This simple scone recipe will hit the spot if you’re craving some tender scones with clotted cream and jam! English scones are such a delight. Warm and soft inside, it makes just the right base for almost any topping or add-in. My family generally makes these fluffy scones with dates or raisins. But, to be honest, nothing beats just plain scones with jam and clotted cream. This recipe for big, fluffy scones will not disappoint. Slathering on strawberry jam and whipping up fresh cream takes this scrumptious baked treat up another notch. The delicious flavor and fluffy interior are perfect for afternoon tea.
Ingredients For Scones
Here are the scones ingredients. These measurements are given only in weight because it’s very important to use the exact amount of the ingredient that’s called for. Using cups is a sure way to make bad scones.
- 4 cups of self-rising flour
- 125 grams of butter—I use salted, not very cold, butter.
- 500 milliliters of cultured buttermilk; also use very cold milk. Start by adding it slowly, as the amount needed can vary and you won’t want to put too much in.
How to Make Classic English Scones
The ingredients are given accordingly for this recipe because the measurements need to be precise. So here’s how to make scones: Start by combining the butter with self-rising flour. Rub it in with your hands until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
You can also combine these ingredients in a food processor if you’d rather not mess with the pastry cutter. It will save some time. If you do the mixing in the food processor, take the mixture out at this point and add it to a mixing bowl for the rest of the mixing. Using a machine to combine the rest of the ingredients will surely overmix it and result in dense scones, and you wouldn’t want the scones to be dense.
Next, gradually add the cultured buttermilk into the self-rising bowl and combine well. The mixture should not be a wet dough now. It should be quite soft and pliable, but not tacky. This is important because too little or too much liquid will affect the rise.
Transfer to a lightly floured countertop and pat it until the dough comes together.
Don’t knead the dough; just pat it together. Press or roll the dough to about 3 cm thick, and use a floured cutter to cut circles. Be sure not to twist the cutter. Press down firmly with one push.
Twisting will hamper the rise. Re-roll the offcuts of dough if necessary to cut out 12 scones. Place the scones on a buttered baking sheet.
How to Bake Scones
There’s no need to wait for the scones to rise. You should put the scones in the oven right away. Make sure the oven is properly and fully preheated before putting them in. It’s also a good idea to make sure your oven is actually at the temperature it says it is with an external thermometer. The wrong temperature can ruin the scones.
Bake the scones for 10–12 minutes, until about tripled in height and golden brown on the tops and bottoms. If yours doesn’t look quite done yet, give them another few minutes. Every oven varies. While this is a very easy scone recipe, a properly calibrated oven is essential to success.
What Makes Scones Soft & Fluffy?
To make flaky, fluffy scones, you need to start with cold butter. Just take it out of the fridge right before you make this best scone recipe.
Tips for Making Light and Fluffy Scones
- It is important to work with cold ingredients. Cold butter and milk.
- The amount of mixing you do can greatly affect the scones. Once the liquid is added to the dough, you need to do the least amount of mixing possible. The dough will be crumbly and somewhat chunky. It should not be smooth and elastic, like pizza dough.
- When you turn it out on the countertop, don’t add extra flour to it unless it’s actually too wet. It will be sticky. That’s how it’s supposed to be. If you add more flour to take away the tackiness of the dough, it will affect the final product.
- When you’re cutting the scones out with the cutter, be careful not to twist the cutter. This has a big effect on the rising ability because it sort of seals the sides together, so it doesn’t rise as much.
- Bake the scones in the upper part of your oven.
Reasons Your Scones Don’t Rise
As stated above, there are a number of reasons why scones don’t rise. Unfortunately, some batches just don’t rise like they should, even if you seemingly did everything right.
You can see that making scones is rife with problems. If you’re counting on a super fluffy and well-risen scone, you may not get that on your first try (or every time you make these).