Christmas scones – brandy scones with mincemeat and marzipan. A festive twist on a classic afternoon tea treat.
It’s Jon’s birthday in December and he usually likes to have a festive afternoon tea to celebrate. When I ask him what he wants to eat he always lists the traditional afternoon tea treats (scones, sandwiches and indulgent cakes) but then wants Christmas goodies such as mince pies and stollen too. We either end up with a table groaning with food, or he doesn’t get everything he’s asked for, which just isn’t right on his birthday.
In an attempt to fulfil all of his birthday afternoon tea criteria without getting carried away, I decided to combine some of his favourite festive flavours into an afternoon tea classic – the scone.
To make these scones all christmassy, I replaced some of the milk with brandy and mixed in some mincemeat and balls of marzipan. The marzipan melts during cooking and goes a bit gooey – really delicious if you eat them warm from the oven. However, the oozing marzipan can make them look a little uneven so if you like your scones neat and round, leave out the marzipan and add a slither in the middle of your scone when you’re eating instead.
Christmas Scones
INGREDIENTS
- 250 g self-raising flour - + a little extra for dusting
- 50 g unsalted butter - + extra for greasing
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 30 g caster sugar
- 100 g mincemeat
- 50 g marzipan
- 50 ml brandy
- 85 ml full-fat milk - + extra for brushing on top of your scones
RECIPE VIDEO
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC fan.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet with butter (or alternatively, I use a bake-o-glide sheet and greasing isn’t necessary).
- Put the self-raising flour (250g) into a large bowl. Cut the butter (50g) into cubes and add it to the flour.
- Gently rub the butter into the flour until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs.
- Cut the marzipan (50g) into small cubes.
- Add the caster sugar (30g), baking powder (½ tsp), salt (¼ tsp), marzipan, mincemeat (100g) to the flour and butter. Give it a quick stir to ensure that all of the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Make a well in the centre and add the full-fat milk (85ml) and brandy (50ml). I like to keep a tablespoon or two of milk back to add at the end to help collect up any stray bits of flour.
- With as little action as possible, mix the milk and brandy into the dry ingredients using your hands until the mixture has come together. If there’s any flour left at the bottom then add a touch more milk to help collect it up.
- Sprinkle a dusting of flour onto your work surface. Place the dough onto the floured surface and pat it flat, about 1½ inches thick (don’t use a rolling pin).
- Using a round cutter (I used a 6cm diameter cutter to make 9 small scones), press into the dough and carefully lift out the scone and place it onto your baking sheet. Cut as many scones as you can, ball up the remaining dough, pat flat and repeat cutting out more scones until all of your dough has been used.
- Brush a little milk onto the top of each scone.
- Place into the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes until they are cooked (I like to tap on the bottom to see if they sound hollow, as you would do with bread).
- Once cooked, remove them from the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool (or eat them while they’re still warm!).
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Recommended Equipment
- Large bowl
- Weighing scales
- Measuring spoons or teaspoon
- Measuring jug
- Round cutter – mine was 6cm diameter
- Baking tray (+bake-o-glide sheet or similar – optional)
- Cooling rack
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Egg-Free
- Peanut-Free (Contains almonds in the marzipan. The mincement is also likely to contain tree nuts)
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Lupin-Free
LJ says
Very nice. Very easy to make.
Vall says
I found the mixture rather gooey. I had already put less brandy in, but it still seemed far to wet
Charlotte Oates says
Try adding a little extra flour to get it less wet. You can see in the video the consistency it should have.
Lisa says
Is it possible to leave out the marzipan without having to change the rest of the ingredients
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, the marzipan is an addition rather than part of the main scone mix, so you can leave it out without adding anything else in its place.
Sally says
Amazng
Rachel Occomore says
Hello
How long would these scones keep in the freezer? Plus once defrosted what is the best way to store them & how long should they keep?
Many thanks
Charlotte Oates says
They should be fine for a few months in the freezer. Once defrosted store them in an airtight container and then just before eating I recommend warming them for 20 seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in the oven. This will make them taste freshly baked.
Caroline says
I think these could be the best scones I’ve ever made, and the first without eggs, thank you x
Mary says
Can you freeze the scones xx
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. After defrosting them I would recommend warming them through in the oven for a few minutes before serving to soften them up again.
Joanna says
I LOVE these scones. They are Christmas in a baked good. I made these for the first time last year and I couuldn’t get enough of them. I used my homemade green tomato mincemeat because that is what I had on hand and they worked out wonderfully.
Elizabeth says
I made these because I loved the idea of a christmas themed scone. Not only were they delicious but think they’re the best scones I’ve ever made.
Thanks so much for a brilliant recipe.
Charlotte Stroud says
Made these this morning and they are delicious, the house smells amazing too! Will definitely be adding these to our Christmas essential makes!
Kimberley Atkinson says
Can you use any other alcohol other than Brandy such as rum or Amaretto?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, they would also word really well.
Jo Upton says
I so want to make these but I’m the only one to eat them. Can you freeze them. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Regards
Jo
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried it, but they should freeze just fine. When scones have been chilled they can get a little too firm so once they’ve defrosted I’d recommend warming them in the oven (or a very short blast in the microwave) just before eating. This will soften the butter in them and get them back to being fluffy as thought they’re just baked.
Hermione says
have these been served with brandy butter and more mincemeat? It looks like that in the photo, but no mention in the recipe ?
regardless I am going to give them a go !
Charlotte Oates says
That’s what I serve them with but you could also have them plain or with just a little butter.
Honest mum says
Oh wow love he look of these and making festive scones-genius! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Vicki 🙂 I’m totally in festive blog mode now.
Dave says
These look great!! I always get carried away at Christmas and love Christmassy food – will deffo give these a try. They might cure my craving for being home…I miss Britain!
Charlotte Oates says
I remember you filling Hurry The Food Up with christmassy recipes last year. Have you got more to share for this Christmas?
Move back! It’s great here, really rainy and windy just like Britain should be.
Dave says
Haha! Don’t worry, it’s rainy and windy here too 🙂
Yep we’ll deffo have some more Christmas recipes coming along – just gotta perfect them first 😉
Looking forward to more of yours…
Fionnuala says
I bet these smell unreal. Fab idea Charlotte!
#TastyTuesdays
Fionnuala from http://www.mykitchennotebook.blogspot.com
Charlotte Oates says
They do, and they taste good too! 🙂
Ali says
Does the brandy have any affect when eating them as I don’t drink and was wondering about my children if I made them would it be safe for them to eat because of the brandy in them?
Charlotte Oates says
It doesn’t as the quantities are very small per scone. However, if you’re unsure then you could leave it out, they’d still work just fine (you may need to add a little extra milk or water to get the mixture to the right consistency). I made them without when I was testing the recipe and we enjoyed them (we just enjoyed them a little bit more with it in which is why it’s in the final recipe). Personally I kept these well away from my kids when I made them, I doubt they’d have any effect on them at all but feeding them brandy filled treats didn’t feel like the right thing to do.
Alison says
I love the idea of Christmas scones, lovely
Eb Gargano says
What a brilliant idea! I love scones, but have never thought of making them Christmassy. I will have to give these a go! Eb x