Fresh Tomato Basil Scones
These fresh tomato basil scones are a delicious baked summer treat, made with fresh, seasonal produce straight from your garden or farmer’s market. They’re light, savory, and perfect for breakfast, picnics or a summer brunch!
Caleb and I really enjoy gardening and growing food for our family. It’s such rewarding and hard work and sometimes you end up with basketfuls of tomatoes. It’s been fun to experiment with different recipes over the years that incorporate garden fresh produce and this scone recipe was a hit! Did you know that if you plant basil beside tomatoes, that it makes the tomato plants stronger, more pest-resistant, and it improves the flavor of the tomatoes? A match made in heaven, I’d say!
Our favorite heirloom tomato varieties are Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Orange Accordion (looks like it sounds!). That being said, we are always on the hunt for more fun tomato varieties, so if you have a particular favorite, I would love to hear about it below in the comments! The particular basil we used in this recipe is homegrown Genovese Basil. You can get those basil seeds here from Baker Creek Seed Company. (We do not have an affiliate partnership with Baker Creek, we just absolutely love their heirloom seeds!)
Fresh Tomato Basil Scones Recipe Video
The fun part of making scones is that they feel fancy and special, but they are actually super simple to make. If you want to make it extra fancy, you can give the scones a light egg wash right before putting them in the oven. Whisk one egg with one Tbsp of water together and lightly brush the scones. It will give them that beautiful, golden sheen!
Watch the quick Instagram reel I made of this recipe here.
Tips for Making Scones
- One of the most important keys to a flaky, buttery scone with a good rise is not overworking the dough. Keep your mixing and kneading brief; just until they come together.
- Your cold ingredients needs to be, well…cold. This is important because you don’t want the butter to melt in the dough and lose its crumbly shape and texture. Make sure your butter and half and half are fresh out of the fridge. One tip is to take your butter out to cut it and put it back in the fridge until it’s time to add it to the dough.
- Resist the urge to make every cut-out perfect. Remember, the quicker you work and the less you work the dough, the better the scone. Even if they don’t look “perfect” going into the oven, they will come out tasting so delicious, and you will get better with practice!
Fresh Tomato Basil Scone Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour. 3 cups of flour, and a little extra set aside for your hands and your counter. We buy Central Milling flour in bulk from Azure Standard.
- Baking powder. Lifts the scone.
- Organic cane sugar
- Salt. We use Himalayan pink salt, Celtic salt or sea salt.
- Garlic powder. This is the secret sauce to these scones!
- Thyme. Powdered (or chopped fresh would be great, too) because…well, thyme makes everything better.
- Black pepper
- Salted butter. a sticker of cold, sliced butter
- 1 egg. We love using our backyard eggs!
- Half and half. Makes the scone rich and creamy.
- Fresh tomato. Garden-fresh, mmm!
- Parmesan Cheese
- Cheddar Cheese
- Fresh basil. Approximately 1/3 cup (handful), chopped
How to Make Tomato Basil Scones:
I love breakfast scones, but I don’t really enjoy sugar first thing in the day. These scones are a delicious and easy breakfast pastry without the sugar crash. With minimal prep time and no yeast proofing necessary, these are relatively quick!
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Go ahead and prepare a baking sheet with a silicone mat or cooking spray.
Thinly slice tomatoes and chop basil and set aside. I cut my tomato into quarters and slice thinly from there. 
In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and thyme.
Add cut, cold butter to the flour mixture and cut the butter in using a pastry cutter. Slide the pastry cutter from the outer edge towards the inside and rotate the bowl while doing that same motion. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, you can also do this with pulsing everything together in a food processor. You want the butter to be nice and crumbly!
Hollow out a circle in the middle of the flour mixture and add the egg and half and half. Whip egg and half and half together with a fork. Add the sliced tomato, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese and chopped basil. 
Mix everything together with a spatula. The dough will be crumbly, so add a teaspoon of half and half as needed until it works in most of the dry ingredients, up to 4 teaspoons.
Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a prepared counter surface and knead. Work with the dough as little as possible! Press it into an 8-inch disk. If it’s too sticky, add flour. If it’s too dry, add more splashes of half and half. 
Cut dough circle into 8 pieces using a dough scraper (as pictured) or a serrated knife.
Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet and into the oven they go! Bake the scones at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown ontop.
Enjoy, friends!
Fresh Tomato Basil Scones
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone mat or cooking spray.
- Thinly slice tomatoes and chop basil and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and thyme.
- Add cut, cold butter to the flour mixture and cut the butter in using a pastry cutter. If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can also do this with pulsing everything together in a food processor. You want the butter to be nice and crumbly!
- Hollow out a circle in the middle of the flour mixture and add the egg and half and half. Whip egg and half and half together with a fork. Add the sliced tomato, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese and chopped basil.
- Mix everything together with a spatula. The dough will be crumbly, so add a teaspoon of half and half as needed until it works in most of the dry ingredients, up to 4 teaspoons.
- Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a prepared counter surface and knead. Press it into an 8-inch disk. If it's too sticky, add flour. If it's too dry, add more splashes of half and half. Cut dough circle into 8 pieces using a dough scraper or a serrated knife.
- Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet and into the oven they go! Bake at 425 for 20-22 minutes, until golden brown ontop. Enjoy, friends!
Notes
