These Lavender Scones were inspired by a wedding favour. You know, those little gifts that the wedding guests get to take home as a keepsake.
My lovely daughter got married this summer. It was a beautiful wedding, but I had forgotten just how much work goes into planning, and organizing a wedding! So many decisions to make, so many details to remember. To make it even more work, my girl decided to DIY most of the decor and favours. (Thanks, Pinterest!) So,I spent one weekend painting 50 mason jars. (Those were the table vases). And another one making up 100 miniature succulent gardens. And another painting tiny birdhouses. I’m exhausted just remembering it all. In the end, everything worked out beautifully, and was worth every minute of time and effort.
One of the easiest favours that we made were little jars of lavender sugar and lavender salts with buds harvested from my garden. They’re pretty and worked great with her country-style wedding theme.
A Few Ways to Use Lavender Salts & Lavender Sugar
And, these jars are useful for lots of things besides making Lavender scones.
Therapeutic Lavender Uses
Lavender is known for its calming and relaxing qualities. Both the salt and sugar can be used as an exfoliation scrub. Put some in the tub: the scent of lavender salts sprinkled into your bath is like being at the spa.
Culinary Lavender Uses
And lavender salts are nice on grilled meats or veggies along with some lemon. And you can sweeten your tea with lavender sugar to add a lovely floral note. There are a lot of other great uses for this fragrant herb. Check out this post on HGTV.com for more info about The Benefits of Lavender
How to Make Lavender Salts & Lavender Sugar
It’s so simple. Each 1/2 pint jar of sugar contains 1/2 cup of sugar and 2-3 tsp of dried lavender buds. Mix up the jars a couple of weeks before they would be used, so that the lavender infuses the sugar or salt. The result will be a subtle, but unmistakable scent and flavour.
Lavender Adds Elegance
Since we still had some of these little jars of lavender sugar, I was inspired to make lavender scones. Lavender has a subtle, floral herb flavour (and no, it doesn’t taste like soap), which is a great addition to these flaky, buttery scones. The lavender also adds a touch of elegance to ordinary scones, making them perfect for a brunch or tea time treat. (See how I used my mother in law’s fine china here?) These scones are perfect served warm with butter or honey.
Love Lavender? Then try it in a refreshing Lavender Lemonade, or a delicious Lavender Yogurt Cake
How to Make Lavender Scones
Lavender is the star ingredient in these tender, buttery scones, which are perfect for brunch.
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp dried lavender buds
- 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup cold butter cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or substitute (see note)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Whisk together flour, sugar, lavender buds, baking powder, salt, and baking soda
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Using a pastry blender, or your fingers, combine butter with dry ingredients until it resembles course cornmeal
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Add vanilla to your buttermilk (or buttermilk substitute), reserving 2 tbsp for brushing on scones.
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Add milk to dry ingredients and combine. Transfer pieces to baking sheet.
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Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead quickly until dough takes shape.
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Pat dough into a rectangle shape.
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Cut the rectangle lengthwise and then each rectangle in half. Cut each piece diagonally in half so that you end up with eight triangles.
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Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush the top of each scone with the liquid you are using, and sprinkle with sugar and lavender buds.
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Bake for 15 minutes until golden.
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Cool on a rack.
If you don't have buttermilk, use regular milk to which is added 2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar. Stir and allow to sit 5 minutes before using. This substitute also works with non dairy milks.
Colleen, is this a new look for your blog? Looks great, new or not. You don’t look old enough to have a married daughter. Must be your food….
Everything looks so appetizing and inspiring.
Lovely scones! I’ve never baked with lavender, but this would be a good way to start. It would taste great with honey!
Thanks Gabby! Yes they are perfect with honey. 🙂
So pretty! Culinary lavender has such a delicate flavour and I imagine it would be fabulous in these scones. I must try that sugar scrub. I have about 30 large lavender plants that I just let the bees enjoy. Time to put it to other uses, too!
Thanks Elaine. The bees do love the lavender, don’t they?
I love the look of your scones, which seem to be buttery and flaky/crumbly and not -the word I use more often to describe the majority of them- “cakey”. I happen to love scones, really really love them but cannot stand the ones that taste like a piece of moist cake. Hence, I am going to try yours, I have culinary grade lavender (lavender sugar as well) and a want for some good scones. Thank you! 🙂 P.s. Congratulations on your daughter wedding and for making it d.i.y.!
Nicoletta, thank you and I agree about the “cakey” scones. I like them to be light and crumbly like a true scone. I hope you do try these, and thanks for the congrats. This post is a couple of years old, and now I have a one month old baby grandaughter!
When using lavender sugar, how do I convert the sugar and lavender listed in a recipe?
Hi Megan, Simply use the same quantity of lavender sugar as sugar in the recipe, and leave out the lavender, which is what I did with these scones. Good luck with the recipe, and I would love to hear how it turned out for you! 🙂
I failed! I mixed up baking powder and soda when I was. Measuring. The burned, with 5 min left in the cooking time and had a chemical after taste. To tired to try again today, but I will soon!
Megan, so sorry to hear that! Don’t feel bad, though; we’ve all had our kitchen failures. Watch the baking time next time, as the recipe is only a guideline. Oven temperatures can vary and altitude is sometimes a factor. So I would set your timer for 10 minutes early just to check. Good luck next try! 🙂
What a lovely post!! Just found your blog 🙂
Thanks so much, Shauna! So glad that you found it, and I hope you come back often! 🙂
The first batch I tried exactly following the directions. They were very overcooked – too dark and dry. The second batch I dropped the temperature to 400 and cooked for 13 minutes. Much better color and texture.
Hi JC. Unfortunately, oven temperatures can vary greatly, and I can only go with my own when writing a recipe. As you can see by my photos, the scones turned out perfectly for me at 425° for 15 minutes. I’m so happy that your 2nd attempt turned out well for you, though. Enjoy!