German Scones Recipe with Cinnamon Honey Butter (2024)

Posted: 12/21/2014

Total Time: 3 hours hours 50 minutes minutes

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Not your typical scones served with tea, this German Scones Recipe is deep fried dough that is served with Cinnamon Honey Butter.

Originally posted December 25, 2007 – The year I originally posted this recipe was the first year that my little family started the tradition of scones on Christmas morning. I’m happy to report that this tradition has continued and we have fried up this German Scones Recipe every Christmas morning except for one year when we were in a hotel on Christmas morning. This is a highly anticipated recipe every year. My kids were so confused when I made a batch of these to photograph. They kept thinking it was somehow Christmas, because that is the only time I make these! (Unless my husband wants them for his birthday.) I prepare the dough the night before and refrigerate it until we are ready for it in the morning. This makes A LOT, so I will usually use half of the dough on Christmas morning, and fry up the rest the weekend after Christmas. I’m not sure if these are actually German (the name was listed in an old cookbook) but we love them! They are kind of a mix of fry bread/sopaipilla/beignet/doughnut. It’s fried dough, and it’s delicious!!

The presents are unwrapped and our bellies are full. I am prepared to not have a decent conversation with my husband for the next couple of weeks because he will be too preoccupied by his new Xbox 360. All of the preparations we’ve made (or should have made!) over the last months are finished, and we can now put our feet up and take some welcome time off.

I love the holiday season. It just brings out the best in everyone. And I’m always sad when it passes. But this Christmas, I have been thinking a lot about how things change as we get older. I have realized that Christmas is a lot like Disneyland. It’s a blast when you are a kid. And I’m sure that it is a whole lot of fun when you are older and you take your own kids. But when you are in the in-between stage, like I am, it’s still fun, but it doesn’t quite have the same magic. I kind of feel like that is how Christmas is – it’s so much fun anticipating Santa’s visit when you are a kid, and I’m sure that when you have your own kids, you feel that same magic watching them as experience Christmas morning. But when you are in that in-between stage, you still love Christmas, but it almost feels like something is missing.

Although we don’t have kids yet, I decided that this Christmas would be the Christmas that we start our own fun and traditions. I figured now would be the time to start, and also so that I could try to bring some of the child-like magic into our Christmas.

Well, this was the first Christmas morning that we have spent with just the two of us (3, if you count the dog, and we always do!!). So we started with the first of our new Christmas traditions – this German scones recipe for breakfast!! It also helped that I got a nice new fryer as a gift!

If you don’t know what German scones are, I won’t be surprised. My husband has begged and begged for me to make scones for him for the longest time now, but he didn’t want what most of the world knows scones to be. German scones are more like a mixture between fried bread and doughnuts. My husband didn’t even know that these weren’t what most people know scones to be. I had my mother-in-law email me a recipe for them a few weeks back, but when I went to get the recipe yesterday, I couldn’t find the email. So, thank goodness for the internet. I did a quick Google search, and only a handful of recipes came up. Looking through them, they were all exactly the same, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong. (While over at the in-laws today, I looked at my mother-in-law’s recipe, and hers was the exact same recipe as well!!)

The beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can make the dough, let it rise, and then stick it in the fridge overnight. That way, if you made them for Christmas morning, you don’t have to dirty up your kitchen on Christmas morning, and all you have to do is fry them up. And they are delicious!!

If you notice from the picture, I learned a trick while watching a news program on Christmas Eve – if you poke a hole in the middle of the scone before you fry it, they are a lot easier to turn. These things really puff up when they hit the hot oil, and without the hole in the middle, they become a bit hard to turn because they are so top-heavy. These are really good served with some cinnamon honey butter, and it’s a cinch to whip up while the scones are frying.

It was a great Christmas – my husband said that it has been his best Christmas. I’m not sure if I could give all of the credit to the scones, but they certainly did make our morning!!

5 from 2 votes

Ingredients

Scones

▢ 4 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast 2 packages
▢ 1/2 cup warm water + 1 cup boiling water
▢ 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
▢ 1/2 cup butter cut into small pieces
▢ 2 teaspoons salt
▢ 3 eggs lightly beaten
▢ 4 1/2 cups flour
▢ oil for frying

Cinnamon Honey Butter

▢ 1/2 cup butter softened
▢ 1/4 cup honey
▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

For the scones:

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, 1/2 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside and let sit until it foams.
Put the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour the boiling water over the top. Add the salt, then the eggs and mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add in the yeast mixture and 2 cups of the flour and mix. Continue to add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until all of the flour is incorporated. (You may need to add a bit more flour, depending on external circ*mstances. The dough should still be sticky to the touch, but should be starting to pull away from the sides of the mixer slightly. I usually like to add less flour rather than more - if the dough is too sticky to work with, you can always go heavier on the flour when you are rolling out the dough.)
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and let the dough rise for about an hour, then refrigerate until cold. (I usually just leave the dough in my mixer bowl, but if you need it for another use, place it in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.)
When ready to fry, place 2-3 inches of oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. You want the oil to be about 350ºF. Dust your work surface with flour. Divide the dough into half, and working with one half at a time, roll the dough until it’s about 1/4-inch thick. Cut the dough into 3-inch squares. Puncture the center through the dough with your fingernail (or a knife) and place the square in the hot oil. Don’t overcrowd the pan - you’ll probably be able to fry 2-4 at a time, depending on the size of your pot. Fry until the first side is golden brown and puffy, then flip over and cook until the second side is brown. Remove the scones from the oil with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels.
Serve with the honey butter, honey, jam, or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

For the cinnamon honey butter:

Combine the butter, honey and cinnamon and beat until combined.

Recipe Notes:

*the dough can be refrigerated for 1-2 days before frying. You can also freeze the dough for later use.

Recipe from my mother-in-law