British scones or American biscuits are amazing little baked goodies and can be served as a sweet or savoury snack. Their beauty lies in their flaky rich texurte and freshly baked buttery flavour.
Sieve and whisk the dry ingredients until well combined.
Grate and add frozen butter to the flour mix.
Rub the flour and butter together until it resembles fine sand. Place into the fridge to keep cold
Next, mix the wet ingredients together.
Making the dough
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mix and lightly but swiftly bring it together into a dough.
The dough should just be coming together and not be smooth. We want to work it as little as possible.
Dump the mix out onto a work surface and push together any unmixed bits of dough.
Wrap in cling film and rest for 20 minutes in the fridge.
Rolling, cutting and baking
Turn the oven to 180 °C or 356 °F.
Once rested, dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll it out with a rolling pin, making sure to roll in one direction starting from the centre.
When the dough is about 2 centimetres or just less than an inch thick, fold it onto itself once, known as laminating. Roll the dough out again to 3.5 cm or 1.3 inches height.
Dip a round or fluted cutter into flour and cut out circles. If you want, you can also cut it into triangles like biscuits.
Place the cut scone dough onto a baking tray lined with silicone baking mat or baking paper. Brush the tops with egg wash (1 whole egg mixed with 50 grams water/milk)
Bake for 18 minutes until golden brown.
Remove and cool down only slightly before serving still steaming hot with butter, clotted cream, strawberry jam or all of the above.
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes
Flour - Use low gluten flour for best results. You can also substitute gluten-free flour.
Sugar - Caster sugar can be used instead of confectioners/powdered sugar.
Butter - Use shortening if making vegan scones.
Milk/cream - You can use only cream or only milk. I find a combo works best. For vegan scones, use coconut or plant-based milk.
Storage instructions
The raw dough can be frozen and thawed in the fridge before baking.
Once cooked, it's best eaten immediately. Do not store in the fridge.
Can be frozen airtight and reheated in the oven.
Top tips
Use frozen butter and keep the dough and other ingredients cold throughout the process.
Use heavy cream or at least buttermilk instead of just milk or water.
Work as light as possible, taking care not to over mix the scone dough.
Roll out lightly from the centre to the sides in one direction only.
Chill the dough before baking.
Serve the scones as soon as they come out of the oven.