I adore banana bread. It's just as welcome on my breakfast table as it is on the dessert table, and it seems universally loved by kids and adults alike. This scone version of the classic quick bread won't leave crumbs in the bottom of your bag and makes for a very satisfying mid-day snack.

These scones have a mild, not-too-sweet banana flavor and a soft biscuity interior. I love breaking off large pieces and giving them quick dunk in my cup of coffee. I served these to house guests recently and we had great fun splitting the scones open to spread them with peanut butter, jam, and leftover brown sugar glaze.
A bit of whole wheat flour in place of some of the all-purpose would give these a nice earthy depth, something that I plan on trying soon. I also toned down my love of cinnamon in this recipe to make them a bit more universally palatable. If you're a fellow spice-fiend, feel free to add an extra teaspoon or two of cinnamon along with a good grating of fresh nutmeg.

Banana Bread Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze
Makes 8 scones
2 very ripe bananas (about 8 oz or 1 cup once mashed)
2-4 tablespoons milk, whole or 2%
1/2 cup (4 oz) plain yogurt, whole or 2%
2 1/2 cups (12.5 oz) all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons (2 oz) unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
For the glaze:
1 tablespoons (1 oz) salted butter
2 tablespoons (1 oz) milk, whole or 2%
1/4 cup (2 oz) packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4-1/2 cup (2-4 oz) confectioner's sugar
Mash the bananas and then add enough milk to make one total cup (if necessary). Stir in the yogurt and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Cut the butter into several pieces. Work it into the dry ingredients using a fork, pastry cutter, or your finger tips until there are no pieces of butter larger than a pea.
Pour the banana-yogurt mixture into the bowl with the flour and stir just enough to incorporate all of the flour. Fold in the walnuts, if using. This will make a fairly wet dough.
Line a dinner plate with a piece of wax paper and turn the dough out on top. Pat it into a disk about 1-inch thick and cover with another piece of wax paper. Freeze the scone dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Peel off the top layer of wax paper and invert the scones onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Peel off the second layer of wax paper. Slice the scones into eight wedges and pull them apart a little to give them some room to expand. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the scones are firm to the touch and turning golden-brown on the edges. Cool completely and cut apart any scones that baked together with a sharp knife.
To make the glaze, melt the butter and the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar and vanilla, and stir until the sugar has melted (heat for an additional 30 seconds in the microwave if necessary). Whisk in the confectioner's sugar, starting with 1/4 cup. Add more confectioner's sugar if desired to make a thicker glaze.
Just before serving, drizzle the glaze over the scones. The glaze will harden after setting for a minute or two, and can be served right away or packed for a later snack. The glaze can make the scones a bit sticky if kept for longer than a few hours, so store any scones to be eaten later un-glazed. Extra un-glazed scones can also be frozen and re-heated in a microwave or toaster oven.
Related: Lemon Rolls to Kugelhopf: 5 Sweet Morning Buns
(Images: Emma Christensen)
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Comments (35)
These look delightful, and I'm always looking for alternative to banana bread to use up bananas that I buy every week, but my family never finishes before they get a little brown. I think I'll use white whole wheat flour to sneak in a little extra nutrition, and I love that you used yogurt.
They look delicious, but is there a way to make them without dairy (milk and yogurt)?
Yum!
I have really been craving scones lately but all my recipes call for cream which I never seem to have on hand. I do, however, always have yogurt and 2% milk in the house so this may just be the impetus I need to finally make some.
This looks great, but I think I would go almond extract instead of vanilla, there's something about almonds and bananas that just works so well.
@urgan - Can you use an egg? That would make up some of the liquid. I'd also be curious to try adding a third banana. Also, if you freeze the bananas and then thaw them, you get a lot of liquid along with the banana mush, which might help. Or maybe almond milk?
Sounds like a fun experiment! Please report back!
These sound great! I'm also always looking for an alternative to banana bread for using up ripe bananas.
What gorgeous photography!!
Also, that glaze recipe is interesting, going to try!
Mine are in the oven right now! I'm not going to glaze them because...well, I'm on a wedding dress diet. Also because I like plain scones.
Okay, the jury's in: delicious! I used 0% fat Greek yogurt instead of plain, and as I said, I didn't glaze them. Still good!
Oh this looks soooooo good!
@chanmeleon - So happy that you like them! And congrats on your upcoming marriage!
Wohooo..I am sold here..an egg less scone looking so tempting with the glaze...baking it right now!
Lite Bite
Okay, now I'm confessing myself: I've never eaten banana bread
(it's not used in Portugal and though I was born in Canada we left when I was 8)
This looks sooo yummy I have to bake it (weekend project it will be!)
When you say granulated sugar is it white sugar (would it be okay to use brown instead?)
yummy looking, and on my to-do list for the weekend (well, tonight, local food challenge begins tomorrow).
I don't know when you added that print recipe feature, but thanks - it works really well.
i want to make these this weekend, too, sound wonderful !! i LOVE scones. this summer, had good ones in stratford ontario and port austin michigan.... YUM YUM YUM. thanks!
Where are the ripe bananas when one needs a few?!!
@beat_the_odds: next time you are at the store get a big bunch of bananas, when they get very ripe pop them in the freezer just as they are. They will turn black, don't worry about it.
When you want to bake you will always have ripe bananas ready to peel and mash for your recipe!
@sandra - Yes, by granulated sugar, I mean basic white sugar. Since there's not much sugar overall, I think it would be ok to substitute brown sugar. Your scones might end up more moist than they would otherwise. If you try it, let us know how it works!
YUM. I don't know if this is going to work, but I'm going to try this with macadamia nut oil instead of butter, and skim milk!
Oh, these look good. They're going on my queue...now to wait for my bananas to over-ripen.
oh, if only banana's weren't the price of gold over here in australia at the moment.....!
These are great! I toasted my walnuts, which added depth to their flavor. You can see my review of this recipe, and a picture (mine isn't as good as Emma's, above), look at it on cookbooker here.
for nonripe bananas- preheat oven to 350-400 degrees, place bananas on cookie sheet (with or without parchment, but they will ooze) and bake in the skin for 15 min. remove, let cool, peel off skin. you may need to adjust liquid slightly in recipe. :-)
OK, they are in the oven, baking up for staff treats tomorrow morning- added a little nutmeg and, since i'm not sure i'll be up to making glaze @ 5am, i sprinkled them with raw sugar before baking for a sweet crunch. they already look FABULOUS!
These ARE wonderful. They turned out just like the picture and the taste was very good. The scones aren't that sweet so the glaze gives that extra sweetness if you'd like or you can leave it off. I like the suggestion and also did add almond extract instead of vanilla in the glaze. I will do that next time.
I made these Sunday, and they were fabulous. The sweetness is perfectly balanced-- I usually reduce the sugar in dessert or pastry recipes because they're too sweet for me--this recipe is perfect as is, and the glaze is just the right touch on top. I did add a few scrapes of nutmeg and some pecans I had roasted ahead of time. The only thing I would do differently next time is to freeze the dough for an hour to make it easier to cut and separate, but not a big deal. It's probably a matter of individual freezer times--I keep mine at a lower setting.
This is unbelievably DELICIOUS!! I made a few adjustments: I used organic vanilla yogurt instead of plain, a tad of buttermilk to top off the bananas, and 1 cup of fresh ground wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups of organic white flour. Also, my hubby doesn't like nuts, so they were omitted.
The texture is FABULOUS!! The flavor is amazing! My children think it's wonderful and that we should make some for all our friends and family to share!
Thanks for a super recipe. It will certainly be a repeat at our house!
I made these a couple days ago. The recipe worked well, and they looked lovely, but I was disappointed in the texture. I was worried about the small amount of fat in the recipe, but hoped the banana and yogurt would compensate. They just weren't rich/moist/scone-like and the perfectly browned bottoms were unpleasantly chewy. The icing helps. I'm sure I didn't over mix or anything like that. They just need more butter. However, I'm guessing that if you eat them quite warm, they'll be fine. I like my scones at room temp, but this is one of those recipes that is truly best served immediately. The flavors are great, but I'd reformulate the recipe rather than make it again as written.
I finally made these today and I'm very pleased with how they turned out. I didn't have powdered sugar, so I passed on the glaze and just sprinkled the tops with sugar before baking. I like the texture and they ended up being the perfect level of (not too) sweet for me without the glaze, so I may not use it next time I make them either.
I was also thinking I might experiment and try a batch with pumpkin in place of the banana and amp the spiciness with pumpkin pie spice. If they come out half as good as these, I'll be happy. Thanks for the great recipe, Emma!
Its in the freezer at the moment, skipped the walnuts (don't have any) and used white whole wheat flour with some vital wheat gluten. Dumped half a fistful of dark chocolate chips in there too. Can't wait to see how it turns out
Thanks for the recipe! They are fabulous!
http://beckspick.com/2012/02/28/banana-bread-chocolate-chip-scones/
these were de-lish! didn't use a ripe enough banana to have an overwhelming flavor, but i was wondering...
what are your thoughts on using strawberries in place of bananas? i'm new to baking, so i didn't know if i should change any of the liquid quantity if i were to switch fruits?
Can I freeze this for longer than half an hour? Say a day ahead?
A friend made these today and I had to ask for the recipe. They were Phenomenal. The banana was just enough to lightly flavor and sweeten the scones and the texture was wonderful! I'm making them this weekend for the family. thank you!