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The best scones are always made from scratch! Make Grandma’s easy scone recipe – crumbly on the outside, soft and flaky on the inside, perfect for slathering with jam and cream.
Why We Love This
Transform basic pantry staples to the best scones ever in no time! This easy scone recipe is made the traditional way by hand, but you can use a food processor to make it even easier.
Slather your freshly baked scones in butter, jam or cream for the best afternoon snack or store them in the freezer for later.
This recipe is super adaptable to add new flavours or textures – see our variations section below for more ideas.
Related: Ginger Fluff Sponge / Apple Crumble with Muesli / Weetbix Cake with Dates
What are Scones?
Scones are a type of quick bread made with baking powder instead of yeast. They’re similar in appearance to Australian damper bread, and both can be prepared with either savoury or sweet additions to the dough.
Today we’re sharing Laura’s Grandma’s scone recipe, perfected over years of baking for family. It brings back memories of when the whole family would gather at Gran’s for a feast of epic proportions – scones, party pies, sausage rolls, and Grandma’s famouspea and ham soup!
Scones are often confused with American biscuits, but there are a couple of key differences. American biscuits tend to be sweeter, lighter and fluffier, with visibly flaky layers, and sometimes include fruit or other additions.Scones, on the other hand, are a little more dense with a crisp and crumbly texture. They’re traditionally served with fresh butter, jam, and thickened cream (heavy cream) or clotted cream.Scones vs Biscuits
What You’ll Need
- Self Raising Flour – We use self-raising flour so there’s no need to add baking powder in separately. It results in more even textured scones as the raising agent is more evenly mixed through the flour. Sub with plain flour and sift in 4 tsp baking powder if you need.
- Butter & Milk – You can use salted or unsalted butter, it’s up to you. Full cream milk or buttermilk will give you light and fluffy scones. Both ingredients should be cold when you start working with them, so only take them out of the fridge right before you use them.
How to Make Scones
- Preheat the oven to 230˚C / 450˚F and line a tray with baking paper. Place theflour,sugarandsaltinto a large mixing bowl. Add the choppedbutter anddig in with your hands. Mix the butter and flour together with your fingers until you get a crumbly texture with no lumps.
- Make a well in the centre and pour in themilk. Use a butter knife or dough scraper to ‘cut’ the flour in all directions until the dough just starts to come together into a sticky dough ball.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press out into a flat 2 cm / 1 in thick circle.
- Transfer dough onto a lined baking sheet and cut into 8 equal pieces just like a pizza.ORuse a scone or cookie cutter to cut into shapes. Dust the cutter each time before pressing, and don’t twist when pulling it out. Transfer to the baking tray.
- Lightly brush the top of each scone withmilkto glaze. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Start Cold – Always use cold butter and milk when making scones. This stops the butter while you bring the ingredients together, creating steam when baking and resulting in lighter scones. You can even use frozen butter to help achieve this.
- Don’t Over-Knead – There’s almost no kneading required for scones. Simple ‘cutting’ the flour with a butter knife or dough scraper is the key technique in this recipe. It helps ‘pull’ everything together, resulting in that fluffy scone texture you know and love.
- Shaping the Scones – You can use a scone cutter / cookie cutter to get the right shape. Lightly dust it in flour before each press to stop the dough sticking. Avoid twisting when pulling the cutter out as this can make them go lopsided while baking.
- Extra Tall Scones – Arrange them close together on the baking tray. This way they all support each other as they rise, and the steam released will keep the insides extra moist and fluffy as they’re baking.
- Keep Fresh – Wrap scones in a towel after baking to trap in a little moisture but still allow them to breathe.
FAQs
What should I serve with scones?
Hot scones are amazing with a simple slather of butter alongside a hot cup of coffee or tea! For cooler scones, serve them with jam or marmalade and your favourite cream such as clotted, thickened cream or heavy cream. If you’re feeling experimental, try them with a fresh batch of coconut jam or cinnamon infused speculoos spread!
Can I use a food processor?
Yes you can add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor, then add the butter on top. Give it a quick blitz until the ingredients look like breadcrumbs, then continue with the recipe below.
How long do scones last?
Scones are at their best on the day of baking, but will last for 2-3 days in an airtight container. Reheat in the microwave on high for 10-20 seconds to warm them before eating so they’re nice and fluffy.
Can I freeze scones?
Yes, you can freeze scones. For best results, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. Allow them to defrost on the bench before reheating them in the microwave on high for 10-20 seconds. Or warm them in the oven (preheated to 150˚C/300˚F) for 5 to 10 minutes.
My scones didn’t rise, what happened?
There are a few things that may have stopped your scones from rising.
– Oven Temperature – make sure your oven is fully pre-heated before baking, as a cold oven can affect the rising agent.
– Out of Date Ingredients – Try again with fresh self-raising flour (or plain flour and baking powder if using).
– Too Much Kneading – Once you add the milk, it’s important you don’t over-mix the dough. Over-kneading causes the flour to develop too much gluten, leading to scones that are flat, dense or chewy.
– Too Much Flour – When turning out the dough onto your work surface, just dust it very slightly so the dough doesn’t stick.
Why are my scones chewy?
It’s probably from working the dough too much. Use a knife or dough scraper to ‘cut’ through the mixture until it’s just combined before pressing it lightly into a ball – there’s almost no kneading at all. You can also try cooking them a little bit longer to see if that dries them out a bit more.
Variations
- Play With Shapes – While you might typically think of scones having a roughly rounded shape, there are no hard and fast rules. Make them squares, rectangles, triangles or any shape you desire.
- Add Fruit – Once you’ve incorporated the butter but before you add the milk, you can add a handful of currants, raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dates or even frozen berries and mix them into the dough.
- Flavour Ideas – Try them with a tbsp of fresh lemon zest, orange zest, vanilla extract or almond extract.
- Spice it Up – Add a sprinkling of cinnamon or pumpkin spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & cloves) in with the dry ingredients.
- Make it Savoury – Omit the sugar and add fresh herbs such as rosemary, oregano or dill.
- For Chocolate Lovers – Add a handful of dark, milk or white chocolate chips.
- Add Texture – Stir though toasted coconut, chopped almonds, walnuts or pecans.
For more baking fun, try these next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Grandma’s Scones – Easy Scone Recipe
The best scones are always made from scratch! Make Grandma's easy scone recipe – crumbly on the outside, soft and flaky on the inside, perfect for slathering with jam and cream.
4.91 from 11 votes
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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
Course: Snack
Cuisine: Australian
Servings: 8 scones
Calories: 293kcal
Author: Wandercooks
Cost: $5
Ingredients
- 450 g self raising flour
- 100 g butter salted or unsalted, cold, roughly chopped
- 375 ml milk full cream, cold
- 2 tsp raw sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Optional Toppings:
- Jam
- thickened cream / heavy cream Whipped, thickened, heavy or clotted
- Butter
Metric – US Customary
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 230˚C / 450˚F and line a tray with baking paper.
Place theflour,sugarandsaltinto a large mixing bowl. Add the choppedbutter anddig in with your hands. Mix the butter and flour together with your fingers until you get a crumbly texture with no lumps.
450 g self raising flour, 2 tsp raw sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 100 g butter
Make a well in the centre and pour in themilk. Use a butter knife or dough scraper to 'cut' the flour in all directions until the dough just starts to come together into a sticky dough ball.
375 ml milk
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press out into a flat 2 cm / 1 in thick circle.
Transfer dough onto a lined baking sheet and cut into 8 equal pieces just like a pizza.ORuse a scone or cookie cutter to cut into shapes. Dust the cutter each time before pressing, and don’t twist when pulling it out. Transfer to the baking tray.
Lightly brush the top of each scone withmilkto glaze. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Optional: Serve with jam, cream and butter.
Jam, thickened cream / heavy cream, Butter
Video
Recipe Notes
- Self Raising Flour – We use self-raising flour so there’s no need to add baking powder in separately. It results in more even textured scones as the raising agent is more evenly mixed through the flour. Sub with plain flour and sift in 4 tsp baking powder if you need.
- Butter & Milk – You can use salted or unsalted butter, it’s up to you. Full cream milk or buttermilk will give you light and fluffy scones. Both ingredients should be cold when you start working with them, so only take them out of the fridge right before you use them.
- Don’t Over-Knead – There’s almost no kneading required for scones. Simple ‘cutting’ the flour with a butter knife or dough scraper is the key technique in this recipe. It helps ‘pull’ everything together, resulting in that fluffy scone texture you know and love.
- Shaping the Scones – You can use a scone cutter / cookie cutter to get the right shape. Lightly dust it in flour before each press to stop the dough sticking. Avoid twisting when pulling the cutter out as this can make them go lopsided while baking.
- Extra Tall Scones – Arrange them close together on the baking tray. This way they all support each other as they rise, and the steam released will keep the insides extra moist and fluffy as they’re baking.
- Keep Fresh – Wrap scones in a towel after baking to trap in a little moisture but still allow them to breathe.
- Variations:
- Play With Shapes – While you might typically think of scones having a roughly rounded shape, there are no hard and fast rules. Make them squares, rectangles, triangles or any shape you desire.
- Add Fruit – Once you’ve incorporated the butter but before you add the milk, you can add a handful of currants, raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dates or even frozen berries and mix them into the dough.
- Flavour Ideas – Try them with a tbsp of fresh lemon zest, orange zest, vanilla extract or almond extract.
- Spice it Up – Add a sprinkling of cinnamon or pumpkin spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & cloves) in with the dry ingredients.
- Make it Savoury – Omit the sugar and add fresh herbs such as rosemary, oregano or dill.
- For Chocolate Lovers – Add a handful of dark, milk or white chocolate chips.
- Add Texture – Stir though toasted coconut, chopped almonds, walnuts or pecans.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Grandma’s Scones – Easy Scone Recipe
Amount per Serving
Calories
293
% Daily Value*
18
%
Saturated Fat
7
g
44
%
Cholesterol
31
mg
10
%
Sodium
255
mg
11
%
Potassium
111
mg
3
%
Carbohydrates
39
g
13
%
Fiber
1
g
4
%
Sugar
4
g
4
%
Protein
6
g
12
%
Vitamin A
386
IU
8
%
Calcium
62
mg
6
%
Iron
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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About Wandercooks
Wandercooks is an Australian recipe site reaching over 9 million views annually. Our recipes are here to inspire you with fresh and exciting food ideas from a range of Asian, European and Australian cuisines. As seen on Google.com, Today.com, Buzzfeed, Jetstar Asia and Lonely Planet.Read more...
