This scone recipe makes a light and fluffy scone, rather than the crumbly textured scones found in most American bakeries. I love these so much more. Let me know what you think!
Classic English Scones
For the scones
2 cups all-purpose flour Pinch of salt 1/3 cup sugar ½ cup cold cubed butter 2 tsp baking powder 2 eggs cup buttermilk (or regular milk with a TBSP of vinegar or lemon juice) Clotted cream (for topping) Strawberry jam (for spreading)
For the egg wash
2 egg yolks Pinch of salt Pinch of sugar
Equipment needed
Method
In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attached place all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and paddle for 30 seconds until everything is combined. This way you don’t have to sieve the dry ingredients. You can also make the scone dough in a mixing bowl.
Add the cold cubed butter and paddle everything until your mix resembles breadcrumbs. It will take around 5 minutes in the standing mixer and 10 minutes if you are rubbing the butter with the flour by hand. (I prefer using the stand mixer)
In a separate bowl whisk together the buttermilk and the eggs.
Make a well in the bowl of your standing mixer and add the wet ingredients. Paddle on low speed and continue mixing until it comes together with no dry mix left.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured bench and knead the dough. A lot of recipes call for little to no kneading but I find it makes a pretty crumbly scone. You need the dough to be developed slightly so that it can capture the gas created by the baking powder being activated.
Split the dough. Roll half of the dough into a smooth ball; you want the top of the dough ball to be smooth. Cover both dough balls with cling film and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, flip the dough balls upside down (we want the smooth side on the bottom) and roll in both directions on a lightly floured surface. I like to roll the dough to one half the height of the cutter.
Dip your cutter in flour, shake any excess and cut straight down with a 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter, and then carefully turn over the scone, and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper- this gives you a nice sharp edge. I reroll my scraps only once as the more flour we add to the mix the denser the scones will be but you can keep rolling until all dough has been shaped.
Cover the scones with cling film and let them rest for half an hour. Brush egg yolk that has been whisked with a pinch of sugar and salt; this will make the top of the scones even shinier. Brush as gently as you can on the top, being careful that the egg yolk does not drip down the sides.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. for 12-14 minutes. It is best to check the scones after 12 minutes. Once the top and bottom of the scones have a nice golden color and feel light when lifted then they are ready to come out of the oven!
Serve slightly warm. To serve split the scone in half using your hands, spread some strawberry jam and top with clotted cream!
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