This simple no fuss English buttermilk scone recipe always delivers a soft, flaky, and buttery results every time. In addition, I will share with you what I truly believe is the secret to baking the perfect English scone.
So, what is the difference between an English scone and an American scone? and what makes a bad scone. I will also share my top tips when making scones so you can have success every time.
1. What is the key to a good English Scone
What is a good scone? To me, it should have a slight crunch on the outside, and the inside needs to be a bit flaky and crumbly. When you bite into a scone, it should taste buttery and melt in the mouth as you eat it.
2. What is the difference between an English scone and an American scone
From what I have been able to gather, it’s more than just the fact that they are cut into triangles as opposed to using a cookie cutter.
The biggest differences have to do with butter and sugar quantities. American versions tend to have more of each. In the UK, we tend to add additional sweeteners in the form of cream and jam. Personally, I prefer it that way, but maybe I am biased.
For the US and Canada, we also have biscuits that look suspiciously like a scone but are in fact savory.
Here are a couple of the main differences and really, as long as they taste good who cares.
3. Sifting, Chilling, Resting, Flour….. what is right?
It can be quite overwhelming when you are new to baking, with so many recipes to choose from. Which recipe is the right one? What if I get it wrong? Well, I am afraid getting it right, and knowing what to look for in a recipe is something that comes with practice. You have to start somewhere.
Scones are a great place to start; they are quick and easy to make without the need for lots of fancy tools and ingredients. I mean, you don’t need a rolling pin, you don’t need a mixer. If you’re in a pinch and don’t even have a bowl, you can mix the ingredients together on the worktop. I have done this before; it’s good fun, actually. All I can say is, don’t overthink it.
My Top Tips.
- Tip 1: Don’t change the cook time; instead, change your oven temperature. I have found going up or down in increments of 10 works well.
- Tip 2: Confession: I never buy buttermilk, and yes, my recipe calls for it. But whenever I buy it, I use it once, then it sits in my fridge and becomes the cliché science experiment. So I make my own cheats version; all you need is milk and either white vinegar or lemon juice. (Disclaimer: If you choose to go with lemon juice, it will affect the flavor of whatever you are making.) The recipe is 1 cup (250ml) milk and 1 tablespoon vinegar/lemon, mix together, then leave for around 5 minutes—it may start to curdle slightly, that’s fine.
- Tip 3: Do not overwork the dough. I cannot stress this enough; it’s the biggest culprit of a bad scone. consequently, if you have ever had a tough, chewy, gamey scone, then it has been overworked. NEVER KNEAD IT!!!
- Tip 4: A rolling pin is not needed when making scones. Just use your hands to flatten the dough out.
- Tip 5: Always try to use fresh ingredients. The scones tend to become staler a lot faster if you do not use fresh ingredients, particularly the butter.
- Tip 6: If the bottoms of your scones appear to be burning, do not worry! You can prevent this. Why not try placing an empty baking sheet on the rack below. Alternatively, you could also double up on your parchment paper, which will help distribute the heat more evenly and protect the bottoms from overbaking.
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How to make the simple English scone recipe
What you will need
- Bowl
- Small Jug or bowl
- Small whisk or fork
- Basting brush
- Cookie cutter. A 2.5 inch cutter for example is ideal.
- Cookie Sheet
- Parchment paper
- Stand mixer, Optional. Although using your hands is preferred.
Ingredients
- Flour. I suggest that you use an all purpose white flour.
- Unsalted Butter.
- Salt.
- Baking powder
- Sugar. I used granulated. If you want to use caster sugar I would recommend reducing it to around 1/4 a cup instead
- Buttermilk. I prefer to make my own using milk and white vinegar..
- 2 medium or large sized eggs.
- Vanilla extract. Also, try to use real, not imitation vanilla if you can.
Step by Step Easy English Scone Recipe.
Mixing
Pre heat oven to 430F, 220C, Gas mark 7. You can also wait and preheat the oven at the end if you want your dough to rest before baking.
1. Firstly, if you are making your own buttermilk make it now. 1/3 Cup Milk, 1 Teaspoon Vinegar. Mix them together in a small jug or bowl set aside until needed.
2. Secondly, into a mixing bowl add all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and butter
3. Using your fingers rub butter into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
4. Next, sprinkle the sugar into the bowl and mix it in thoroughly.
5. Into a small jug or bowl add in the buttermilk, along with, the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat them together really well so that are fully blended together.
6. Finally, make a well in the flour, then pour the egg-milk mixture into the center. Be sure to reserve about 1–2 tablespoons of the mixture, as you’ll need it later for an egg wash to brush over the tops.
Forming the dough
7. Slowly bring the ingredients together with your hands until it forms a rough dough ball. Avoid kneading the dough in any way. If, you are using a stand mixer set it to a low speed, always being very careful not to over work the dough. Because this can very easily happen.
8. Turn the dough ball out onto a clean floured surface. Now, using the palms of your hands, gently flatten it out into a disc that is around 1 1/2 inches thick.
9. Using any cookie cutter or any suitable tool you have on hand to cut out the scones. And place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them slightly apart. In order to give them room to expand.
10. Taking the reserved egg mixture that you saved from earlier and with it brush the tops of the scones.
Baking
11. So you have 2 options to choose from. Either you can place the scones into the preheated oven right away or you could leave the scones the countertop, turning the oven on now to preheat.
12. Bake for 14 Minutes. Then remove and carefully place the scones onto a cooling rack.
13. Once the scones have cooled down a bit, you can now enjoy them with some jam, cream and a cup of tea.
In summary, if you have followed the recipe closely and also applied all of the tips for making the perfect scone, your finished scones should be soft, buttery, and flaky. In other words, they should be close to perfection.
I hope that you will find these tips helpful, and as a result, you go on to make some beautiful scones. In the meantime, please leave me a comment below, letting me know how you got on with making this simple scone recipe. Additionally, if you have more tips, I’d love to hear from you below in the comments.
Easy English Scone Recipe
Buttery, flaky, melt in your mouth rich buttermilk scone recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 Cups (470g) All purpose flour
- 1/3 Cup (70g) Sugar
- 3/4 Cup (160g) Butter
- 4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 medium eggs
- 1/3 Cup Buttermilk
- 1tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 Cup Dried Fruit (eg. raisins, currants) (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 430F, 220C, gas mark 7.
1. If you making cheats buttermilk make it now (see note).
2. In a large bowl of the bowl of a stand mixer add Flour, baking powder and butter, rub in using fingers or the paddle attachment on your mixer, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add sugar and salt and mix in well.
4. In a separate small bowl beat together the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla
5. Add the egg mixture (reserving a small amount to use as an egg wash) to the dry ingredients again either using your hands or a stand mixture bring together to form a dough ball. do not overwork stop the moment it comes together.
(Optional. Add any dried fruit now.)
6. Turn out onto a floured work top and using your hands flatten out to 1 ½ inch thick disk. Using a cookie cutter cut out as , many scones as you can, placing them onto a lined baking sheet. Bring dough together and flatten again, cut out scones repeat until all dough has been used up.
7. Brush tops with the remaining egg mixture.
8. Bake for 14 minutes
9. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack to cool before eating
Serve with jam and cream and a cup of tea.
Notes
Cheats buttermilk 1/3 Cup milk 1tsp white vinegar mix and leave for around 5 minutes before using.
Make sure butter is cold and still fairly firm
Some nice fruit additions include, Raisins, Sultanas and Currants
If you do not have a cookie cutter you could use a jar lid, or divide the dough into two or three balls, and cut into triangles after you flatten out into a disc.
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