Utilizing my master scone recipe, make your scones using many ingredients such as chocolate chips, fruit or cheese, and other herbs. These better-than-the-bakery treats are flaky, flavorful, and moist with crisp, crumbly edges. There are plenty of instructions and step-by-step photos; however, you can go straight into the recipe!
Scones can be sweet or savory great with coffee and tea. They are an excellent choice for bridal showers, baby showers, brunch and snack time, Bake auctions, Mother’s Day, and whenever coffee or muffins are in order.
However, based on the ingredients and the method, Scones can turn out dry and sandpapery and have a taste similar to that of cardboard. They may also be over-spread and taste bland. However, boring isn’t in our scone vocabulary!! My scone recipe is simple and promises uniquely buttery and crisp Scones that have crumbly corners and a soft, flaky exterior.
I have many Scones recipes, starting with the same basic formula. Let’s go over the basics so that you know how to make the finest Scones. Relax, since there’s plenty to talk about in this post!
What are Scones?
The place you live in depends on where you are; the meaning of “scone” differs. English Scones are more like American biscuits, often served with jam, butter, or Clotted cream. American Scones are different. However, that’s not necessarily negative! Today’s Scones are sweeter, heavier, and rarely covered with butter because there’s so much butter in the scones. While they’re sweet, there’s space for vanilla frosting or a sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar on the top. Here’s my favorite recipe for making traditional Scones.
Scones are baked with baking powder, which means making they can be made in a matter of minutes. Blueberry Scones are my preferred variety; however, they quickly change to pumpkin Scones during fall!
Just seven ingredients in this basic recipe for a Scone
There are only seven ingredients for my recipe master recipe for scones.
Flour 2 cups of all-purpose flour are my usual amount. However, set aside an additional amount on the work surface and your hands.
Sugar The recipe I use is about half a cup of sugar to make this Scone dough. Feel free to reduce the sugar a bit the sugar, but remember that the texture and flavor may alter. Reduce it to 2 Tablespoons to get savory flavors. Brown sugar can also be used. Suppose you are using brown sugar; mix it with the other ingredients until you can eliminate any lumps. For example, see my caramel apple scones.
ButterBesides breadcrumbs, butter can be the primary ingredient in the scones. It is responsible for its flakiness, flavor, crisp edges, and rising.
Heavy cream as well as ButtermilkFor most delicious pastries, choose an extremely thick liquid like buttermilk or heavy cream. I typically use heavy cream; however, for those who want a slightly tart flavor, try buttermilk. Thinner liquids can alter the taste and appearance. You’ll be on one-way streets to bland, dry, plain Scones.
The egg adds flavor, lifting, and structure.
Additional: Vanilla extract adds sweetness to scone cakes; however, you should avoid it if making savory Scones. Based on the flavor, the cinnamon extract is a popular ingredient.
Don’t forget to add the additions! Please scroll down for all my top scone flavor combinations.
Learn to Make Scones from Scratch
Now that you know the best ingredients and which ones are not, let’s make scones!
Mix all the dry ingredients. Make use of a large mixing bowl to ensure ample space for mixing.
Cut into the frozen grated butter. You can employ a pastry cutter or two forks as we would use with pie crusts or even your hands. A food processor can also be used. However, it can overwork the dough for scones. To avoid making scones too dense, make sure to work the dough as minimally as possible. It’s messy and crumbly. Great thing!
Brush using heavy cream or buttermilk. For a golden brown, crispy, and smoky exterior, brush with liquid before baking. For extra crunch, sprinkling some refined sugar is always the best option!
Refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes. Keep scone dough as cool as you can. To avoid spreading too thinly scones, I suggest chilling the scones in a scone shape for a minimum of fifteen minutes inside the fridge before baking. You could even freeze overnight for breakfast, which is quick at the beginning of the day!
Make sure to bake until they are golden in color. Scones bake in a moderately hot oven for just 20-25 minutes.
Cold Ingredients & Frozen Grated Butter
Making sure the dough is as chilled as possible will prevent over-spreading. When scones spread too much when baked, they lose their fluffy, moist, and delightfully crumbly texture. That’s right; they’re destroyed. The best method to prevent disaster is to use cold ingredients, such as eggs, cold heavy cream, and egg and butter.
However, frozen butter is the most essential ingredient for success.
Mix with the chilled butter to form crumbles like the pie crust and pie crusts. The crumbs of flour and butter melt as the scones bake, dispersing steam and forming air pockets. These pockets form a flaky middle while leaving the edges crispy and crumbly. Butter that has been refrigerated may melt in the dough while you work with it; however, the frozen butter can be used until baking. Also, the more finely sliced butter that is cold, the smaller the spread of scones and the faster the butter blends in the other ingredients. Remember that you don’t want to work too hard on the scone dough.
Instructions
Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in an enormous bowl. Grate the frozen butter with the box grates. Mix it with the flour mixture and mix using the help of a pastry cutter or two forks and your hands until the mix is brought together in a pea-sized amount of crumbs. Watch the video above for a more detailed glimpse of the texture. Put the mixture in the refrigerator or freezer while mixing the dry ingredients.
Mix 1 Cup heavy cream eggs and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Sprinkle the flour mixture with the drizzling, add the other ingredients, and mix until it appears moist.
To make triangle scones Place the dough on the counter. With floured hands, form the dough to create a small ball the best you can. The dough will become sticky. If the dough is too dry, you can add a bit more flour. If it appears dry, add another 1-2 Tablespoons of thick cream. Form into an 8-inch disc, then, using an abrasive knife or scraper for the bench to cut in 8 pieces. Roll the dough into two 5-inch disks for smaller scones, then cut each into eight wedges. To create 10-12 drop scones: Mix the dough in a bowl until it is incorporated. Drop scones, approximately 1/4 cup of dough per 3 inches apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment. To make miniature (petite) small scones, read the notes on the recipe.