Each of these tender almond scones is stuffed with a soft, fragrant espresso filling. Toasted almond flour brings buttery nuttiness while the espresso powder adds depth of flavor and a bittersweet note. These scones are breakfast and a cup of coffee, all in one.
To make the espresso filling: In medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, confectioners’ sugar, espresso powder, and Instant ClearJel. Add the milk and almond extract and stir until smooth. Set aside.
To make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour mixture until it reaches a crumbly consistency.
In a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg, and extracts. Add to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula or fork just until evenly moistened.
To shape the almond scones: Grease the wells of a standard scone pan. Place two tablespoons of the dough into each well of the pan and pat to cover the bottom. Spread a rounded tablespoon of the filling in each of the wells; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Spread the remaining dough over the filling, using your wet fingers or a small offset spatula to cover the filling completely. Refrigerate the scones for 20 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F.
Bake the almond scones for 30 to 33 minutes, until they’re golden brown and a paring knife inserted into the center of the top layer comes out clean.
Cool the scones in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate.
To make the glaze: Stir together the sugar, vanilla, and enough of the cream to make a glaze; use less cream if you’d like to make a glaze thick enough to drizzle, or more cream to make a glaze thin enough to brush. Drizzle or brush the warm scones with the glaze and serve.
To toast almond flour: Line a baking sheet with parchment and toast almond flour at 350°F until lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes.
Instant ClearJel is critical to the scones’ filling; it holds it together during baking and gives it body after. We don’t recommend substituting a different thickener.
These scones perform best in a scone pan, where the filling is neatly contained. But if you’d like to bake them without a scone pan: Line an 8" round cake pan with plastic wrap. Put half the scone dough into the pan and pat it evenly with a small spatula or your fingers. Spread the filling over the dough.
On a floured piece of parchment, roll the remaining dough into an 8" circle. Use the parchment to settle the dough over the filling in the pan, patting it down gently. Use a bench knife or sharp knife to score the dough into 8 wedges. Place the unbaked scones in the freezer for 60 minutes while you preheat the oven to 425°F.
When you’re ready to bake, place a piece of parchment over the scones in the pan, then a baking sheet atop the parchment. Flip everything over, remove the cake pan, and peel off the plastic. Using bench knife or sharp knife, divide the dough into wedges using your score lines. Pull each wedge back from the center to give the individual scones some room to expand during baking. Bake the almond scones for 25 to 30 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove the scones from the oven, transfer to a rack, let them cool for 10 minutes, then glaze as directed above.
