Olive Scones with Vegan Feta
Flaky, buttery layers packed with kalamata olives and a dairy-free feta cheese.
If you love baking like we do, but don’t have the biggest sweet tooth scones are a great option. These olive scones with vegan feta are one of our favourite savoury treats we’ve made! Flaky, buttery layers baked to absolute perfection. You can swap out kalamata olives for any other olive, so if you’re not a fan of these try a different olive you do love.
Pro Tip: The best part about scones is that they’re super easy to freeze, so you can save them for later or just bake up as many as you need.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
Comes together in under 30 minutes.
Packed with savoury flavour.
Can be frozen and baked when a craving hits.
Top tips for making savoury vegan scones:
Keep the ingredients cold for flaky layers. Scones get their flaky layers when cold butter creates air pockets while baking. If the butter is too warm before baking it will melt before it can create air pockets.
Use a pastry blender. To keep the dough as cold as possible, we reduce contact with our hands as the warmth from them can melt the butter. Use a pastry blender to cut the vegan butter into the dough without raising the temperature too much.
Stack the dough for extra layer. For the super tall scones with many layers we cut the dough in half and layer it on top of each other2-3 times before pressing into a disk or square to cut into scones.
Freeze scones before baking. Like mentioned previously, the butter needs to be cold to create flaky layers. While the oven preheats, keep the prepared scones in the freezer right before baking for the best layers ever.
How to make olive scones with vegan feta:
Prep Time: 10 Min | Bake Time: 20 Min | Total Time: 30 Min
Makes: 8 scones
Ingredients
360 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour
12 g (1 tbsp) baking powder
3 g (½ tsp) baking soda
Pinch kosher salt
170 g (¾ cup) vegan butter, cubed
180 mL (¾ cup) soy milk
15 mL (1 tbsp) apple cider vinegar
7 g (1 tbsp) ground flax seeds
30 mL (2 tbsp) maple syrup
½ cup vegan feta cheese, crumbled
¾ cup kalamata olives, chopped
¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
Instructions
Note: Place your scone mixture in the fridge whenever you’re not using. It’s important to keep the dough as cold as possible to ensure you get flaky layers.
Mix all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until combined. Cut in cold vegan butter using a pastry blender until pea sized pieces. The butter should still be visible, varying sized chunks is what gives these scones their flaky layers.
Create a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the soy milk, apple cider vinegar, ground flaxseed, and maple syrup. Using a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry until a dough comes together.
Once the dough comes together add in the vegan feta, olives, and dill – fold until incorporated.
Once most of the flour is mixed in, turn out the dough on a clear surface and gently fold the dough until the rest of the flour is combined.
Press the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Cut in half and place one half on top of the other and press into a 1 inch thick rectangle again, doubling the layers. Repeat 2-3 more times to create dozens of layers of dough and butter. Finally press into a rectangle 1 inch thick then cut into 8 smaller rectangles. Place the scones on a lined baking sheet and set in the freezer for 1 hour.
After about 30-45 minutes of freezing, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Remove the scones from the freezer and transfer them to another lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown on top and dark golden on the bottom.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. They’re delicious when served warm or room temperature.
Ingredient Notes:
Soy Milk – This is our go-to non-dairy milk for most recipes, but you can substitute with your favourite non-dairy milk. We do not recommend using any sweetened milk as this will affect the savouriness of the recipe.
Apple Cider Vinegar – This can be substituted with lemon juice if you don’t have apple cider vinegar on hand.
Maple Syrup – Can be replaced with another liquid sweetener, but maple syrup is recommended.
All-Purpose Flour – We use our grocery store brand unbleached all-purpose flour. Any brand should work.
Vegan Butter – The Becel Plant-Based Sticks are our favourite vegan butter. You should not use a tub margarine as it will not achieve those flaky layers that make a scone what it is.
Kalamata Olives – These lend well to the Mediterranean flavour of the scones, but you can use any olives you have on hand.
Vegan Feta – Our go-to is the Nafsika’s brand, but have also used the Daiya feta which is more widely available and it works great as well.
Fresh Dill – We like using fresh dill, but dried dill works as well!