Basic Scone Recipe

5 from 5 votes

A few years back I worked at a bakery and it was my job to whip up batch after batch of scones of all sorts of varieties. I thought I would never want to see another scone after that summer, but I keep coming back to them. They are simple to make, have endless possibilities of flavor combinations, and everyone always devours them.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Chilling Time30

Total Time1

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: scones

Calories: 299kcal

Author: Heather Perine

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
coarse sugar for sprinkling on top

Instructions

Preheat and prepare pan. Preheat your oven to 400^oF. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in butter. Using your fingertips, two knives, or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter are pea-sized. If adding mix-ins, stir them in now.
Add wet ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
Shape and cut the scones. Empty the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough lightly to bring the mixture together. Pat the dough into a 8-inch circle. Using a sharp knife cut the circle into 8 triangle wedges. Place scones onto prepared cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Freeze for 30 minutes, or refrigerate for 1 hour before baking. Brush on a little heavy cream before baking and sprinkle on a little raw sugar before baking.
Bake The Scones. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack.

Notes

Storage: Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. 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.
Freezing: 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. You can also freeze baked scones. Once cooled, place in a freezer bag and freeze for 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
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.

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