With these top tips for baking scones, I’ll show you that homemade scones are quite easy to make.
By understanding what makes great scones, you’ll get the best scones every time.
A scone’s perfect texture will depend on personal preference and where you’re enjoying them. But in general, a scone is somewhat of a cross between a muffin and a biscuit.
Scones are a quick bread that do not include yeast. They’re a bit crumbly and can be a little flaky. A true scone recipe includes lots of butter, which makes them taste delicious, as well as gives them their texture.
Their sweetness can vary depending on the type of scone, but generally, they aren’t overly sweet. And savory scones aren’t sweet at all.
Jump to:
Basic Scone Ingredients
Classic scones come in a variety of different flavors. Many use fresh fruit, regular or white chocolate chips, or various other add-ins. There are also different ways to make dough. For example, these Blueberry Scones include an egg, but I have many scone recipes, like these Strawberry Scones that are eggless.
In general, these are the basic ingredients you’ll find in most scone recipes.
Dry Ingredients
Flour – I prefer to use all-purpose flour when making scones. Some recipes may call for self-rising flour or pastry flour. Those will result in a bit of a lighter scone.
Leavening Agent(s) – Much like muffins (another kind of quick bread), baking soda and/or baking powder are used to give the rise to scones.
Sugar – Most scones, even savory scones, will have some sugar. As noted below, you’ll want to use a superfine or granulated sugar when mixing. Unless a specific recipe is calling for a coarse sugar, like cane sugar or turbinado sugar, which can be added in to achieve a certain flavor or texture. Like the use of brown sugar in these Lemon Poppy Seed Scones.
Flavor enhancers – Depending on the recipe and flavoring, ground cinnamon, salt, cocoa powder, or other powdered flavorings and seasonings can be added to a scone mix.
Wet Ingredients
Egg(s) – Not all scone recipes require eggs. Eggs are more likely to be found in American scones as opposed to English scones. But occasionally an egg can help to bind the ingredients together and reduce the dryness in certain doughs.
Butter – Butter is the most essential ingredient in scones and the key to the flakiest scones. You should always use cold, unsalted butter (more on that below).
Cream – Scones should not be low in fat. Cream is another important ingredient and should not be replaced with regular or skim milk. Though occasionally buttermilk is intentionally used (like with these Cinnamon Chip Scones) to achieve a different texture. Heavy cream helps to get a rich and tender scone. Using a liquid too low in fat will get a more undesirable chewy scone texture.
Flavor enhancers – Citrus juice, like lemon or orange, vanilla extract, or another kind of extract like almond, orange, etc. may be added to scones for flavor.
Top Tips for Baking Scones
I like to keep my scone recipes simple. Baking can often get over-complicated, but I believe you can make a great scone without fancy equipment and overthinking the technique.
Here are my top 10 tips for baking perfect scones.
1. Cold Butter
Having cold butter is the number one tip for baking scones.
Cold butter is what gives scones their flaky and perfectly fluffy texture. Place your stick of butter in the freezer the day before baking, if possible. When mixing into your recipe, you want your butter to be in small pieces, like grated cheese or small cubes.
And you want to have chunks of butter throughout the dough. You can use grated frozen butter or cut your cold butter into small cubes before mixing.
2. Mix Butter & Flour Mixture
Once you have your dry ingredients mixed together, before adding the liquid ingredients, you want to cut in your butter. You can use your whole hands or fingers, or a pastry blender to do this.
I recommend a pastry blender as your hands can warm the dough and soften the butter.
3. Don’t Overwork the Dough
Again, the most important thing is to keep the butter cold. Overworking can soften and warm the butter. And as with most baked goods, overmixing can lead to more dry and dense scones.
A food processor is great for mixing, but you want to pulse the mixture rather than blend it so you don’t risk overworking the dough.
4. Superfine Sugar
You don’t want to use powdered or confectioner’s sugar, but superfine granulated sugar helps it mix with the dry ingredients and creates a more smooth dough.
Some recipes will specifically call for a more coarse sugar, like brown sugar or cane sugar. Those recipes are going for a specific texture and flavor profile and should be followed. But for a standard scone dough, a superfine sugar is best.
5. Accurate Measuring
Make sure you properly measure your dry ingredients and wet ingredients before mixing. In baking, it’s much more important than with cooking to be precise. One slight over-measure can completely alter the texture or flavor of your scones.
6. Use Cream
Use a cold cream, generally heavy cream, in your scone recipes. Don’t substitute the cream with a whole or skim milk.
Some scone recipes will use buttermilk, which is okay. But if a recipe calls for heavy cream, you want to use it. Cold cream will help give the scones a richer flavor and tender texture. Keeping the cream cold will help keep the dough cool.
7. Cold Ingredients
Keep the cold ingredients cold. Don’t pull your butter, cream and/or eggs out of your refrigerator/freezer until it’s time to use them. You want to keep the dough as cold as possible.
Again, we want that butter to stay cold to get perfectly textured and delicious fresh scones.
8. Refrigerate the Dough
Though not completely necessary, if you have time to refrigerate or freeze your scone dough for 15 minutes or so before baking, it will help the butter stay cold. This will help to keep the scones from spreading and ensure fluffiness.
If you take caution when mixing and working with the dough, this step is not necessary. But can be a helpful tip to ensure your butter remains cold.
9. Make an Egg Wash
If you prefer your scones to have a golden brown top, you can make an egg wash and brush it on top prior to baking. This is completely up to personal preference and not required when baking scones.
To make an egg wash, mix one whole egg with a tablespoon of water or cream and whisk until fully combined. Then brush the wash onto the formed scone dough using a pastry brush, and bake as normal.
10. Store Leftovers
Don’t toss your unbaked scones. Wrap them tight in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator or freezer. When you store individual portions, you can pull them out for a freshly baked scone on a whim, at any time.
Store scone dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Top Equipment for Baking Scones
Pastry cutter/pastry blender – Pastry blenders, also known as pastry cutters, are a great tool for mixing the butter and dry mixture together. It allows you to blend the pieces without using your hands, which can warm and soften the butter too much.
Boxed grater – You can use the large holes of a box grater to get small pieces of frozen butter. This is a great alternative to a pastry blender and butter cubes. You just have to be careful not to overwork the dough. Smaller bits of butter will soften easier than slightly larger cubes.
Rolling pin – A rolling pin can help you get your scones the right thickness before forming them.
Pizza cutter – Pizza cutters can help you easily cut your scones into perfect triangles.
Scone pan – A scone pan is a nice to have item when baking scones. It keeps scones uniform in size and is easy to work with when first starting. You can just fill up each slot about halfway and they bake beautifully.
Baking sheet – If you’re comfortable forming your scone shapes without a scone pan, you’ll need a good baking pan to bake them on.
Parchment paper – If you use a baking sheet to bake your scones and don’t have a non-stick sheet, use good parchment paper to line your sheet before baking.
Storing Tips for Scones
For best results, wrap scones tightly in plastic wrap, then store them in an airtight container. Here are a few basic rules for storing baked scones and scone dough.
Storing Scones at Room Temperature
After baking the scones, you can store them on your counter for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Do not store unbaked dough at room temperature.
Storing Scones in the Refrigerator
You can store baked scones in the refrigerator for up to a week. Reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees for 2-3 minutes or in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Scone dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Do not let the dough come to room temperature before baking. Place the cold dough on your baking sheet.
Freezing Scones
Store baked scones in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Then pull them out of the oven and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 6-8 minutes until they are warm.
Scone dough can be frozen for up to 3 weeks. Make sure you shape the dough before freezing, and flash freeze them on a tray for 2 hours before adding it to an airtight container. Thaw completely before baking, or bake from frozen and add 3 minutes to your baking time.
How to Serve Scones
Scones are such a lovely treat to enjoy with Afternoon Tea. They’re also a delicious snack or breakfast on the go. Here are some delicious ways to enjoy scones.
- Scones with your favorite tea or coffee are always a delicious pairing.
- Jam, clotted cream, fresh berries, and citrus curds are all great toppings for scones.
- Serve scones alongside different flavors of more scones and some cucumber tea sandwiches for brunch or breakfast for guests.
Best Scone Recipes
Now that you know all the top tips for baking scones, grab your ingredients and make some. These are a few easy recipes you can try. I developed these recipes with easy step-by-step instructions that aren’t complicated and give you delicious scones every time.
- Classic Cream Scones – Cream scones are sweet, but don’t have a flavor that clashes with other flavors. They’re classic scones and a great base scone recipe.
- Blueberry Scones (Starbucks Copycat Recipe) – This recipe is a Starbucks copycat and is even better than the original version and full of fresh ingredients.
- Lemon Poppy Seed Scones – The tangy and refreshing flavor of lemon adds a burst of brightness to this delightful scone.
- Cranberry Orange Scones (Starbucks Copycat Recipe) – These copycat Starbucks Cranberry Orange Scones have just a hint of orange and are stuffed with delicious cranberries and a drizzle of orange glaze.
- Cinnamon Chip Scones – Cinnamon chip scones are buttery and soft with just a bit of crispness around the edges. The cinnamon chips add a wonderful spicy hint of flavor.
- Easy Strawberry Scones – These delicious strawberry scones include a decadent vanilla drizzle that adds a touch of elegance and an extra layer of sweetness.
- Savory Scones – 17 savory scones recipes you will want to make again and again.
