These flaky caramelized onion and gruyere scones are a simple savory scone that are buttery and soft on the inside with a slightly crisp exterior. Loaded with buttery caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, and fresh sage, these scones are bursting with fall flavors!
These cheesy onion scones are delicious on their own for breakfast or as a side for creamy pumpkin soup!
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What are Scones?
Scones are a flaky English pastry very similar to American biscuits, however they have a slightly different texture and often have additions like fruits or nuts mixed in.
While I love a good sweet scone, I'm partial to these cheesy savory scones!
You might also like these cheddar chive scones or these zucchini cornbread muffins!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these caramelized onion scones.
Pastry Flour - I always use pastry flour or cake flour when making scones so that they have a super light, tender texture. However, all purpose flour will work great if that's all you have!
Butter - I like using frozen grated butter for the flakiest gruyere scones!
Egg - Adding egg to scones is what makes them distinct from biscuits. It helps give scones that softer, fluffier texture.
Heavy Cream - Instead of cream you can substitute buttermilk if you have it on hand!
Sugar - I know these are savory scones, but just a little bit of sugar is still necessary.
Gruyere Cheese - Gruyere is one of my favorite types of cheese! It has a creamy, nutty flavor that just pairs beautifully with the caramelized onions! But these scones would be delicious with cheddar or gouda too! I also recommend using blocks of cheese and shredding it yourself as opposed to pre-shredded cheese because it melts better in the scones.
Onions - I recommend using sweet onions for the best flavor, but yellow onions will work too! Note: 1 large onion = about 2 cups sliced which then yields about ¼ cup of caramelized onions.
Sage - The flavor of fresh sage goes beautifully in these scones, but you can leave it out if desired.
Flaky Sea Salt - I always had flaky sea salt to the tops of these savory scones for both flavor and looks! I love using Maldon Flaky Sea Salt because it has the best flavor and texture.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Optional Caramelized Onion Butter
You need about ½ cup total of caramelized onions for the scones, so if you have a little extra you can make a caramelized onion butter to serve with the scones!
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- about 2 tablespoons caramelized onions
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
Just mix everything together and serve with the warm scones!
How to Caramelize Onions
Caramelizing onions takes a long time (but it's SO worth it for the flavor), so I like to make the caramelized onions the night before I want to bake the scones so that they have time to fully cool.
Thinly slice the onions.
Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the onions and season with salt. Cook slowly over low heat, until deep golden brown and caramelized, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Be sure to stir occasionally so that the onions don't burn.
Photo 2: After about 30 minutes, the onions should be slightly softened, but still pretty colorless.
Photo 3: After about an hour, the onions should be soft and beginning to brown.
Photo 4: After about 1 ½ hours, the onions should have a jammy consistency, be a deep golden brown color with a rich, sweet flavor.
Let the caramelized onions cool completely before adding to the dough.
How to Make Tender Gruyere Scones
Place the butter in the freezer for at least 20-30 minutes before grating. Use a box grater to carefully grate the butter into small pieces. Keep the grated butter in the freezer until you're ready to use it.
If you don't want to use grated butter, just cut the butter into small chunks and keep chilled until ready to use.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and egg, then set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
To the dry ingredients add in the frozen grated butter, shredded gruyere cheese, cooled caramelized onions, and chopped sage and mix in until everything is fully coated in the flour. Note: The caramelized onions will want to clump together, so be sure to fully rub them into the flour so they separate.
Then slowly drizzle the wet ingredients over top, combing as you go. Continue mixing until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky. If too dry, add in more cream 1 tablespoon at a time.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and gently press into an 8 inch round disc. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 triangles. [You could also form the dough into a metal scone pan instead.]
Place the scones a few inches apart on the lined baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired.
Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm back up.
While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bake at 400°F for 18-24 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Serve the caramelized onion gruyere scones warm with butter!
Tips for Flaky Pastries
Use cold ingredients! For most baked goods you want to use room temperature ingredients, but for flaky pastries (like scones, biscuits, or pie crust) the ingredients need to be very cold! Keep any butter, eggs, milk, etc. in the fridge until right before you need to use them!
Chill before baking! Chilling the dough for at least 15-20 minutes before baking helps ensure the butter in the dough is nice and cold and helps the pastries hold their shape. Cold dough + hot oven = perfect flaky pastry!
Don't overwork the dough! You want to mix the ingredients until just combined so that there are still distinct pieces of butter in the dough. This is what gives you those buttery, flaky, air pockets!
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping certain baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature. Some ovens also take longer than the standard "preheat" time to actually come up to the proper temperature.
Recipe FAQ's
These caramelized onion gruyere scones are best eaten the same day, but they'll keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also reheat scones in the oven at 350°F for 5-10 minutes.
Yes! After cutting the dough into triangles, place on a baking sheet and flash freeze them for 1 hour. Once firm, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months (I love using vacuum seal bags for this). Remove the scones from the freezer and place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let sit at room temperature while the oven preheats. Brush with cream and sprinkle with flaky salt before baking. You may need to increase the baking time to 22-25 minutes.
To make mini caramelized onion scones, divide the dough in half and form in to 2 5-inch discs. Cut the disks in to 6 small triangles to yield 12 mini cheddar chive scones (you can also use a mini scone pan). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Caramelized Onion & Gruyere Scones
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 large yellow onions, about 4 cups
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Scones
- ½ cup unsalted butter, frozen
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups pastry flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 ounces gruyere cheese , shredded
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped
- ½ cup caramelized onions
Top With
- heavy cream
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
Caramelized Onions
- Caramelizing onions takes a long time (but it's SO worth it for the flavor), so I like to make the caramelized onions the night before I want to bake the scones so that they have time to fully cool.
- Thinly slice the onions.
- Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the onions and season with salt. Cook slowly over low heat, until deep golden brown and caramelized, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Be sure to stir occasionally so that the onions don't burn.
- Let the caramelized onions cool completely before adding to the dough.
Scones
- Place the butter in the freezer for at least 20-30 minutes before grating. Use a box grater to carefully grate the butter into small pieces. Keep the grated butter in the freezer until you're ready to use it.
- If you don't want to use grated butter, just cut the butter into small chunks and keep chilled until ready to use.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and egg, then set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- To the dry ingredients add in the frozen grated butter, shredded gruyere cheese, cooled caramelized onions, and chopped sage and mix in until everything is fully coated in the flour. Note: The caramelized onions will want to clump together, so be sure to fully rub them into the flour so they separate.
- Then slowly drizzle the wet ingredients over top, combing as you go. Continue mixing until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky. If too dry, add in more cream 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and gently press into an 8 inch round disc. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 triangles. [You could also form the dough into a metal scone pan instead.]
- Place the scones a few inches apart on the lined baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired.
- Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm back up.
- While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Bake at 400°F for 18-24 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Serve the caramelized onion gruyere scones warm with butter!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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