These delicious gluten-free scones are buttery, flaky, and just a little bit sweet! The shredded coconut and chocolate chips add an excellent texture and the coconut milk makes them even more buttery! This is THE best sweet gluten-free scone flavor. Our taste testers, both gluten-free and non, chose this one every time!
These scones are easily made dairy-free with dairy-free butter and we make the vegan option all the time! Change the mix ins to make a variety of tasty sweet or savory gluten-free scones.
These delicious gluten-free scones are excellent any time of year! They make a wonderful brunch treat and we especially enjoy them for birthdays, Mother's Day, or Christmas mornings.
The coconut and chocolate chip flavor is a copycat of a flavor sold at the Whole Foods Bakery. They remind me of grad school Sundays when I would pick up a scone and grab a Starbucks coffee to set me up for a day of studying and research.
Enjoy these scones with one of our tasty coffee drinks like this easy Iced Mocha, Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso, or a latte or Americano made with French Press Espresso or AeroPress Espresso.
For more tasty gluten-free breakfast recipes, check out my Gluten-Free Blueberry Scones, Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins, Dairy-Free French Toast, Coconut Crunch French Toast, Gluten-Free Apple Coffee Cake, and Southwest Breakfast Skillet.
How to make it (with photos)
Whether you're looking to make this exact chocolate chip coconut flavor, plain gluten free scones, or another flavor variety, we have instructions and tips for you here!
Ingredients Notes + Substitutions
This picture shows exactly what I used to make these gluten-free scones. The notes below, and variations section following, will help you adjust this recipe to make your perfect version!
Full Fat Coconut Milk
You can actually use any type of milk in this recipe and it will work out just fine. However, I like full fat coconut milk best because it enhances the coconut flavor and they taste extra buttery! If using buttermilk, omit the vinegar.
All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
I tried this recipe with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 and Pamela's All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour. I slightly prefer the texture with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 but they were very similar and both delicious.
Cold Butter
Make sure it is cold! I leave it in the refrigerator until just before I use it. For dairy-free and vegan, I like Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks and prefer salted butter over unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Apple Cider Vinegar- Vinegar interacts with the baking powder to help make these gluten-free scones soft and fluffy on the inside. You can omit this ingredient entirely if you don't have it but the scones will be more dense without vinegar.
- Egg - For egg-free and vegan scones, simply replace the egg with 3 tablespoons of water. I've done this many times and it works great!
- Sugar - This is a really great recipe to use coconut sugar if you have it, and it's my preference for this recipe. Light brown sugar or regular white sugar will work fine too.
See the recipe card for full ingredients with quantities.
Variations
Vegan, dairy-free, savory, or a swap of gluten-free scone flavors or mix-ins are all covered here!
- Vegan Gluten-Free Scones - Use vegan butter and replace the egg with 3 tablespoons of water. See the above substitutions section for more details on specific vegan ingredient substitutions I like.
- Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Scones - Use dairy-free butter. I like Earth Balance Vegan Buttery sticks for this recipe.
- Change the Mix-ins - As long as you don't exceed the 1 ⅓ cups of overall mix-ins in this recipe, your gluten-free scones will turn out great.
- No Mix-ins - For a classic, buttery, and slightly sweet scone recipe, omit the mix-ins all together. You will want to decrease the size of your dough-disk to about 6-7 inches since there is less overall dough.
- Savory Gluten-Free Scones - Use 2 tablespoons of sugar instead of ½ cup of sugar. Then add up to 2 cups of savory mix-ins like crispy crumbled cooked bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and chives.
For gluten-free fruit scones, check out my Gluten-Free Blueberry Scones!
Step-by-Step Instructions
In 10 short steps, let me show you how to make gluten-free scones quickly and easily! This recipe is beginner-friendly.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper, or grease generously.
- Wet Ingredients: In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the coconut milk, vanilla extract, egg, and vinegar. Set aside.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the Butter: Chop the cold butter into chunks and work it into the dough with a pastry cutter or your hands. When finished, the pieces of butter should be blueberry sized or smaller and it should be well distributed into the dough.
- Mix-ins: Add the dried coconut and chocolate chips to the butter and flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Form the Dough: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix with the spatula or spoon until just mixed but uniform in texture throughout. It is ok if your dough seems a bit dry.
- Form a Disc: Flour both hands generously and transfer the dough to the center of your prepared baking sheet. Use your hands to gently push the dough into a ball in the center of the baking sheet before gently pressing it into a disk about 7-8 inches in diameter. Cut the disk into 8 equal sections with a sharp knife.
The texture may still be quite crumbly or a little more moist depending on the GF flour you use and the butter temperature, but in either case it should still turn out great! - Bake: Bake for 22 minutes. Then remove the scones from the oven and use a greased knife or thin spatula to separate the wedges at least ½ inch from each other so they can crisp on all sides. Return to the oven for another 6-8 minutes or until the scones are set and lightly golden brown on the outside.
- Glaze: Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon of coconut milk to to the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Add more coconut milk in small increments as desired to thin.
- Cool: Cool on a cooling rack before glazing . Or if you can't wait, allow 10 minutes to cool and drizzle on glaze just before eating!
Troubleshooting
As mentioned in step 7, there are several factors that can affect the texture of your gluten-free scone dough. The butter temperature, the temperature of the room, if measuring in cups or grams, and the type of gluten-free flour can all affect how moist or dry your scone dough is upon forming a disk and baking. Whether more moist or crumbly, this recipe still works out well.
- Dough is dry: If your dough is super dry and cracked and will not hold together at all, add a couple tablespoons of coconut milk or water.
- Dough is too soft: If you used cold butter but still cannot form a disk because the dough is too soft, add a couple extra tablespoons of gluten-free flour.
You will not likely need to make any of these changes but if you are very concerned about the texture, use your best judgement to make adjustments.
Expert Tips
These expert tips will help you make perfect gluten-free scones on the first try!
Read the Instructions fully before beginning this recipe.
These gluten-free scones need to be baked for 22 minutes in their tight disk before separating them for the last 6-8 minutes to crisp up the edges.
Without separating them, the baking time will be too short. This method maintains a crisp outside and a soft inside for the best gluten-free scone texture!
I also recommend checking out the step-by-step photos in the "how to make it" section.
Cube the butter first, then store it briefly in the freezer.
Keeping the butter cold right up until you use it is the secret to flaky gluten-free scones.
Using a pastry cutter will help keep the butter cold, but I find that mixing with my hands is just fine, especially when I store the butter briefly in the freezer after cubing.
Recipe FAQs
Here I answered some frequently asked questions about this gluten-free scones recipe. Don't see your question? Leave it in the comments at the end of this post and I'll answer within two business days.
After cooling completely, store leftover gluten-free scones in an airtight container at a cool room temperature for 2-3 days. In the refrigerator, they will last for 6-7 days and taste best when allowed to return to room temperature or warmed slightly.
I like to use vegan buttery sticks and they work exactly like regular butter! Treat it the same way and cube it and keep it cold right until it's needed in the recipe.
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card or comment field below. Thank you!
📖 Recipe
BEST Gluten-Free Scones (vegan option)
Ingredients
WET INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk (120 ml)
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose gluten-free flour (285 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar - I used coconut sugar but white or brown sugar will work too (70 grams)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
MIX-INS
GLAZE
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (90 grams)
- 1-2 tablespoons coconut milk or other dairy-free milk
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper, or grease generously.
- Wet Ingredients: In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the coconut milk, vanilla extract, egg, and vinegar. Set aside.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the Butter: Chop the cold butter into chunks and work it into the dough with a pastry cutter or your hands. When finished, the pieces of butter should be blueberry sized or smaller and it should be well distributed into the dough.
- Mix-ins: Add the dried coconut and chocolate chips to the butter and flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Form the Dough: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix with the spatula or spoon until just mixed but uniform in texture throughout. It is ok if your dough seems a bit dry.
- Form a Disc: Flour both hands generously and transfer the dough to the center of your prepared baking sheet. Use your hands to gently push the dough into a ball in the center of the baking sheet before gently pressing it into a disk about 7-8 inches in diameter. Cut the disk into 8 equal sections with a sharp knife. The texture may still be quite crumbly or a little more moist depending on the GF flour you use and the butter temperature, but in either case it should still turn out great!
- Bake: Bake for 22 minutes. Then remove the scones from the oven and use a greased knife or thin spatula to separate the wedges at least ½ inch from each other so they can crisp on all sides. Return to the oven for another 6-8 minutes or until the scones are set and lightly golden brown on the outside.
- Glaze: Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon of coconut milk to to the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Add more coconut milk in small increments as desired to thin.
- Cool: Cool on a cooling rack before glazing . Or if you can't wait, allow 10 minutes to cool and drizzle on glaze just before eating!
Notes
Variations and Substitutions
- Vegan Gluten-Free Scones - Use vegan butter and replace the egg with 3 tablespoons of water. No egg replacers are needed. The texture is nearly the same but the scones do fall apart a little more easily. See the ingredients section in the blog post for more details on specific vegan ingredient substitutions I like.
- Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Scones - Use dairy-free butter. I like Earth Balance Vegan Buttery sticks for this recipe.
- Change the Mix-ins - As long as you don't exceed the 1 ⅓ cups of overall mix-ins I used in this recipe, your gluten-free scones will turn out great.
- No Mix-ins - For a classic, buttery, and slightly sweet scone recipe, omit the mix-ins all together. You will want to decrease the size of your dough-disk to about 6-7 inches since there is less overall dough.
- Savory Gluten-Free Scones - Use 2 tablespoons of sugar instead of ½ cup of sugar. Then add up to 2 cups of savory mix-ins like crispy crumbled cooked bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and chives.
- For Gluten-Free Fruit Scones, check out my Gluten-Free Blueberry Scones!
Lily says
Yum! Tried them with chopped up dried cherries, chocolate chips, and substituted almond extract for the vanilla. I topped them with sliced almonds and served them for a special family brunch. Huge hit!!!
Sheryl says
These are amazing! I haven’t had good scones since I was diagnosed with celiac. Thank you so much! My family devoured them, so I guess I’ll be making them again soon!!
Lydia says
These gluten-free scones have a fantastic texture! We made the chocolate coconut flavor, and they are the best scones I’ve ever had, gluten-free or not!