Scones are a special part of the Cookery School experience, so we are strict with exactly how they are made – after all, they are notorious for causing culinary disasters! We love making them for breakfast and do a whole range of different flavours – regular with jam and cream (or cream and jam), apple, raisin, cheese and herb and even whisky-flavoured, served with whisky whipped cream.
These beautiful baked goods are very easy to make, but equally, there is lots of room for error and the result can sometimes be hard, tough inedible lumps of dough.The biggest secret to scone success? Mixing as little as possible and as lightly as possible.
I hate to say that I have watched well-known pastry chefs kneading their scones on television programmes.I yell to them through the television to stop as their scones will be tough. They make them look lovely and straight and up and down but I can tell you for sure that they will not be melt-in-the-mouth or delicate. By kneading the scone dough, the gluten is made active and the scone is then no longer cake-like but rather bread-like. Bread needs to be kneaded but scones need to be treated with the lightest of touches to remain airy.
The perfect scone method
As with all baking, weigh out all ingredients before you start. I love using cups as my mother and grandmother worked that way. These days we have converted my inherited recipe into ounces and grams but cups are still my favourite! Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and gently mix them together, then mix all the wet ingredients together (beaten egg, milk and oil). We love using oil as it is light on animal fat and also very easy to use. Because we serve the scones with butter or whipped cream, it is okay not to use butter in the scone itself.
However, if you prefer a scone made with butter, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the flour resembles a coarse type of grain. You will then only beat the egg with milk and omit the oil.
With wet and dry ingredients separate, ready to mix, and a greased tray ready, quickly add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Using a fork and mixing with as few strokes as possible, pull the dough together quickly. Once it has formed a rough ball, tipple everything onto the work surface. If the mixture is too wet, sprinkle a little flour onto the surface so that the dough can be moved around more easily. Using your hands, pat the dough out into a rough square and then fold it over once on itself. This fold gives the traditional mark in the middle of the scone. Once baked one can easily pull the scone apart in the middle because of this fold.
Using a floured cutter to stop the dough from sticking to the cutter, cut the dough into scones and place them on a greased baking tray, making sure that they have space to rise.
Use a little of the leftover milk and egg mixture or some milk to brush over the tops of the scones to give them a lovely sheen.
Place in hot oven 230°C or 450°F until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve immediately, either with lashings of jam and cream (if sweet) or just butter (if savoury).
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Find our full scone recipe here.
Small tips – like how to make the perfect scone – can elevate your home cooking from good to great. Find more tips and tricks on our blog, or join one of our classes or courses!
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FAQs
Baking tips for making the perfect scones
- Use cold or frozen butter: For a better rise, preferably use cold butter or even frozen butter. ...
- Use pastry flour: This will create a noticeably lighter scone. ...
- Mix the butter into the flour: If you don't start by mixing the flour and butter, your scones can fail to form properly.
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Baking Scones
- Using anything but cold ingredients. The secret to the flakiest scones is to start with cold ingredients — cold butter, cold eggs, and cold cream. ...
- Only using all-purpose flour. ...
- Overmixing the dough. ...
- Not chilling the dough before baking. ...
- Baking them ahead of time.
Placing a dough in a cool oven that then slowly heats up actually affects the rising agent. Make sure your oven is at the right temperature you will be baking the scones at before you put them in. Also having an oven that is too hot or too cold will affect the baking of your scones immensely.
What is the best flour for scones? ›
Use all-purpose flour for a higher rising scone that holds its shape nicely, both in and out of the oven. To make more delicate, lower-rising, cake-like scones, substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour.
What is the secret to making scones rise? ›
To ensure taller scones, start with a thicker dough disc and place the scones on a tray with sides, allowing them to slightly touch one another. This arrangement encourages the scones to push against the pan and each other, promoting height.
Why do you rub butter into flour for scones? ›
The Secrets of The Rubbing-in Method
When cold butter is rubbed into the flour, it creates flaky pockets of flavour (which soft, room temperature butter can't do). Once the cold butter and liquid (e.g milk) hits the oven, the water in the butter and cold liquid begins evaporating.
How do the British serve scones? ›
From what I've gathered, the proper way to eat a scone is to split it and spread clotted cream (or butter) and jam on both sides. Never sandwich the sides back together. If serving with clotted cream, spread the jam first, then the cream. If serving with butter, it's butter first, then jam.
Should you chill scone dough before baking? ›
Not chilling the dough before baking: to really ace your scones, it helps to chill your dough again before it's baked. Using cold ingredients does help, but your hands will warm up the dough when you're working with it and the extra step of chilling will help you get the best result.
Why do my scones go flat and not rise? ›
Why Are My Scones Flat? Expired leavening agents. Your baking powder and/or baking soda could be expired. Most scone and biscuit recipes call for quite a large amount of leavening, and if either are expired, your scones simply won't rise to beautiful heights.
Why do you put eggs in scones? ›
Sweet scones and cheese scones have an egg added to enrich them. Both will rise but whatever scone you make its important that they are handled lightly and not rolled too thinly. If you haven't seen it, we show them being made in the cookery school.
Heavy Cream or Buttermilk: For the best tasting pastries, stick with a thick liquid such as heavy cream or buttermilk. I usually use heavy cream, but if you want a slightly tangy flavor, use buttermilk.
Why do you grate butter for scones? ›
This is what makes the dough flaky.” Although Chang cuts cubed butter into the dry mix with a stand mixer at Flour, she says that, with the grating method, “you ensure that some butter stays in small pieces, for the steam and puff; and some butter starts to soften and mix into the dough, for tenderness.” For the best ...
What makes a good quality scone? ›
The best scones have a crisp, slightly caramelized exterior and a tender, buttery, just-sweet interior. They can be dressed up with a glaze, studded with fruit or nuts, or gently spiced.
Why aren't my scones light and fluffy? ›
Add some extra baking powder/soda, they might not have raised enough. If your scones barely rise in the oven, reconsider the amount of water you've added. You might want to add more. Otherwise, increase the amount of baking powder/soda.
Why do my scones spread out and not rise? ›
First, make sure you're using fresh baking powder, one that has been opened less than 6 months ago. Also, if you knead the dough too much, the scones won't rise as tall. Knead gently, and just enough to bring the dough together. Adding more flour also prevents the dough from rising as high, so only dust lightly.
