Scones Recipe
These homemade scones are wonderfully soft, tender and subtly sweet. This basic scones recipe is perfect for customizing with your favorite mix-ins. Try blueberries, cranberries or chocolate chips!
If you need a quick baking project for today, this scones recipe is perfect! Here in the United States, scones are a type of slightly sweet breakfast pastry that, just like muffins, can be customized with a variety of flavorings and mix-ins. They’re made with a simple dough that’s similar to a biscuit dough but richer in flavor thanks to the addition of heavy cream, an egg and a little extra sugar. This recipe is not to be confused with traditional English scones, which are similar to what Americans call biscuits and are typically served for tea with jam and clotted cream.
Scones have a reputation for being dry and crumbly, but not these! These scones are so tender and moist that they practically melt in your mouth. They’re rich and buttery, and the edges get deliciously crispy and golden as they bake.
I like to enjoy one of these scones as a mid-morning pick-me-up with a cup of coffee or tea. When my mom and I get together over coffee to chat, these scones are often on the table for nibbling. They also make a delicious addition to a brunch spread for a special occasion.
My Favorite Trick for Making the Best Scones
To make exceptionally flaky scones, I use the same trick that I use in my Biscuit Recipe: freeze the butter to get it extra cold and then shred it using a box grater. Then you can simply stir the grated butter into the dry ingredients. This method ensures that you get evenly distributed bits of butter throughout the dough without having to cut the butter in with a pastry blender or food processor. It simplifies the process, which I am all for!
Scones Recipe Ingredients
These are the basic ingredients that you need to make scones:
- Butter: Makes the scones rich, moist and flaky.
- All-Purpose Flour: This is the best flour for light, tender scones.
- Sugar: These scones are just sweet enough to taste like a treat, without being overwhelmingly sweet.
- Baking Powder: The baking powder helps the scones to rise in the oven. You’ll use a full tablespoon (not teaspoon) of baking powder. Do no substitute baking soda – they’re not the same thing!
- Salt: Enhances all of the flavors.
- Heavy Cream: This, along with the egg, helps to bring the dry ingredients together into a dough. The fat in heavy cream makes the scones especially tender, moist and rich.
- Egg: Adds richness to the dough.
- Mix-Ins: This is where you get to be creative! The scones in these photos are made with fresh blueberries, and I’ve given you lots more flavor ideas below.
Keep the Ingredients Cold
Just like when making pie crust, when you make scones it’s important to keep the cold ingredients (butter, heavy cream, egg) as cold as possible. Keep them in the fridge (or freezer, in the case of the butter) until you’re ready to mix the dough together. Be gentle when handling the dough and pop the scones in the oven as soon as you’ve cut them into triangles.
The goal is to keep the pieces of butter intact and cold. When the butter pieces melt in the oven they will create little pockets of steam. It’s those steam pockets that make flaky layers.
How to Make Scones
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. Find the full printable recipe with measurements below.
Place the butter in the freezer for 20-30 minutes, to get it nice and cold and make it easier to grate.
Combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk them together in a large mixing bowl.
Grate the butter using a box grater. Then gently mix it into the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula.
Add the heavy cream, egg and any desired mix-ins. Mix with a rubber spatula until the dough starts to come together. The dough will be crumbly.
Shape the scones. Transfer the crumbly dough to a lightly floured work surface and use your hands to gently finish bringing the dough together, being careful to not overwork the dough. Shape it into 1-inch thick circle. Cut into 8 wedges and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Brush the tops with a little bit of heavy cream. This helps them to brown slightly in the oven.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, until they are are lightly browned around the edges. Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before serving.
Flavor Variations
- Blueberry: Add 1 cup fresh blueberries. To make lemon blueberry scones, add the zest of 2 lemons to the dry ingredients and drizzle with a lemon glaze after baking (see below for glaze).
- Chocolate Chip: Mix in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or 3/4 cup regular sized chocolate chips.
- Lemon: Try this Lemon Scones recipe.
- Currant: Add 1/2 cup dried currants.
- Cranberry Orange: Add 3/4 cup chopped fresh cranberries or 1/2 cup dried cranberries plus the zest of one orange. Drizzle with an orange glaze (see below).
- Pumpkin: I don’t yet have a pumpkin scones recipe, but I hope to have one in the works soon!
- Gingerbread: Try this Gingerbread Scones recipe.
- Cinnamon: Try this Cinnamon Scones recipe.
- Strawberry: Add 3/4 cup chopped strawberries.
- Raspberry or Blackberry: Add 1 cup fresh raspberries or blackberries
- Cherry: Add 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried cherries or 3/4 cup chopped pitted fresh cherries.
- Buttermilk: Substitute buttermilk for the heavy cream for a slightly tangy flavor.
How to Add a Glaze
I usually prefer these scones as is, but sometimes I like to dress them up with a simple glaze. To make a glaze, whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk, lemon juice or orange juice. You can optionally mix in about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest or orange zest to give the glaze citrus flavor.
What to Serve with Scones
These scones are perfect for serving with coffee, tea or Iced Coffee. If you’d like to add another dish to your breakfast or brunch menu, try one of these recipes:
- Pair them with an egg-based dish for protein: Spinach Quiche, Frittata or Crustless Quiche. These individual serving sized Egg Muffins are always a favorite.
- These savory breakfast casseroles are great for feeding a crowd: Breakfast Casserole, Egg Casserole.
- Or keep things simple with Scrambled Eggs and Bacon.
Looking for another sweet treat to add to your brunch spread? Try this Coffee Cake or Cinnamon Rolls.
How to Store and Freeze
- To Freeze: These scones are best fresh and warm from the oven, but they also freeze well. Once cool, freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature or using the defrost setting of a microwave.
- To Store: Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 2 days. If you add a glaze, they are best stored in the refrigerator.
Scones Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops of scones
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- up to 1 cup total mix-ins, as desired, such as 1 cup fresh blueberries or blackberries, ¾ cup chopped fresh cranberries, ½ cup mini chocolate chips, ½ cup dried cranberries or currants, etc.
Instructions
- Place the butter in freezer for 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Grate the frozen butter using a box grater. Add the shredded butter to the bowl with the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to mix it into the dry ingredients.
- Add the heavy cream, egg and any desired mix-ins. Mix together with a rubber spatula until the dough starts to come together. The dough will be crumbly.
- Transfer the crumbly dough to a lightly floured work surface and use your hands to gently finish bringing the dough together, being careful to not overwork the dough. Shape it into 1-inch thick circle. Cut into 8 wedges and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- If you feel that the dough has gotten warm while handling it, place the scones in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes before baking.
- Brush the tops of the scones with a little bit of heavy cream.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until scones are lightly browned around the edges. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before serving.
Notes
- To make a glaze, whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk, lemon juice or orange juice. You can optionally mix in about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest or orange zest to give the glaze citrus flavor.
- To Freeze: These scones are best fresh and warm from the oven, but they also freeze well. Once cool, freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature or using the defrost setting of a microwave.
- To Store: Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 2 days. If you add a glaze, they are best stored in the refrigerator.
- Nutrition estimate is for scones without mix-ins since those will vary.
I don’t bake but am definitely making these this coming week. Kristine’s recipes are always so precise even us beginners can give it a try. Love, love, her posts.
Yay! You will love the scones! Thank you for your thoughtful comment. 🙂
My 14 year old great-grandaughter made these scones for the very first time, they were delicious and she was quite proud of her baking skills, i love her and love to teach her to cook.
Awww, I love hearing that! That’s wonderful that she made them herself and I’m so glad you enjoyed the scones.
Love this recipe. Instead of blueberries, I used rhubarb. I had some from our garden in the freezer, so I thawed it out and drained it and also squeezed some of the excess juice out so they would not be to moist in the scone, and the scones were delicious. I used about 2 1/2 cups frozen rhubarb. Also I have a scone pan which makes 8 scones and this recipe was a perfect size to fill in the 8 slots of the round scone pan. The scones were also perfectly moist, not too moist and not too dry like some can be. We loved the scones!!
About the rhubarb addition for the scones, I should have said I used cut up rhubarb in 1 inch pieces. I forgot to add the size of rhubarb I freeze. Thanks.