The mouth-watering flavor combination of sweet and salty is encapsulated in these delicious miso caramel scones. Caramel and miso might seem like an odd combination, but trust me, it totally works! These soft scones are the perfect breakfast in the morning. Or serve it with a scoop of ice cream for a unique dessert!
Scones are British baked buns that are often served with jam or clotted cream. Since these caramel miso scones are drizzled with caramel sauce, I don't think you need to add any extra toppings.
Often times scones can taste dry and crumbly. And while these caramel miso scones are deliciously crumbly, they're also super soft and chewy.
If you love soft scones, try my lemon lavender scones! Or if you prefer more hearty, chewy baked goods, I recommend a batch of Slovenian Easter buns. They're traditionally served around Easter, but they're tasty any time of the year!
Scones like these are often served for breakfast or as an afternoon snack alongside a warm drink like tea. But trust me, they taste great any time of day!
Triangle vs. Circle Scones
Scones can be baked in different shapes, either circular or triangular. I prefer triangular scones because then you don't lose any dough as you cut them.
To make triangular scones, pat the dough into a giant circle, about 1 to 1½ inch thick. Use a knife to make four cuts across the diameter of the circle to create 8 equal triangles. Spread those out on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown.
To make circular scones, pat the dough into a giant circle or square, about 1 to 1½ inch thick. Use a circular biscuit or cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking glass to cut out circles in the dough. Spread the circles out on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown.
Why You Should Make this Recipe
- Scones are a "quick bread" which means they don't require any time to rise.
- The recipe makes 8 pretty large scones. But you can cut them into smaller pieces to feed more people.
- These caramel miso scones are full of flavor from the combo of caramel sauce and miso paste.
- The whole recipe requires less than 10 ingredients!
Ingredients Needed
- Unsalted butter - Cut your butter into small cubes then store in the fridge so it stays cold
- Milk - You can substitute any type of non-dairy milk; I usually use oat milk
- Lemon juice - Lemon juice combined with milk creates homemade buttermilk, which softens the scones
- All-purpose flour - Serves as the base structure for the scones
- Brown sugar - Sweetens the scones and the molasses in brown sugar adds a rich caramel flavor
- Baking powder and baking soda - Leavens the scones so they rise in the oven
- Salt - Just a pinch brings out the flavors of all the other ingredients
- Miso paste - I like the rich flavor of brown miso, but you can also use a sweeter white miso paste. If you don't have miso paste, increase the amount of salt to ½ teaspoon.
- Caramel sauce - Drizzled on top for a sweet and rich caramel flavor; you can use store-bought or homemade caramel sauce
How to Make Caramel Miso Scones
Prepare the butter and the oven: Cut the butter into ½-inch cubes, then return it to the fridge to stay cold and hard.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Prepare the buttermilk: In a small bowl, combine the milk (or non-dairy milk) with one tablespoon of lemon juice. Allow this to sit at room temperature to curdle and turn into buttermilk while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients: Toss the cold butter cubes in the flour mixture. Use your index finger and your thumb to squish and flatten the butter cubes. Continue tossing and squishing until the butter looks like thick cornflakes.
Combine the buttermilk and miso paste: Whisk together the miso paste into the buttermilk.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients: Add your buttermilk and miso into the dry ingredients. Mix with a spoon just until the dough sticks together and no large pockets of dry flour are visible.
Shape your scones: Shape the dough into a large flat round, about 1 inch thick.
Slice the dough into 8 equal pieces, and transfer the pieces to your prepared baking sheet. Spread them out so there's at least 2 inches between each scone.
Bake your scones: Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the scones are golden.
Drizzle with caramel: Allow the scones to cool for 10 minutes, then drizzle with caramel sauce. Enjoy!!
Tips to Make the Best Scones
What is the secret to making good scones?
Keep your butter cold. When cold butter hits the hot oven, steam rises from the water within the butter. This steam causes the dough to rise and lift, resulting in flaky and crumbly layers.
How do I keep butter cold?
I recommend to cut your stick of butter into half-inch cubes, then refrigerate it until you're ready to incorporate it into the dry ingredients. And if you notice that the butter in your caramel miso scone dough is getting soft before it goes into the oven, feel free to refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes, until the butter can cool and harden again.
How do you make scones more moist?
Buttermilk and brown sugar make scones more moist and soft.
In this caramel miso scone recipe, homemade buttermilk is made by letting lemon juice and milk curdle for 10 minutes. The acidity in buttermilk breaks down gluten, and it reacts with the alkaline baking soda to help the dough rise. This creates a more airy, cakey texture.
Brown sugar contains more moisture than white sugar, since it has added molasses. This makes scones more moist.
Should you rest scone dough?
Since scones are in the "quick bread" family, they don't need any time to rise before being baked. However, resting scone dough overnight in the fridge can make it easier to cut and shape your scones. I haven't tried this trick, but let me know if you do!
More about Miso
Miso (pronounced mee-soh) is a key ingredient in Japanese cooking. It's made from fermented soybeans. This umami-packed paste can take anywhere from a couple months to several years to ferment. And miso comes in a variety of colors and flavors.
Multiple sources say miso actually originated in China in the 4th century BC. And trade routes allowed Buddhist monks to introduce miso to Japan and Korea.
The base ingredients of miso are soybeans, salt and a mold called koji. Koji is also used to make the Japanese drink sake. Sometimes other ingredients are added including barley, rice, or rye. These ingredient additions along with fermentation time affect the final flavor and color of the miso paste.
Miso is most commonly found in Japanese restaurants served in the form of miso soup. But this wildly versatile paste adds a rich, salty, umami flavor to anything. Even miso banana bread!
More Caramel Recipes
- Caramel Popcorn without Corn Syrup
- Vegan Caramel Apple Dip
- Caramel Banana Pancakes
- Strawberry Baked Oatmeal with Caramel
- Vegan Butterbeer
- Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Vegan Apple Crisp
Caramel Miso Scones
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold (1 stick)
- 1 scant cup milk (dairy or non-dairy milk work well in this recipes)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoon miso paste
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- caramel sauce (for drizzling)
Instructions
- Cut the butter into ½-inch cubes, then return it to the fridge to stay cold and hard. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
- In a small bowl, combine the milk (or non-dairy milk) with one tablespoon of lemon juice. Allow this to sit at room temperature to curdle and turn into buttermilk while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Toss the cold butter cubes in the flour mixture. Use your index finger and your thumb to squish and flatten the butter cubes. Continue tossing and squishing until the butter looks like thick cornflakes.
- Whisk the miso paste into the buttermilk. It's okay if there are a few small chunks. This step just helps the miso paste incorporate into the dough.
- Add your buttermilk and miso into the dry ingredients. Mix with a spoon just until the dough sticks together and no large pockets of dry flour are visible.
- On a lightly floured work surface, tip the dough out of the bowl and shape it into a large flat round, about 1 inch thick.
- Slice the dough round into 8 equal pieces, and transfer the pieces to your prepared baking sheet. Spread them out so there's at least 2 inches between each scone.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the scones are golden.
- Once the scones come out of the oven, allow them to cool for 10 minutes, then drizzle with caramel sauce. Enjoy!!
Notes
- To create soft and flaky scones, keep your butter cold. When cold butter hits the hot oven, steam rises from the water within the butter. This steam causes the dough to rise and lift, resulting in flaky and crumbly layers.
- I recommend to cut your stick of butter into half-inch cubes, then refrigerate it until you're ready to incorporate it into the dry ingredients.
- If you notice that the butter in your caramel miso scone dough is getting soft before it goes into the oven, feel free to refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes, until the butter can cool and harden again.
Aria Estelle- infinitelyadaydreamer
Oh wow, these look delicious! A must try.
Humbly Homemade
Thank you! The salty-sweet flavor combo is my favorite. 😊
Azilde Elizabeth
These look really yummy! I've only had miso as in miso soup from a Chinese restaurant. An a miso salad dressing lol that's about it. Sweet and salty is a good combination!
Humbly Homemade
Haha I love miso soup! It's so cozy 🙂 I've been experimenting more with adding miso to baked goods and it's really yummy!