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Toasted Coconut and Lime Scones

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Toasted Coconut and Lime Scones
Coconut and lime make a great, tropical combination in many different drinks and desserts. They also make a good match at breakfast, even though I’ll admit that it was a drink that inspired the creation of these Toasted Coconut and Lime Scones! The scones are made with toasted coconut and have a warm, buttery flavor to them thanks to the buttermilk in the dough. They’re just slightly crisp on the outside, with a moist interior where you can really taste the coconut. They’re topped with a bright and zesty glaze made with fresh lime juice, lime zest and confectioners’ sugar, which adds some extra sweetness to the scones and turns them in to something special.

It is easy to toast coconut at home for these scones, and toasting the coconut adds a little bit more coconut flavor – as well as a little bit of texture – to these scones. Coconut can be toasted in the oven or on the stovetop, but it can also be toasted quickly and easily in the microwave. I prefer to use sweetened coconut in this recipe because the scone dough itself isn’t too sweet, and a bit of sweetness highlights the coconut more. Fresh lime juice is going to give you the brightest flavor in the glaze. Fresh lemon juice is a good alternative, though I would definitely make the effort to go track down a juicy lime to put these scones together.

You could make these scones in any shape, from traditional triangles or biscuit-cutter rounds, to the slightly more unusual rectangles that I made. I love the clean and somewhat modern look of these rectangular scones, and the added bonus is that they are extremely easy to shape and cut. Whatever shape you make, just make sure that the scones are all about the same size and the same thickness to ensure that they cook evenly.

Toasted Coconut and Lime Scones
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces
1 cup sweetened coconut, toasted
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp lime zest
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add in pieces of cold butter and cut butter into the flour with your fingertips until no pieces larger than a pea remain and mixture is sandy.
Stir in coconut, buttermilk and vanilla extract until dough comes together into a ball. Dough should be soft, but not too sticky. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured and knead for about 1 minute until dough is uniform and no overly dry or overly sticky patches remain. Shape into a rectangle about 1-inch thick and cut, using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, into 9 even pieces.
Transfer scones to prepared baking sheet.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until scones are a light golden brown.
Cool for about 15-20 minutes before glazing.
Drizzle glaze onto scones with a fork and allow glaze to set for at least 5-10 minutes before serving.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, lime zest and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Glaze should be thick enough to drizzle with a fork. If glaze is too thin, add in an extra tablespoon or two of confectioners’ sugar. If glaze is too thick, stir in a few extra drops of lime juice.

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4 Comments
  • leaca
    August 6, 2012

    You were reading my mind…..scones, coconut, lime all sound heavenly to me right now.

  • These look SO good. I wish I had one to enjoy with my coffee right now!

  • Denise
    May 21, 2013

    These look amazing!!! Coconut and lime seem amazing together, I’m totally in the mood for these! 🙂

    I’d like to use normal milk, could I replace the buttermilk with normal whole milk and how much should I use, should it still be 2/3 cup?

  • Nicole
    May 21, 2013

    Denise – You might need slightly less, as buttermilk is thicker than whole milk, so just keep an eye on the consistency of your dough as you make it.

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