Ultimate scones

Ultimate scones

Learn the secret of making perfect scones every time, with Angela Nilsen's ultimate recipe

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 5 - 6

Easily doubled

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Takes 25-35 minutes

Freezable

Freeze only after baking

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C and lightly butter a baking sheet (unless you're using a non-stick sheet). Tip the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt. Shoot in the butter, then rub together with your fingers to make a reasonably fine crumbed mixture, lifting to aerate the mixture as you go. Try not to overrub, as the mixture will be lighter if it's a little bit flaky. Now stir in the sugar.
  2. Measure the buttermilk, then mix in the milk to slacken it. Make a bit of a well in the middle of the flour mixture with a round-bladed knife, then pour in most of this buttermilk mixture, holding a little bit back in case it's not needed. Using the knife, gently work the mixture together until it forms a soft, almost sticky, dough. Work in any loose dry bits of mixture with the rest of the buttermilk. Don't overwork at this point or you will toughen the dough.
  3. Lift the ball of soft dough out of the bowl and put it on to a very lightly floured surface. Knead the mixture just 3-4 times to get rid of the cracks.
  4. Pat the dough gently with your hands to a thickness of no less than 2cm and no more than 2.5cm. Dip a 5.5cm round fluted cutter into a bowl of flour - this helps to stop the dough sticking to it, then cut out the scones by pushing down quickly and firmly on the cutter with the palm of your hand - don't twist it.You will hear the dough give a big sigh as the cutter goes in. Gather the trimmings lightly then pat and cut out a couple more scones.
  5. Place on the baking sheet and sift over a light dusting of flour or glaze if you wish. Bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack, uncovered if you prefer crisp tops, or covered loosely with a cloth for soft ones.
  6. Serve with strawberry jam and a generous mound of clotted cream (Cornish people put cream first, then jam, Devonians the other way round). Eat them as fresh as you can.

Per scone (without the trimmings)

262 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 42g, fat 9 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 1g, sugar 5g, salt 0.9 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2003.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-40

  • Binder photo josie70

    18 March 2009

    josie70 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy,soft,fluffy n so yummmmmmmy will be making them again Josie from Italy

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  • Binder photo shell

    11 April 2009

    shell rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    WOW these scones are amazing, I made them into bitesize pieces for a party and they went down a storm, got orders off my friend to make more next time!!!!

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  • Binder photo Gracy

    15 April 2009

    Gracy commented on this recipe

    Will be making them tonight. Can't wait to try them after reading all the reviews. I wanted to add some fruit, has anyone tried that yet?

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  • Binder photo Mike

    10 May 2009

    Mike rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    This turned out a total disaster, what am I doing wrong? The dough was incredibly sticky, so much that I couldn't easily separate it with the cutter. The scones hardly rose at all and were still wet on the inside after baking for 15 minutes.

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  • Binder photo Mike

    10 May 2009

    Mike commented on this recipe

    Correction. Once they cooled down the inside was just fine. But still, they didn't rise very much at all. Tried the other recipe on this site (Classic scones with jam) and they worked perfectly.

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  • Binder photo Linda

    12 May 2009

    Linda commented on this recipe

    Best recipe ever for scones. Easy to make, lovely and light. Buttermilk is usualy found by the cream in a supermarket. This recipe makes 5 or 6 scones.

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  • Binder photo rowie

    21 May 2009

    rowie commented on this recipe

    try making mock clotted cream with a cup of cream and half a cup of mascarpone whipped together with a tsp of vanillla extract

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  • Binder photo Yummy stuff

    05 June 2009

    Yummy stuff rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    Also found that the scones didn't rise at all, and I was left with something far more biscuit like. Didn't use buttermilk, I tried the milk and lemon idea, I wonder if this is what stopped it working so well?

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  • Binder photo Sorel Bliss

    24 June 2009

    Sorel Bliss commented on this recipe

    I am Cornish and it's jam first and that is the RIGHT way!!!!!!!

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  • Binder photo Freya

    11 July 2009

    Freya rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    hmmm!

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  • Binder photo Linda

    25 July 2009

    Linda rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Tracy

    04 August 2009

    Tracy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I tried this scone recipe & even though I forgot to add the sugar they were fantastic with jam & cream. I made 6 large plain scones & they rose beautifully. My suggestion to why some didn't rise is probably the mixture had been worked too long. Some people roll their mixture out which can stop teh scones rising, I pat mine, cut into equal sizes with a knife then form them into a rounded shape. Food is for experimenting with - don't give up if any recipes don't work out the first time.

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  • Binder photo chumzie

    14 August 2009

    chumzie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    All i can say is WOW. Didnt have any clotted cream so just used whipped cream with jam. Also, if you're having trouble finding buttermilk, adding in the juice of a quarter of a lemon should work, rather than just a squeeze. You can also try using half full fat milk and half natural yogurt in place of the buttermilk. Hope this helps.

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  • Binder photo Victoria

    26 August 2009

    Victoria commented on this recipe

    In NZ people usually serve them with jam, then quite thickly whipped cream. That's how I grew up and still prefer them that way to clotted cream! Also in NZ we don't use cutters - people tend to cut the dough with a knife into halves then into eight or so oblong shapes which look very rustic, more farmhouse style I guess!

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  • Binder photo Ting Chan

    29 August 2009

    Ting Chan rated this recipe

    3 stars

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  • Binder photo Shirliethegirlie

    27 September 2009

    Shirliethegirlie commented on this recipe

    Delicious and very easy to make, Cornish put jam then cream which is definetely the correct way, this is the way The Ritz in London recommend it!

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  • Binder photo Alison

    11 November 2009

    Alison rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I've tried may scone recipes and this is the one that has given me the best results - But you must follow the recipe to the letter. I would not try and make substitute buttermilk using milk and lemon, if you cannot get buttermilk then use sour cream or creme fraiche. I use a food processor with the plastic blades, not the metal blades, to crumb the flour and butter and to add the buttermilk but as soon as the mixture comes together in a ball I stop and tip on to the work surface. I only added about 100ml of the buttermilk/milk mixture so you definitely do not need the full quantity from the ingredients list.

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  • Binder photo Alison

    11 November 2009

    Alison commented on this recipe

    Once the mixture is on the work surface I literally touch it two or three times lightly with my fingertips to smooth the surface and shape it into a round-ish shape - don't knead it like making bread as it knocks all the air out and your scones will end up being flat and biscuit-like. Even though this recipe uses self raising flour, the scones will not rise considerably in the oven so you need to make sure that you do not flatten the mixture out too much, it may seem to be too tall when you look at it on the work surface but use the tip of your thumb as a guide. From the recipe above, I make only 4 scones cut with a floured knife from a round, so they come out sort of triangular with a rounded edge.

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  • Binder photo Alison

    11 November 2009

    Alison commented on this recipe

    Make sure your oven is hot and make sure that your oven tray is in the oven when it is warming up. Take the tray out only when the scones are ready to bake and put it straight back in, this ensures that the scones start to cook straight away. I eat them warm from the oven just with butter and find that they are just wonderful.

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  • Binder photo cali118

    21 November 2009

    cali118 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very nice! Easy and taste really good!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 5 - 6

Easily doubled

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Takes 25-35 minutes

Freezable

Freeze only after baking

A crisp edge - fluffy inside

Ingredients

  • 225g self-raising flour , preferably organic
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 50g slightly salted butter , chilled, cut in small pieces
  • 25g golden caster sugar
  • 125ml buttermilk
  • 4 tbsp full-fat milk
  • a little extra flour for dusting
  • strawberry jam and clotted cream, to serve
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Per scone (without the trimmings)

262 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 42g, fat 9 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 1g, sugar 5g, salt 0.9 g

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