The Best Scones Recipe {Extra Buttery, Flaky and Crumbly}

This is the best recipe for buttery, flaky and crumbly scones, hands down. Get top tips on how to make perfect scones easily from scratch.

If you’ve been trying to master the perfect scone and found that it’s a bit trickier than you’d expected, then this post is for you.

Seriously, I’ve tried more scone recipes than I can count, only to be disappointed to have them bake up bland, dry, or worse, tough as bricks that it would have been better used as a meat pounder.

What could be so hard about rubbing butter into flour, stirring in the liquids, rolling out the dough , and cutting rounds, right?

But as it turns out, I’ve fallen into every imaginable pitfall there is. Don’t get me wrong, scones are one of the easiest bakes on earth once you know what to look out for.

So not one to give up easily, I learnt everything I could about scones, persevered, and ended up with this winning recipe that might just be life-changing. 

These scones are flaky, crumbly and totally scrumptious. Because there’s a higher butter, cream and milk ratio to flour, these scones have an extra moist crumb and rich buttery flavour.

this recipe

The best scones recipe

I came across this amazing scones recipe by Bea Vo, one of London’s favourite American pastry chefs behind the famed English tea house, Bea’s of Bloomsbury St Paul’s.

I’ve made it many times over and it’s absolutely the best scones recipe by a mile.

Even my English friends who’ve turned up their noses at the quality of scones in the shops gave these home-baked ones two thumbs up.

Each time, I’ve varied it a bit – adding dried raisins for the raisin scones you see here, as well as dried cranberries, mixed fruit, and even flavoured chips into the mix.

You really don’t need any equipment if you’re happy to leave the stand mixer, roll up your sleeves and energize those arm muscles mixing everything by hand.

Scones are super easy to freeze (I’ve got make-ahead options covered further down this post), and make an easy meal with a quick thaw and toast in the oven when you don’t have the time or energy to prep a stove-top breakfast.

How to bake perfect scones: Lessons learnt from a lifetime of mistakes

Why have I got such a loooong list of dos and don’ts? Because I’ve made ALL of these mistakes at some point or other along the way.

Baking up perfect scones is about getting the basics right. Here are my top tips to get the best results out of this scone recipe:

• Don’t knead the mix. The key to a flaky, crumbly scone is to handle the dough as little as possible. Cut cold butter and liquids into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or wooden spoon, mixing until you get a rough dough that barely holds together.

• Keep butter chilled until needed. Cutting in cold, even frozen, butter ensures it stays in a nice, cold form so that the fat won’t melt and release water prematurely before it hits the oven.

• Add cold eggs and cold liquids. It’s important that everything else to be added to the dough should be cold so the dough stays cool and prevents the butter from warming too quickly.

• Sift the flour and baking powder together. When well mixed, the baking powder gets well distributed in the flour so you’ll get a better chance of scones rising evenly.

• Pat the dough or roll it out lightly. For more rustic-looking scones, pat down the dough lightly to the ideal height. If using a rolling pin, use light pressure only.

• Don’t roll/pat the dough too thin. Scones cut from a thin dough tend to bake up with short sides and slightly domed tops (think cupcakes – not what we want, people). Be sure to roll to at least 1.2”/3 cm thickness so scones can rise to a good height.

• Don’t add too much flour to the surface. Sprinkle just enough flour on the worktop to prevent the dough from sticking. By all means, dust the surface of the dough too if it gets too sticky to handle, but sparingly.

• Flour the cutter each time before cutting. Roll the cutter in flour – use your fingers to coat the inside too. You’ll have an easier time dropping the scones (without touching their sides) directly onto the baking tray.

• Never twist the cutter. As far as mistakes go, this is probably my worst! I know people say, “never say never“, but this is a BIG no-no. Resist the urge to twist the cutter into and out of the dough. Push the cutter down firmly into the dough, bang it if you have to, and lift it straight up.

• Avoid touching or smearing the sides of the cut rounds. I am guilty of doing this all the time! Touching or smearing the sides effectively ‘seals’ the flaky layers, so your scones won’t rise evenly and may end up lop-sided. They might look wonky, but still delicious.

• Flip cut rounds upside down. Here’s a tip by Jamie Oliver (though I’ve yet to try it myself). Once you’ve cut your rounds, flip them over and place them upside down on the baking tray. This will also help them to rise evenly, and counteract any ‘squashing’ from cutting down on the dough.

• Brush milk- or egg-wash on the tops only, never the sides. Similar to touching the sides, brushing the sides of the scones will ‘glue’ the sides, preventing the scones from puffing up tall and evenly.

• Chill the cut rounds or leftover dough when batch baking. Don’t leave the remaining dough or trays with cut rounds waiting to go in the oven, out for too long when you’re baking in batches. Return to the refrigerator as frequently as you need to, to keep them cold.

• Make sure the oven is at the baking temperature. Remember, a hot, hot oven is key, as we want that water-to-steam conversion right away, and for the leavening to do its thing. Make sure your oven is preheated in advance and at the intended baking temperature (use an oven thermometer if you have one handy).

Ingredients to make plain or raisin scones

• plain or all-purpose flour
• baking powder. Leavens the dough and gives these scones that much needed rise.
• salt. Salt accentuates the flavours of other ingredients, without which the scones would taste pretty flat. You can skip the salt if using salted butter.
• sugar. There’s just enough to sweeten the dough so these scones aren’t overly sweet.
• butter. Use unsalted butter, but salted butter works fine too – just remember to omit the additional salt.
• eggs. Use large eggs, each weighing 56 – 60 grams / just under 2 ounces still in its shell.
• heavy cream (whipping cream). The fats in heavy cream gives these scones an added richness and moistness. Use whipping creams with at least 35% dairy fat.
• milk. Adds flavour and moistness. If avoiding dairy, you can use unsweetened soy milk, nut milks or oat milk but be aware that some milks do infuse the dough with their flavours as well.
• dried fruit (optional). I added raisins but you can substitute raisins for sultanas, dried currants, dried cranberries, mixed fruit, and even flavoured chips like chocolate chips.

How to make perfect scones: Step-by-step

• Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large mixer bowl. Stir in the sugar. Cut the cold butter cubes (or paddle with a stand mixer at low speed) into the flour until it resembles a coarse sandy mixture. Chill for 10 minutes.

• Whisk eggs, milk and heavy cream until well mixed.

• Add the egg mixture and the dried raisins (or your preferred add-ins) to the flour mixture. Gently cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or mix with a wooden spoon until just combined and no dryness remains. The dough will be a bit sticky – this is OKAY. Chill for 10 minutes.

• With floured hands or a plastic scraper, turn the cold dough out onto a floured surface and generously flour the top of the dough.

• Pat the dough down lightly until 1.2″/3 cm thickness or about the same height as your cutter.

• Dip a 2.5” (5 cm) cutter generously in flour and cut straight down into the dough (DO NOT TWIST). Lift up and immediately transfer the round to the baking sheet. Re-flour the cutter each time before cutting out the next round. Place the rounds about 1”(2 cm) apart.

• Gather up the off-cuts, gently re-ball (again, avoid kneading) and pat down to cut out more. Repeat until all the dough is used up.

• Just before baking, brush the tops (avoid the sides) with milk or egg wash.

• Bake immediately on the centre rack in the preheated oven for 22 – 25 minutes until they’ve risen, turned golden brown on their tops and bottoms, and spring back when lightly pressed.  Add a few more minutes to the baking time if they’ve sat in the chiller. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

FAQs

Scones are traditionally eaten with a generous spread of jam and clotted cream, as the English would have it, but I love turning them into savoury bites just as much.

They’re perfect for sandwiching smoked salmon, egg mayo salad, ham and cheese – heck, just about anything. Even if you piled mashed potatoes on them, I bet they’d be surprisingly delish.

I’m imagining my English friends would be quite horrified, to say the least. Not quite the English way, but oh, so yummy!

You may also like:

• The Best Cinnamon Rolls {Extra Moist, Soft, and Fluffy}
• Soft & Moist Bakery-Style Butter Coconut Buns
• Red Bean Milk Loaf (Tangzhong Method)
• Light Brioche Burger Buns – Perfect for Every Burger Meal
• Welsh “Speckled” Bread (Bara Brith) – A Fruit Loaf that Makes for Really Good Bread.

 

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This post was originally published in 2015. In this update, it’s been refreshed and updated with new photos, step by step instructions with process shots, and detailed additional tips. The recipe remains unchanged, but scaled down to make a smaller batch intended to meet the needs of home bakers.