Baking Simple Scones at home is easy and very rewarding.  Homemade scones are always a winner whatever time of year, but particularly pleasing enjoyed in front of the fire when the weather is disappointing.

Every part of Britain has a different opinion on how a scone should be made.  None are wrong, it’s just a matter of preference. Personally, I take the view that the topping decides the type of scone to be used. Indulgently rich toppings like clotted cream need a simple neutral scone with a touch of sharpness. If all you’re going to put on top or your scone is a lick of butter, then a richer scone base possibly with added fruit is ideal.

Fruit Scones.

Buttermilk Scones.

Yoghurt Scones.

Cheese Scones.

Where Did Scones Come From?

Scones are thought to have originated in Scotland in the 1500s. And today there are still various type of scones in common use.

Girdle Scones are cooked on a flat plate or stone over the fire and were the forerunner of the modern scone. They were a type of quick bread usually made with oats would have been more savoury than the modern version. Bannock is the term for a round flat unleavened bread similar to a girdle scone. Most people today are more familiar with a Selkirk Bannock. Which is a buttery mix closer to a fruitcake than a scone.

Tattie Scones are a flat scone again cooked on the girdle and are used for breakfast.  Made using cooked potato, flour butter and egg. They are reheated in the pan used to cook the bacon, so they absorb all the flavour. I can feel my arteries closing as I write this!

Other parts of Britain quickly developed their own variations and recipes. A notable version from Wales been the Welshcake. They are excellent, look up our post on how to make Welshcakes and give them a try.

Baking Simple Scones, The How and the Why?

To get light well risen scones we need to make a moist dough that has not allowed the gluten to develop. Part of the rise in the dough is due to steam generated in the dough. But the main ‘kick’ is due to the baking powder in the recipe producing gasses that force the dough to rise.

Why Don’t My Scones Rise?

This could be due to any, or all of the following.

Not Rubbing in the Butter Correctly.

Just like making good short pastry the butter need to be rubbed into the flour. There should not be lumps of butter visible in the flour. But neither should the butter be fully incorporated with the flour. Using your hands to rub in the butter can cause it to melt into the flour and make the dough biscuit like. I always use a machine or a pastry knife to rub butter, or any fat into flour to avoid problems.

Using the Wrong Type of Flour.

You must use plain (soft) flour with added raising agents known as Self Raising Flour. Chefs will sometimes use ordinary plain flour and add the raising agents themselves. For home use it’s much easier to just to use off the shelf self-raising flour. Look up A Guide to Flour and Uses for more info.

Overworking the Dough.

By all means use a mixer or food processor to do the rubbing in if you wish. But I would always mix and form the dough by hand. The more the dough is worked and the longer you take the tougher it will become. If the dough is tough and stressed its impossible for the gasses to lift the dough and lighten the scone.

I always prefer to pat out the dough with my hands rather than use a rolling pin to keep things as light as possible

Too Dry a Dough.

A dry dough finds it difficult to rise.  Like an overworked dough the gasses cannot do their job and of course there is less steam to help things out. Some types and brands of flour will absorb different amounts of liquid. You egg may be larger or smaller than needed and if using yoghurt its thickness will have a marked effect on the amount used. Add a little more liquid if you think the dough needs it. Aim for a dough that is sticky but not gooey and don’t use too much flour to pat it out.

Bad Cutting Technique.

Always use a clean cutter dipped in flour to cut out the dough. Check the cutter after each cut and clean if needed then dip in flour before use. Using a dirty cutter will weld the sides of the scone together and prevent the dough rising. Don’t pick the cut scones up with your fingers. Lift each one onto the baking tray with a pallet knife or fish slice.

Well, that’s the problems out of the way, so let’s get on with it.

Baking Simple Scones – You Will Need.

• Baking trays
• Non-stick baking paper
• 7cm pastry cutter
• Spare flour for cutting out
• Small liquid measure
• Pastry brush
• Rolling mat
• Pastry knife or food processor/mixer
• Pallet knife or fish slice

Baking Simple Scones The Basic Method.

Sift the flour with the baking powder into a large bowl then mix in the flour and sugar. Rub the diced butter into the dry mix, avoiding leaving any chucks of butter but keeping the mix as light as possible. A food processor makes an excellent job of this and is easier on the fingers. Make a well in the mix and put aside.

Pour 90% of the wet mix into the centre of the flour / butter mix and begin the mix with a spatula lifting the dry into the wet turning the bowl as you go. From now on the success of our scones will depend on how much care is put into the mixing and cutting, we need to work quickly but lightly.

Handle with Care

Just before all the dry mix is worked in turn the contents out onto the work surface. Don’t be tempted to throw down lots of flour before tipping out as this will simply dry out our mixture. Carefully bring the mix together, if too dry add a little more of the egg mixture. The aim is to have a dough that feels slightly too wet but does not stick to everything it touches. Don’t worry if you have a little of the dry mix still on the work surface, better not to overwork the dough for the sake of a few grams of dough.

Forming the Scones.

Using your hands pat the dough out to 2.5cm thick. Dip the pastry cutter into some flour then cut out the first scone. Carefully lift the scone with a pallet knife and lower onto the baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Avoid touching the sides of the scone as this may hold that side of the scone back from rising in the oven. Cut out more scones ensuring the cutter is clean each time and dipped in the flour before each cut. Keep at least 2cm between each scone on the tray. When all the dough is cut take the off cuts and carefully bring together (do this as lightly as possible). Pat out and repeat the cutting procedure. Take the off cuts once more and bring together, pat out and pop the offcut onto a spare space on the tray. That’s your bonus for all your hard work.

Many a chef’s tea break has been lifted by some welcome leftovers!!!!

The Baking.

The urge now is to get the scones into the oven as quickly as possible – Don’t.

The raising agents in the flour need a little time to work and form gasses in the dough.

Popping the scones directly into the oven will set the outside and hold back the rising of the dough. Leave the scones to sit for 10 minutes on the baking tray. In fact, my advice is not to turn on the oven until you have the scones sitting on the baking tray. This will force you to give the scones time to rise. The images below are the same scones before and after resting.

Light brush the surface of the scones with a little milk, (I find egg gives too dark a finish). Bake then leave to rest on a cooling wire before serving.

Now after all that, let’s get baking,

Baking Simple Scones, the recipes

Baking Simple Scones – Fruit Scones.

• 450g               self-raising flour
• 110g               unsalted butter (diced)
• 50g                 golden caster sugar
• 110g               sultanas or raisins
• 2tsp                 baking powder (generous)
• 150g               plain yoghurt
• 40g                 milk
• ¼ tsp              salt
• 2                      large   eggs
•                         Milk to mix

Weigh the plain yoghurt into a bowl. Take a second smaller bowl and place onto the scales. Zero the scale then break the eggs into the bowl and add the yoghurt. Take the milk and make the total weight up to 300g.

Exactly how much of the wet mix you need will depends on a number of factors. The flour you are using, moisture content of the butter and thickness of the yoghurt.

Bake @ 200c for 18 mins (standard oven) or 185c for about 15 minutes (fan oven)

Baking Simple Scones – Buttermilk Scones (great with clotted cream)

• 225g               plain flour
• 1tsp                bicarbonate of soda
• 1tsp                cream of tartar
• Pinch              salt
• 300ml             buttermilk

These are a lighter scone with no butter in the basic dough. That lack of fat in the scone makes it a little crisper, just dying to be lathered with jam and clotted cream!

Mix all the dry ingredients together, then bring the dough together with the buttermilk. Don’t throw it all in at once. Add 90% and start mixing, exactly how much you need will depend on the thickness of the buttermilk.

Baking Simple Scones, Yoghurt Scones

• 350g               self-raising flour
• 3tbsp              caster sugar
• 85g                 cold diced, unsalted butter
• 1tsp                 baking powder
• ¼ tsp              salt
• 125ml             plain yoghurt
• 150                 milk

These are slightly richer scones. Sieve the flour and baking powder together, then add the sugar and salt.

Rub in the butter as you were making pastry. Then whisk the milk and yoghurt together and add to the bowl. Bring the dough together and cut out. Bake for 13 minutes at 190c.

Baking Simple Scones – Cheese Scones

• 450                 self-raising flour
• 110                 unsalted butter
• 1tsp                baking powder
• 70g                 extra mature Cheddar (grated)
• 25g                 Parmesan (grated)
• 1                     large egg
• 150ml             milk
• ½ tsp              salt
• ¼ tsp              ready-made mustard
• 4turns             of the black pepper mill
• spare Cheddar and Parmesan to top scones

The success of these scones depends on using good strong cheddar. Don’t use the plastic stuff, find a good crumbly extra mature cheese.

Mix the flour, baking powder, pepper, and salt together, then rub in the butter as outlined above. Crack the egg into a jug then add the milk, and mustard. Whisk everything together and put to one side.

Fold the two cheeses into the flour, then add the liquid, keeping a little back until you are sure you need it. Create a soft but not stick dough and form the scones.

Any remaining liquid can be used to glaze the scones, then sprinkle then with some extra cheese.

F.A.Qs.

Now all you have to do, is get baking!

Enjoy Life!

John.

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