Basic Scone Recipe

Name: Basic Scone Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour; 3 tablespoons granulated white sugar; 1 tablespoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon table salt; 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold; 1 cup (240 mL) heavy cream; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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I love ME some scones. Any scone. All the flavors. Doesn’t matter. So I love this basic scone recipe because I use it to dream up any flavor variations to serve for brunch! I’ll show you step by step how to make this scone recipe and then let your creativity do the rest!

If you follow me and my little old baking blog, then you know that me and scones have some history. We go way back. Let me take you down memory lane.

I used to work at a bakery and when I did I made batch after batch. After. Batch. Of. Scones. There was a point that I thought I never wanted to see another scone.

But here we are. Why? Because scones are awesome. They never disappoint. So easy to make (seriously – like 10 minutes to whip up). They freeze well. Love me some freezer baking. And they just work with just about anything you want to throw in the bowl.

So basically, why not scones? And this basic scone recipe is the only recipe you will ever need. You can throw whatever you want – creativity is the only limit here – and whip up your own scones in no time.

In fact these are one of 60+ Home Baking Projects To Try!

So are you ready? Roll up those sleeves. Let’s bakes some scones.

Ingredients Needed

All purpose flour – this type of flour works perfect in scones. It has a mid range protein content so making for a perfectly tender scone.
Baking powder – this is a quick bread by definition meaning it gets it rise (quickly) from a leavening agent such as baking powder as opposed to a yeast bread for example. And baking powder and baking soda are NOT the same thing. So don’t swap one for the other. You can read all about baking powder vs. baking soda here and really nerd out on some baking science.
Sugar – Granulated sugar is what I used. But I’m guessing brown sugar would also be delicious.
Salt – As always, I add a little salt to my baking recipes to help balance the sweetness.
Butter – I always use unsalted butter while baking. Different brands can use varying amounts of salt in their salted butter making it hard to control the salt. And make sure your butter is COLD, COLD, COLD. This makes for a flaky scone (similar to making pie dough).
Heavy Cream – I used heavy cream for richness. Again, make sure it’s cold!
Vanilla extract – Of course you can always swap this out if you are adding other flavors and add-ins.

How To Make Scones – Step by Step

When I finally do remembering hearing about scones, I always remember hearing the word, DRY, with them. How sad for scones! And so false! If you haven’t ever tried making scones for the same reasons I always had, because they just didn’t sound appealing I suggest you give them a try. They do not require a mixer, just your mixing arm, a bowl, a whisk, spatula, and pastry cutter.

To make the dough, it is as simple as whisking together your dry ingredients.

bowl of dry ingredients for scones and a whisk

Then you want to cut in your butter into the bowl. It’s easier if you cube the butter first up into the bowl.

Remember the butter should be COLD, COLD, COLD!

Then using your pastry cutter, cut the butter up until the butter is pea-sized, crumbly, but still visible.

Like so…

Want to add some mix-ins?

If you want to stir in some chocolate chips, or maybe some citrus zest, some dried cranberries perhaps? Now’s the time!

You will still visible pieces of butter in the bowl and that’s what you want. Those butter pieces will help to create a flaky tender scone in the end. They will melt, and the water in the butter will steam and push apart the flour layers.

And then make a well (aka push the flour aside and create a hole for the wet ingredients) and stir in the heavy cream and vanilla extract.

Cut the scones…

From there, you turn your dough onto your counter, knead the dough until it comes together and then pat into a circle.

…and cut into wedges. You want 8 equal sized wedges (basically cut ’em like you would a pizza). Easy peasy.

Then I recommend placing the scones on your baking sheet and freezing for 15 minutes (or refrigerating for 30 minutes) to firm up the butter.

This really does make a difference in the rise of the scones!

Bake And Ice!

Or don’t. That’s your call. But please do. Because it’s totally worth it.

Just whisk up a little confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and a little heavy cream (or milk).

Then drizzle away….you won’t regret it.

Baking Tips

Measure flour correctly. Be sure to measure your flour correctly by scooping into your dry measuring cup and levelling off with a flat edge. For best accuracy use a kitchen scale. For a complete tutorial on how to measure your flour accurately, read this post.
Use Cold Butter. Make sure to use cold butter. The cold butter will coat the flour which will shorten the gluten strands making for a tender scone. And because the butter is cold, it will not be absorbed by the flour, so when those pieces of butter are in the oven the water in the butter will turn to steam creating flaky layers and helping the scones to rise.
Knead lightly. You don’t want to overwork the dough. Just knead enough for the dough to come together. Overworking the dough will develop the gluten causing the scones to be tough. It could also cause the butter to warm up and melt resulting in it getting absorbed into the dough.

Recipe FAQ’s

How do you store scones?

Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

How long do scones last?

I like them of course fresh out of the oven. But they can last 1 to 2 days properly stored at room temperature.
You can also keep them store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Or better yet freeze them! Freezing desserts is my secret to always having baked goods at my fingertips.

Can you freeze scones?

Oh yes! That’s what I love about these chocolate cherry scones. Once you cut them into wedges, you can freeze them by placing them on a cookie sheet. Then once frozen, wrap in either plastic wrap or store in a plastic bag in your freezer for up to 3 months. I like to do both to ensure they don’t have freezer burn.
Then when ready to bake, no need to thaw, just bake frozen. You will just need to tack on a few extra minutes of baking time.

Can I make these half-sized

I do this by cutting the 8 wedges and then cutting those in half again.
These half sized scones will take less baking time of course. After the first 10 minutes, rotate the pan in the oven and bake 5 minutes more.

Scone Variations

There are so many possibilities. Here are a few scone variations:

Cranberry Orange – Add 1/2 cup dried cranberries + 1 Tbsp. orange zest to the dough. Replace heavy cream with orange juice in glaze.
Blueberry Lemon – Add 1 cup blueberries + 1 Tbsp. lemon zest to the dough. Replace heavy cream with lemon juice in glaze.
Chocolate Chip – Add 1 cup chocolate chips to the dough.
Cherry Chocolate Almond – Add 1 tsp. almond extract, 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup chocolate chips to the dough. Replace vanilla with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in glaze.
Lavender White Chocolate – Add 1 tsp. lemon zest, 2 tsp. dried lavender, and 1 cup white chocolate chips to dough. Replace heavy cream with lemon juice in glaze.
Cinnamon Chip – Add 1 tsp. cinnamon + 1/2 c. cinnamon chips to dough. Brush scones with heavy cream. Make cinnamon topping: 2 Tbs. + 1 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle on scones before baking. Drizzle in the vanilla glaze.

Recipes To Try

Oh sky’s the limit! Here a few options to try: