Starbucks Inspired Frosted Maple Oat Scones Recipe (Whole Grain)
Whole grain maple oat scones are lightly sweetened and topped with maple frosting, just like the ones in our favorite coffee house. This recipe makes scones that are moist and delicious – with or without the coffee! Find more tasty sweet and savory breads like this on our Best Bread Recipes page.
I’ve been making these moist and delicious maple oat scones for years, ever since tasting the classic Starbucks scone. I like to think of my recipe as like a healthier version of a maple bar – not fried, less sugar, and all whole grains, but with all that maple flavor goodness.
Other maple-sweetened breads:
I’m calling these maple oat scones ‘inspired’ though, because I don’t add nuts like the Starbucks version – I prefer them plain and simple to let the all that maple flavor shine through. Of course, if you wanted to add nuts to be more like the original, no one is going to stop you – in fact I have a couple times…I just like them better without.

Which is weird, now that I think about it, because I’m usually the one wanting nuts in cookies, brownies, and other goodies. Oh, well, now is not the time to try and figure out the odd way taste buds work, instead let’s talk about these scones!
Frosted Maple Oat Scones

I’m pretty sure most of you would agree with me that moist scones are the best scones – no dry, crumbly scones, thank you very much. Of course we’re not looking for cake, though, so I’m happy to tell you that these maple oat scones strike the perfect balance between moist and scone-like, even though they are made with 100% whole wheat pastry flour as well as the oats.
Both the scone and the frosting contain pure maple syrup, but the scone itself is not all that sweet. In fact there’s only one tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 cup of maple syrup in the scones themselves. It’s really the maple-bar-like frosting that adds most of the rich sweetness that makes me think of that maple bar.

You can, of course skip the frosting, and go with either a dusting of sugar before baking or brush on pure maple syrup while the scones are still warm from the oven. I’ve done the maple-wash and it’s a different experience, obviously, but still good!

As with most scone recipes, they should be eaten shortly after baking for the best texture and flavor.
If you do have any left over you can freeze them with pretty good success – they won’t be just like fresh, but they’re much better than simply leaving them at room temperature or refrigerating them. (Tip: freezing shortly after baking, whether it’s scones, muffins, cookies, or breads, is how to keep most baked goods the best.)
So, do you feel like scones yet?

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Starbucks Inspired Frosted Maple Oat Scones
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup whole rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup cold butter cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup buttermilk milk + 1 teaspoon vinegar works
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup divided
- 1 to 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar*
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or silicone liner.
- Add the first 5 ingredients to the bowl of a mixer and stir. Cut in the butter pieces until small pea-sized pieces form.
- In a 1 cup measuring glass, pour the buttermilk and 1/4 cup of the maple syrup and then whisk in the eggs with a fork until beaten. Add this to the flour mixture and stir just until blended (the dough will be sticky still).
- Turn out onto a floured surface and gently pat into a circle with floured hands (be careful not to overwork the dough - just pat it all into a circle shape, about 1 ½ inches thick).
- At this point decide between 8 large scones or 12 smaller scones (the smaller scones are pictured here): for 8 scones, divide large circle into 8 triangles, separate them and place a couple inches apart on prepared baking sheet; for 12 scones, cut large circle in half and gently form each into smaller circles - cut each of these into 6 triangles and place on prepared sheet.
- Bake about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack with wax paper underneath to catch any frosting drips.
- Make frosting by combining the remaining 1/4 cup maple syrup with the powdered sugar in a small bowl and whisk until smooth (you may need to adjust the amount of powdered sugar to get the consistency you desire - I like more of a frosting than a glaze, but it's your choice).
- Divide the frosting evenly among the warm scones, spreading to cover the tops and serve as soon as possible (any leftovers are best frozen to stay freshest).
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in April 2014.
Other Quick Breads You May Like:
10 Grain Berry-Nut Muffins with Streusel
Orange Rhubarb Muffins with Glaze
Overnight, Real Food Monkey Bread







I wish I had one of these right now. These look so good.
Couple of things:
1) When using buttermilk or sour milk, other recipes and my experience say to use a little baking soda as well … for these proportions I might try 2 3/4 (2.75) teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.
2) Whole oats … do you mean the oat groats -that is the whole seed? Or do you mean whole rolled (old-fashioned) oats (not quick cooking oatmeal)?
I’ve always make these as I wrote here, Holly, and I don’t have any problem with using just baking powder. You can try any adaptations you would like, though. 🙂 As for the oats – yes, I mean rolled oats vs. quick oats. Thanks for clarifying that!
Thanks for the reply, Jami. With such a small amount of buttermilk, I agree that the need for part of the leavening to be soda is probably negligible. And yay, I always have rolled oats on hand! … I can buy whole oat groats on-line but not economical to keep on hand. I’m looking forward to trying scones. I buy them when I can, but live 140 miles from the nearest outlet; plus I like to know what ingredients I’m eating. Thanks again.
Looks fabulous Jami. I will definitely make these this weekend. Your recipes seem to work out just great – I officially walk on water now at work thanks to your recipes!! Anna
Oh, Anna, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing that with me – and I hope you enjoy these scones as much as we do. 🙂