White Chocolate Pistachio Scones

ByBailey Franklyn
1 Comment
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Sponsored by the Canadian Sugar Institute.

These white chocolate pistachio scones make the perfect spring treat. Light, flavourful and easy to make, they are a gorgeous addition to any celebration or brunch table.

pistachio white chocolate scone on a plate.

Quick Look: White Chocolate Pistachio Scones

  • ⏰ Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • 🔥 Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
  • ⏳ Total Time: 35-40 minutes
  • 🥦 Makes: 8 scones
  • 🍽️ Calories: 480 per scone
  • 📖 Dietary info: brunch, breakfast, bake good
  • ⭐️ Why you'll love it: delicious, easy to make and packed with flavour, these pistachio white chocolate scones will be a hit for whoever you make them for. You can also make them ahead of time and freeze them to save time!

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These White Chocolate Pistachio Scones might be one of my favourite recipes, and I'm pretty sure they will be yours too. Scones are delicious year round, but I really crave them during the spring. They make the perfect addition to any breakfast or brunch! And the best part is you can make them ahead of time and freeze them! I explain more about that process below.

If you’re looking for more breakfast or brunch recipes, check out my Strawberry Puff Pastry Pop Tarts, my Boursin Quiche, and my high protein egg and cottage cheese breakfast bake.

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Why You’ll Love this Recipe

  • Delicious: I've made a lot of scones and tried a lot of different flavour combinations, and this is definitely my favourite. I've tested them on friends and family, and I've gotten nothing but rave reviews.
  • Prep ahead: if you want freshly baked scones but you don't have time to make them the day of, you can make them ahead of time and freeze them. I walk you through how to freeze and bake in the FAQ section below.

Ingredients You'll Need

All the ingredient quantities are in the recipe card below.

white chocolate pistachio scone ingredients.
  • Pistachios - choose unsalted, raw pistachios, and ideally shelled (unless you have the time to shell them yourself). You'll use a food processor to process them into a fine powder.
  • Sugar - granulated sugar is key in this recipe for many reasons. I talk more about the role of sugar in scones below.
  • White chocolate - I like to use bars of white chocolate and roughly chop into chunks, but chips will work just as well.
  • Butter - your butter needs to be cold! This is very important to getting the proper scone texture. Unsalted butter preferably.
  • Whipping cream - sometimes referred to as heavy cream. This should also be cold.

Additions & Substitutions

  • Different sugar for topping: I used granulated sugar for the topping because it's one less ingredient to use. But you could use demerara-style sugar or turbinado-style sugar instead.
  • No white chocolate: Personally, I think the chunks of white chocolate make this recipe, but if you don't like white chocolate you can either omit it completely, or reduce the amount.
  • Dried cranberries: someone suggested adding dried cranberries (or dried cherries), and I think that would be delicious! They would add a pop of colour, and some additional texture. I'd suggest adding ¼ cup.

How to Make White Chocolate Pistachio Scones

pistachios in a food processor.
  • Step 1: Add pistachios to a food processor, process until they are ground into a fine powder.
dry ingredients in a bowl.
  • Step 2: Transfer pistachio powders to a large bowl. Add flour, baking powder & soda, sugar, salt. Use your hands to combine well.
dry ingredients mixed together with cubed butter in a bowl.
  • Step 3: Add the cold, cubed butter to the dry ingredients.
butter and dry ingredients combined in a bowl.
  • Step 4: Use your fingers to work butter into the dry ingredients until small, pea-sized pieces remain.
dry ingredients with white chocolate chunks in a bowl.
  • Step 5: Add the white chocolate chunks, and toss to combine.
dry ingredients with milk being added.
  • Step 6: Add the egg and whipping cream. Mix with a fork or hands until everything comes together.
scone dough being shaped on a counter.
  • Step 7: Transfer to a lightly floured surface, press the dough in a 9" circle.
whipping cream being brushed on top of scones.
  • Step 8: Brush the top with whipping cream, and a generous sprinkle of sugar.
unbaked scones on a baking sheet.
  • Step 9: Use a bench scrapper or knife to cut the dough into 8 triangles (like you would cut a pizza). Transfer to a baking sheet.
baked scones on a baking sheet.
  • Step 10: Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The Role of Sugar in Scones

Sugar plays a few important roles in these scones and all baked goods. Much more than just adding sweetness. Actually, sugar is also added to baked goods with savoury elements. Sugar helps with overall texture, flavour, and browning.

Sugar in these scones and other baked goods helps create a softer, moister final product. This is because sugar attracts and holds on to water. If you were to reduce or omit the sugar in baked goods your product would be drier and more crumbly. The sugar sprinkled on top adds texture, visual appeal, and extra flavour.

The sugar in the dough is what allows for the beautiful browning that signals when the scones are done baking. Caramelization (sugar + heat) and the Maillard Reaction (sugar + proteins + heat) are two chemical reactions that take place while baking that add colour and flavour.

I partnered with the Canadian Sugar Institute to create this delicious scone recipe. Visit sugar.ca to learn more about sugar and the role it plays in food.

White Chocolate Pistachio Scones FAQs

Can scone dough be frozen?

Yes! You can make your scones ahead of time (months ahead if you'd like), and freeze them. Follow the recipe, and freeze them after you've cut them into triangles - but don't garnish them (meaning don't brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar)! Once they're cut, wrap tightly in plastic wrap (I like to wrap each one individually) and freeze. When you're ready to bake them, preheat your oven, and bake from frozen. Brush them with the cream and sprinkle sugar right before going into the oven. They should take the same amount of time to bake, maybe a couple minutes longer.

What are the top tips to making the perfect scone?

To make a scone amazing, it needs to be light, and slightly crumbly. My biggest tips for getting the best final product are: make sure your butter is cold, don't overwork your dough, and don't add too much liquid. Once you can create a delicious scone, then getting creative with flavours and ingredients can help to elevate your final product.

What's the difference between a scone and a biscuit?

To preface, we're talking about 'American' scones and biscuits vs 'British' because there is a difference. While the majority of the ingredients are the same - butter, dairy, flour, leaveners - there are some differences. Scones typically include an egg, tend to be sweeter, are denser, and are baked at a lower temperature. Biscuits often include savoury ingredients, have more butter, are lighter and flakier, and are baked at a higher temperature. Also their shapes are different. Classic American scones are cut into triangles, whereas biscuits are in circles or squares.

More Sweet Recipes You'll Love

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white chocolate pistachio scone on a pink flower plate.

White Chocolate Pistachio Scones

Bailey Franklyn
Indulge in bakery-style white chocolate pistachio scones - buttery, flaky, and packed with white chocolate chunks and flavourful pistachios. Easy to make and impossible to resist!
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Breakfast, brunch
Cuisine American
Servings 8 scones
Calories 482 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 food processor
  • 1 baking sheet

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup pistachios shelled, unsalted
  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ cup sugar, more for sprinkling on top
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup butter, unsalted, chilled, cut into cubes
  • ½ cup white chocolate chunks 4oz
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup whipping cream, more for brushing on top

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Add the pistachios to a food processor, and pulse for about 30 seconds, or until they are ground into a fine powder (some bigger chunks may remain, that's okay).
  • Transfer the pistachio powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Use your hands or a whisk to combine everything.
  • Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients, use your fingers to work the butter into the ingredients until only small, pea-sized pieces remain.
  • Add the white chocolate chunks, toss to combine.
  • Add the egg and 1 cup of whipping cream. Mix with a fork until everything comes together, then use your hands to gently knead until it comes together. It might feel dry, but don't add more liquid unless you have to. And don't overwork, otherwise the scones will be tough.*
  • Transfer to a lightly floured surface, and press the dough into a 9" circle. Doesn't have to be perfect, but it should be all the same thickness. Brush with whipping cream, and sprinkle generously with sugar.
  • Use a bench scraper or knife to cut into 8 triangles (like you'd cut a pizza). And transfer to the baking sheet. Make sure there is space between each scone because they will expand quite a bit.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, and enjoy!

Notes

DOUGH TEXTURE: I prefer to keep my dough on the drier side, because you don't want your dough to be wet or sticky. If it's very wet, you're going to have a hard time cutting your scones, and they may spread when baked. If you're dough is so dry and crumbly that it doesn't stay together, then you can add a little more liquid. But I would add a little splash at a time. 
MAKE AHEAD: you can make these scones ahead of time and freeze them unbaked. Do not brush with cream or add sugar before freezing. Instead, cut into 8, and wrap each scone individually in plastic wrap, then put in an airtight container or Ziploc bag. When you're ready to bake, bake from frozen. Brush with cream and add sugar right before putting in the oven.
BAKE FROM FROZEN: if baking from frozen, the bake time should be pretty close to the original recipe. You may need to bake for a few minutes longer.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sconeCalories: 482kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 8gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 314mgPotassium: 197mgFiber: 2gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 857IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 122mgIron: 2mg
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If we haven’t met yet, hi hello! I’m Bailey, a Registered Dietitian and recipe creator. I offer 1:1 nutrition coaching and cooking classes to help make healthy eating easier. On my blog you can find easy, seasonal, vegetarian recipes! If you try this recipe (or any of my other recipes), leave me a comment with your thoughts!

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One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    The most delicious combination of flavours in one recipe! Let me know if you give this recipe a try!

    Reply
5 from 1 vote

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