Butter scones are the most common type that people like to eat. These are the ones that you often see people eating alongside tea or coffee.
You might love eating these pastries on a regular basis. However, there are circumstances that might cause you to need to stop eating them quite as much.
For example, your doctor might tell you that you need to cut cholesterol out of your diet. If you need to tone down on butter consumption, will you still be able to enjoy scones?
Read on to learn about ways that you can enjoy scones without butter. This should help you to better understand your options.
Can Scones Be Made Without Butter?
Yes, scones can be made without butter. There are actually many recipes you can find online that don’t utilize butter at all.
Some people will tell you that scones won’t turn out the same if you don’t use butter. This isn’t completely off-base either.
Whenever you substitute one ingredient for another, it’s going to change the way that things turn out. Scones that are made using butter have a very particular flavor and texture.
If you don’t use butter, you’re not going to get the exact same results that you’re used to. So many people won’t be willing to substitute butter for another ingredient.
Using butter can help to make your scones turn out fluffy and tender. If you want to enjoy classic scones, it’s fine to use it.
When you want to try something new, there are options that you can look into, and many popular types don’t use butter.
Use Heavy Cream
Of course, there are scones out there that don’t use butter normally. Scones that are made using heavy cream are quite a bit different from butter scones.
Butter scones are a little bit dry, and they’re much more traditional. Heavy cream scones have a cake-like texture that makes them stand out.
When you bite into heavy cream scones, you’ll notice that they’re quite rich. They taste more like other pastries and less like the traditional scones that you might be used to enjoying with tea.
Often, these heavy cream scones are sold as desserts to go with coffee or tea at cafes. People commonly make these tasty scones at home as well.
You can easily choose to bake some heavy cream scones if you’re in the mood. However, doing so isn’t going to be healthier.
Heavy cream scones contain many calories. The heavy cream adds calories and fat to the scones.
So it isn’t “better” than butter scones from a health perspective. It’s simply a different way to enjoy them.
Try heavy cream scones for yourself if you’re not too worried about how many calories you consume. You can always hold back and eat just one scone, too.
Can You Use Margarine Instead of Butter for Scones?
It’s perfectly acceptable to use margarine instead of butter when making scones. People often use margarine as a butter substitute.
Understand that the scones won’t turn out exactly the same. This means that the scones you’re baking will be a bit different than usual.
This doesn’t mean that they’ll be bad, though. The flavor will simply be different, and they might not be as rich as you’re used to.
There are many margarine scone recipes that you can follow. Looking for a recipe that calls for margarine will give you the most predictable results.
Many people feel that butter is superior to margarine when it comes to making scones. You can try to make margarine scones for yourself and formulate your own opinion.
Almond Butter Works
Almond butter might be more appealing to you than standard butter. Using almond butter instead will add a little something to the scones.
When you use almond butter, it’ll infuse the scones with vitamin E. It’ll also improve the fiber content, and that can be very helpful for some people.
It’s easy to find almond butter at organic grocery stores. This should help you to make tasty scones that will go well with fruit flavors.
If you’re planning to make apple, blueberry, or banana scones, using almond butter is a good idea. This could be the butter substitute that you’ve been waiting for.
Applesauce Works
Have you thought of trying applesauce as a butter substitute? This might sound odd at first, but it’s actually a really good butter substitute to consider.
You can replace butter with applesauce easily. Simply use the same amount of applesauce as you would butter.
If your scone recipe doesn’t contain sugar, using sweetened applesauce is a good idea. It helps to make the scones turn out a bit sweeter, and they will be more palatable.
When you’re using sugar in the recipe, it’s fine to use unsweetened applesauce. No matter what, this is an idea that’s worth trying to see how you like it.
Try Mashed Bananas
Mashing up some bananas might seem like another strange idea. Can you really replace butter with mashed bananas?
This works nicely when you’re making scones. Bananas are very flavorful, and they’ll also add potassium to the scones.
Bananas don’t contain cholesterol, and they’re very sweet. You can use mashed bananas to make very tasty scones that will satisfy the entire family.
It’s also nice that you can directly substitute butter with mashed bananas. So it makes it easy to get good results.
Some might even wind up enjoying mashed banana scones more than normal butter scones. Depending on what you’re looking for, it’s going to be very pleasing.
Understand that these scones will taste fairly different. They’ll have a banana flavor, and that means that you won’t be able to use mashed bananas as a butter substitute when you want to make scones that have flavors that will clash with the banana flavor.
Various Types of Oil
Various types of oil can be used to replace butter in scones. It’s common for people to use canola oil as a butter replacement when baking pastries.
It’s also normal to use vegetable oil, coconut oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil, soybean oil, and even sunflower oil. You can see that there are many oil options that you can turn to.
Oil will add flavor to the scones. It’ll also be healthier than using standard butter in certain ways.
For example, many of the oil options will add omega fatty acids to the scones. Adding healthy fats will be better than what normal butter adds to the mix.
When using oil, you want to use only half of the requested butter amount. So if the recipe calls for one cup of butter, you’ll add one-half of a cup of oil.
Will Shortening Work?
You might be wondering whether shortening will work as a butter substitute. All-vegetable shortening should do a reliable job as a butter replacement when making scones.
This can be a good option for vegetarians, too. All-vegetable shortening contains no dairy, and that makes it perfect for those who are lactose intolerant.
The only problem is that it won’t add flavor to the scones. So while it can work out fine, it’s going to be necessary to add flavor in some other way.
Using margarine is likely going to be a better option than using shortening for most people. It just depends on your expectations and what type of recipe you’re using.
What About Lard?
Lard is another option that will work as a butter substitute. There are some problems with using lard for scones, though.
Firstly, it’s not a healthier option than using normal butter. Lard has a high saturated fat content.
So you might as well just use standard butter if you’re going to use lard. Butter flavors the scones better than lard does.
Lard is good when it comes to giving the scones texture, though. It can work as a substitute, but you need to keep your expectations in check.
If your goal is to make healthier scones, you shouldn’t even be considering using lard as a butter substitute. You’ve already learned about many better options.
Final Thoughts
Now you know that you can make scones without using butter. Many types don’t even call for it.
There are heavy cream scones that are more cake-like. These sweet and tasty scones are very rich, but they aren’t necessarily healthier than butter scones.
If you want to make something that’s closer to butter scones, you can try to replace the butter with a substitute ingredient. For example, you can use margarine.
Margarine does a good job of replacing butter in scones. You can also use all-vegetable shortening or lard if you’d like to, but those options aren’t perfect.
There are some interesting replacement ideas for butter that you can turn to as well. You can use canola oil or vegetable oil to replace the butter in a recipe.
It’s possible to use almond butter instead of standard butter, too. Many people find almond butter to be a delicious substitute option.
Mashed bananas work well when you’re looking for a butter substitute. You truly have many options that you can explore.
Applesauce can even work well if you’re in a pinch. Try out the butter substitute ideas that sound appealing to you and see how you like them.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.