English Scones Recipe
I am sharing today an amazing English Scone Recipe. The scones come out tall, golden brown, with crisp edges, while from the inside fluffy and light. In this post, I share a variety of add-ins to create different flavored English scones.
Enjoy them with your afternoon tea, strawberry jam, clotted cream, or butter; they are delicious! This post has many tips and helpful information to make the best scones. Don’t forget to watch my video and the step-by-step photos explaining how to make this treat!
These English scones are perfect for breakfast, brunch, or grabbing one while having coffee. Give my Blueberry Scones a try if you like fruits in them.
❤️ WHY YOU’LL LOVE BRITISH SCONES
- Easy to prepare with simple ingredients.
- No resting time is required for the dough.
- Taste great with cream, jam, fruits, or dipped in milk.
- Easily make a variety of flavors using the same dough.
- Light and fluffy, perfect for breakfast and brunch.
📝 INGREDIENTS
Flour: I always use all-purpose flour when making scones, but in case you wish to use self-rising flour, omit the baking powder.
Baking Powder: The leavening agent. Baking powder makes the scones tall and looks pretty.
Sugar: In the authentic recipe for 2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar is enough since people like to serve the scones with jam and cream.
Salt: It enhances the flavor.
Milk: Use full-fat milk. It tastes good in baking and helps to keep the scones moist longer.
Unsalted butter: Omit the salt if you use salted butter, but It’s best to use unsalted butter. Use the butter while chilled; it gives an amazing texture to the English Scones.
Egg: One large egg to give a good lift and color.
Vanilla: I love the flavor, but you can use lemon or orange zest.
🥄 HOW TO MAKE ENGLISH SCONES
Making the scones takes a few minutes, so you can quickly prepare the dough in the morning and make fresh homemade scones for breakfast!
Step 1
Add the dry ingredients in a bowl, flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar, and mix well.
Step 2
Add the chilled butter, use a food processor, or use the tip of your fingers and rub the butter with the dry ingredients until you get a wet sand-like texture.
Step 3
Whisk the egg with the milk and vanilla, take three tablespoons from this mixture, and keep aside to brush the scones later. Add the milk and egg mixture to the flour and butter and mix gently.
Step 4
After working the dough for a few seconds, place the dough over your working counter. Dust the working surface and the dough and form a one-inch high disc.
Step 5
Dust the cookie cutter cut through the dough, and place the scones on a lined baking sheet.
Step 6
Brush the scones with the milk and egg mixture.
Step 7
Bake the scones in a hot oven at 200C/425F for 15 to 17 minutes.
👩🏽🍳 PRO TIPS
- Make sure that your ingredients are cold, especially the butter.
- If you are adding blueberries to the scone dough, freeze them for 20 minutes before adding them to the dough to prevent them from bleeding.
- When using raisins, place them in a bowl, cover them with cold water, and place them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes; this will soften them.
- Do not overmix the dough; a few seconds are enough time to mix the ingredients. Kneading the dough will result in tough scones.
- If your kitchen is hot and no matter what you did, the butter in the dough melted, then after shaping the scones, place them on a lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Take the baking sheet from the fridge and bake the scones in a preheated oven.
- The scones will not come out with a golden top in all ovens, so when the scones are done and not golden, you can turn on the broiler for a few minutes.
- Preheating the oven is essential to baking flaky from the outside and tender crumbs inside the scones.
📋 VARIATIONS
Add nuts – You can add your favorite toasted nuts to the dough.
Add lemon or orange flavor – Adding lemon or orange zest brings a refreshing flavor to the English scones.
Warm spices – Cinnamon and nutmeg are a great addition to the scones, especially in the festive season.
Chocolate chips – Add some chocolate chips to the dough if you love chocolate.
👪 SERVING SIZE
This recipe makes 9 medium size scones.
💬 FAQ
Adding more baking powder will alter the flavor and add a bitter aftertaste to the scones.
Yes, you can prepare the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake it.
Yes, omit the milk and use the same ratio for buttermilk.
They both look the same, but the Americans call it biscuits, and it is a little on the dry side. They use it with gravies and fried chicken.
🍽️ HOW TO SERVE IT
You can serve English scones with clotted cream, whipped cream, jam, lemon curd, butter, or cream cheese.
🌡️ STORING
You can freeze-baked and unbaked scones, but I would like to mention that the frozen unbaked scones will rise but not be as tall as the freshly made scone dough. However, the flavor and texture will stay the same.
Freezing raw scones: When you are done shaping them, place them on a baking sheet and freeze them for one hour, then place the raw scones in a Ziplock bag and freeze for up to 2 weeks. Place frozen scones on the baking sheet and turn on the oven to bake them. When the oven reaches the desired temperature, brush the scones with heavy cream or egg wash and pop them in. Add 5 to 7 minutes more to the baking time.
Freezing baked scones: When they come to room temperature, wrap each scone with plastic wrap, place all the wrapped scones in the Ziplock bag, and freeze them for up to 3 months. To thaw frozen baked scones pop them in the microwave for a few seconds.
Storing Scones at room temperature: Place the baked scones in a Ziplock bag or an airtight container, and they can stay on the kitchen counter for up to 2 days.
Related Recipes
- Turkish simit recipe.
- Easy hash brown recipe.
- Blueberry pancake souffle.
- Fluffy buttermilk waffles.
- Quick croissant recipe.
- Sour cream pancakes.
📣 MORE SCONE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
⭐PLEASE REVIEW AND RATE
If you have tried my English Scone recipe and liked it, please give it a 5-star rating and leave a comment below with your experience!
English Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup unsalted and chilled butter cubes
- ⅔ cup whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and keep it aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg with vanilla and milk. Take three tablespoons from the mixture and keep them aside to use later to brush the scones.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mix well using a whisk or a wooden spoon.
- Add the chilled butter to the flour mixture and work it through using the tip of your fingers, rubbing the butter with the flour until you get a wet sand-like texture. If your kitchen is hot and the butter is melting, stop and place the bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes and then start rubbing the butter and flour again.
- Gradually add the milk and egg mixture to the flour and gently mix to combine. Depending on the brand of flour you are using, you may not need to add all the liquid to the dough. At times, when I make the scones, I am left with around three tablespoons of liquid.
- Place the dough onto the floured surface, dust your hand with flour work the dough into a ball and press it down to form a one-inch high disc. If the dough sticks to the working surface, dust the working surface with flour.
- Dip a 2-inch or 2.5-inch biscuit cutter in the flour and then push it straight in the dough, do not twist the cutter when cutting the scones; doing so will prevent the scones from rising as tall. Form a disc from the dough scrap, and you can cut out two or three more scones; these scones will not rise as tall as the first cut scones, and that’s normal.
- Place the scones on the previously prepared baking sheet, brush the scones with the egg and milk wash, and bake the scones for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden in colour.
- When the scones are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, turn off the oven and place the scones on a wire rack to cool.
Video
Notes
- Use cold ingredients. Place the flour after measuring it in the fridge for 15 minutes if you work in a hot kitchen.
- Preheat the oven before making the dough. Most ovens reach the desired temperature within 20 to 30 minutes.
- When making big batches of scones, place the raw and shaped scones in the fridge while the first batch is baking.
- If your hands a warm, then use a spatula to mix the dough.
- If the dough is sticky, then add one or two tablespoons of flour to it but try not to overmix the dough.
- The scones made from the scrapped dough won’t rise too high, and that’s alright. They will still taste amazing.
They look so flaky and bakery perfect!
Thank you Angie, they turned out great 🙂