British scones

Scones are a British classic, and this is the traditional version which are soft, buttery and delicious.

Recipe by Caroline's Cooking on November 30, 2020

Prep time: PT10M

Cook time: PT10M

Total time: PT20M

Rating

4.58 stars (14 reviews)

British cream tea, homemade scones

Preheat the oven to 425F/220C and prepare a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a cookie sheet.
Put the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl and stir to mix.
Cut the butter into small chunks, add them to the flour mixture and rub them in with your hands by tossing the butter in the flour and rubbing the butter between your finger tips to break it into small pieces. Alternatively, use a pastry cutter. Either way, make sure you don't overwork the dough. You are looking for a breadcrumb-like texture.
Save 1 tbsp of the egg and combine it with 1 tbsp of milk. Add the remaining egg and milk to the flour-butter mixture and mix in to the dough, ideally with a blunt knife or a spatula to just combine everything.
Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and press it together so it sticks. Flatten it out to around 2/3-1in/2-3cm thick and cut out rounds, trying not to twist the cutter as you cut (around a 2 1/2in/6cm cutter is good but you can make smaller if you prefer). Carefully transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet.
Brush the top of the scones with the reserved egg and milk.
Bake for around 10-12 minutes until gently brown on top.

Peter on 2025-05-23 (4 stars):
I followed this to the letter and the scones came out tasty and even slightly crispy, but they were flat as cookies. An English friend to whom I served them said, "It doesn't matter, it's just a delivery system for the cream and jam."
lola on 2024-03-16 (5 stars):
great recipe, followed exactly--wonderfully light soft and buttery but not overly sweet. just what i was looking for! thank you caroline :)
Caroline on 2023-11-04 (4 stars):
I agree, these have the taste and texture of a biscuit more than a scone. But they're still very good! I went light on the baking powder, putting in 1Tbsp plus 1tsp, and I think it would be fine (or better) with less than that. I also chilled the dough for about 25 minutes before cutting out and baking. It's easy to cut out rounds with a knife if you don't have a cutter. I baked for 13 minutes. A nice biscuity scone recipe.