These were supposed to be carrot cake scones, but then once I tried one… I realized they were more of a scuffin. Which makes sense, since they’re based off of a cake, and what is a muffin if not cake? So we’ll pretend these were entirely intentional Carrot Cake Scuffins.
For those unfamiliar with scuffins, they are a muffin-scone hybrid that my family was introduced to at the coffee shop Dr. Insomniac’s in Novato, CA. The unique texture, and chunks of cream cheese in the blueberry ones, really make them exceptional. They aren’t as crumbly as scones, but not as cake-like as muffins. A great hybrid.
These carrot cake ones just get a bit more moisture from the carrots that send them into scuffin texture territory. The cream cheese chunks are also pretty inspired! It felt like a better way to integrate the classic cream cheese/carrot cake pairing than doing a cream cheese glaze, which a lot of recipes use.
I also had some leftover cream cheese, so I saved some cream cheese chunks for future use. It’s a pretty good hack for getting an almost cheesecake-chunk effect!
Easter feels about as late as it ever gets this year, and I plan to make a proper carrot cake for Easter this year. But since I’ve been waiting for Easter for what feels like months, I decided to jump ahead and make something else carrot cake in the meantime.
Somehow, I feel like I haven’t baked many carrot cakes in my life. Maybe once before? But considering my penchant for carrots… that’s surprising! So I’m also making up for it by making these carrot cake scuffins!
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PinIngredients
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
- 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrot
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Mix together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and incorporated. Spread out into a thin layer on parchment or Silpat, and freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add the cold butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a fork, a pastry blender, or your fingers. Stop when the mixture resembles wet sand. There may be some pea-size butter pieces remaining and that’s ok.
Stir in the carrots. Pour in the heavy cream and stir gently until a shaggy dough is formed.
Take the cream cheese out of the freezer and chop into small, chocolate-chunk-sized bits. Gently fold these into the dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface or parchment paper, and pat it into a 1-inch thick disk. With a bench scraper or a very sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 even wedges. Arrange the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Brush a little heavy cream over the tops of the scones and sprinkle with coarse or turbinado sugar if desired.
Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking.
Bake scones for 17-18 minutes, until they are just beginning to brown and smell delicious. Let cool for at least few minutes before eating.
Optional: melt white chocolate and drizzle over the top of the scones.
Notes
Adapted from Katie Bird Bakes