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Home » Baking & Desserts » Christmas » Christmas Scones

4 November 2015

Christmas Scones

30.2K shares

Christmas scones – brandy scones with mincemeat and marzipan. A festive twist on a classic afternoon tea treat.

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Christmas scones - brandy scones with mincemeat and marzipan. A festive twist on a classic afternoon tea treat.I love to create a festive afternoon tea to celebrate December birthdays. I serve traditional afternoon tea treats (scones, sandwiches and indulgent cakes) alongside Christmas goodies such as mince pies and stollen too.  I always end up with a table groaning with food – perfect for a winter birthday.

In an attempt to fulfil my afternoon tea criteria without getting carried away, I decided to combine some of his favourite festive flavours into an afternoon tea classic – the scone.

Christmas scones - brandy scones with mincemeat and marzipan. A festive twist on a classic afternoon tea treat.

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 - brandy scones with mincemeat and marzipan. A festive twist on a classic afternoon tea treat.

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christmas-scones-3

Christmas Scones

Christmas scones – brandy scones with mincemeat and marzipan. A festive twist on a classic afternoon tea treat. 
Delicious served with mincement and homemade brandy butter.
5 from 8 votes
Print Rate Save Go to Collections
Active Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 9 small scones (or 6 larger scones)
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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

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a comment and rating at the bottom of the page to let others know what you thought.
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NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 33.9g | Protein: 3.5g | Fat: 6.3g | Saturated Fat: 3.4g | Sodium: 200mg | Fiber: 1.1g | Sugar: 14.3g

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.


Cuisine: British

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

Christmas scones - brandy scones with mincemeat and marzipan. A festive twist on a classic afternoon tea treat.


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30.2K shares

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. E S says

    December 21, 2020 at 1:46 pm

    Best scones ever!

    Reply
    • Rachel Fleming says

      December 04, 2021 at 3:58 pm

      5 stars
      I first made these last year, family loved them. Made them today.

  2. Louise Savage says

    December 06, 2020 at 2:24 pm

    5 stars
    Lovely! Tried these without the marzipan but will definitely make them again and will add the marzipan next time. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

    Reply
  3. LJ says

    May 20, 2020 at 12:43 pm

    5 stars
    Very nice. Very easy to make.

    Reply
  4. Vall says

    December 23, 2019 at 1:25 pm

    I found the mixture rather gooey. I had already put less brandy in, but it still seemed far to wet

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      December 23, 2019 at 1:32 pm

      Try adding a little extra flour to get it less wet. You can see in the video the consistency it should have.

  5. Lisa says

    November 18, 2019 at 11:34 pm

    Is it possible to leave out the marzipan without having to change the rest of the ingredients

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      November 19, 2019 at 12:39 pm

      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.

  6. Sally says

    November 10, 2019 at 5:11 pm

    5 stars
    Amazng

    Reply
  7. Rachel Occomore says

    October 23, 2019 at 8:25 am

    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

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 23, 2019 at 12:25 pm

      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.

  8. Caroline says

    October 20, 2019 at 6:39 pm

    I think these could be the best scones I’ve ever made, and the first without eggs, thank you x

    Reply
  9. Mary says

    September 27, 2019 at 9:31 pm

    Can you freeze the scones xx

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      September 28, 2019 at 9:18 am

      Yes. After defrosting them I would recommend warming them through in the oven for a few minutes before serving to soften them up again.

  10. Joanna says

    December 19, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
  11. Elizabeth says

    December 16, 2018 at 9:08 am

    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.

    Reply
  12. Charlotte Stroud says

    December 15, 2018 at 10:57 am

    5 stars
    Made these this morning and they are delicious, the house smells amazing too! Will definitely be adding these to our Christmas essential makes!

    Reply
  13. Kimberley Atkinson says

    November 29, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    Can you use any other alcohol other than Brandy such as rum or Amaretto?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      November 29, 2018 at 5:05 pm

      Yes, they would also word really well.

    • Jean says

      November 22, 2020 at 10:50 pm

      Juggled with this recipe tonight
      Left out the mincemeat and marzipan
      Added sultanas
      Ginger wine and 2 tsp mixed spice
      Scrumptious !!!

  14. Jo Upton says

    October 06, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    5 stars
    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

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 06, 2018 at 10:11 pm

      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.

  15. Hermione says

    November 29, 2016 at 10:04 am

    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 !

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      November 29, 2016 at 6:39 pm

      That’s what I serve them with but you could also have them plain or with just a little butter.

  16. Honest mum says

    November 11, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    Oh wow love he look of these and making festive scones-genius! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      November 11, 2015 at 5:30 pm

      Thanks Vicki 🙂 I’m totally in festive blog mode now.

  17. Dave says

    November 10, 2015 at 9:30 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      November 11, 2015 at 5:39 pm

      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

      November 12, 2015 at 9:55 pm

      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…

  18. Fionnuala says

    November 10, 2015 at 9:09 pm

    I bet these smell unreal. Fab idea Charlotte!
    #TastyTuesdays
    Fionnuala from http://www.mykitchennotebook.blogspot.com

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      November 11, 2015 at 5:31 pm

      They do, and they taste good too! 🙂

    • Ali says

      October 12, 2016 at 9:34 pm

      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

      October 12, 2016 at 10:57 pm

      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.

  19. Alison says

    November 09, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    I love the idea of Christmas scones, lovely

    Reply
  20. Eb Gargano says

    November 06, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    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

    Reply
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