- Add the buttermilk mixture and process until it just comes together. Dump it out on to a floured cutting board and form into a rectangle. Cut the rectangle into thirds and stack them on top of each other. Pat it down into a rectangle and repeat two more times.
- Roll the dough into a 10 x 4 inch rectangle about 1 inch thick. Cut it crosswise into 4 equal rectangles cut each rectangle in half forming two triangles. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400º.
- In a small bowl whisk the egg with a tablespoon of buttermilk and brush over the top of the scones.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Frosting
- Add the butter to a light colored saucepan and melt over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally. It will first melt then foam up. Once it begins to brown, watch it very closely then remove once it has turned an amber color and immediately remove from the saucepan to a glass bowl or measuring cup. Refrigerate until slightly solid.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the solid brown butter that is slightly soft with the cream cheese and beat on high speed until creamy and smooth. Add vanilla and salt and mix to combine. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed so that it doesn’t fly out of the bowl. Once incorporated, beat on high until smooth and creamy.
Notes
- Instead of a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter.
- When browning butter, make sure you remove it from the saucepan as soon as it is done. If left in the saucepan it will continue to cook and burn very quickly.
