Classic English Scones. Quick and Easy to make, moist, light, and fluffy! Perfect for High Tea or Afternoon Tea. This is a very popular recipe and for those searching for a good, reliable English scone recipe, this won't disappoint!
I first learnt to make Classic English Scones when I was 11 years old, in Hong Kong. Back in those days, Hong Kong was a British Colony, and was very 'British', so my school was English as were the teachers.
We would learn to cook all kinds of recipes that English people would eat, and with my mom being Chinese and cooking mainly Chinese food at home, my dad, being English was very happy when I would bring home my cooking creations from school as they would be all the things he missed from home.
I learned to make scones, proper English Cucumber Sandwiches, Scotch Eggs, Toad in The Hole, Spotted Dick, Jam Roly Poly and all kinds of English recipes.
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From there, I have obviously built up my range of English recipes and developed the ones I really love the most.
This scone recipe I would say came from my English Cookery teacher back in 1970..something! I don't know where she got it from, but I remember her name as Mrs Petrie.
Many of the English dessert recipes you see here originate from Mrs Petrie and my Father's mother, 'Mam'!
Classic English Scones are traditionally served with tea, and you would have jam and clotted cream spread on each half of the scone.
In some parts of England, it is known as a 'cream tea'. Watch out for signs along the road saying there is Cream Tea available!! It's worth stopping and having one!
These scones are the softest, lightest and fluffiest, moist and flavourful, and remember when you make this recipe, light hands make a light scone!
Be sure to follow my tips and you too will love this recipe. So let's see how you make this lovely Classic English Scone.
Prep Time
10 minute
Cook Time
10 minutes
Yield
8
You will need
A baking tray & a 5 cm / 2 inch round cutter
Ingredients You'll Need
- 350 g self-raising flour *** Please seive, US Measure is 2 cups and 13 tablespoons
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp caster or regular sugar
- 3 oz or 85 g butter, cubed
- ¾ cup or 175 ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- A squeeze lemon juice
- beaten egg, to glaze
- 1 cup or 200 g raisins, dried fruit etc of your choice. (I used raisins)
NOTE: Please ensure you use Self Raising Flour for this recipe and not All Purpose / Plain Flour.
I cannot say if making your own mix of Self-raising will work.
The best scones need to rise properly and not taste of soda or baking powder, and so the above ingredients are what I can advise for best results.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 220C/ 425 F / Gas 7. Also, preheat your baking tray.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the sifted flour, salt and baking powder, and combine.
3. Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
Using a flat bladed knife, stir in the sugar. Then add the dried fruit if using.
4. Put the milk into a jug and heat in the microwave for about 30 secs until warm, but not hot.
Add the vanilla and lemon juice, then set aside for 2 minutes.
5. Make a well in the dry mix.
then add the liquid and combine it quickly with a flat bladed knife.
Once combined, place it on a well-dusted work surface.
When it starts coming together, I use my hand to gently gather the dough around the side of the bowl so it's nice and smooth.
It will be quite a wet dough at first.
Dust some flour on the work surface and place the dough on the surface.
Shake some more flour on the dough and your hands, then fold the dough over 2-3 times until it's a little smoother.
Pat into a round about 4 cm (1 ½ inches) deep.
**** Please, the thickness is VERY IMPORTANT so measure if you are not sure!
TIP:
When you turn the dough out onto the work surface, it will be sticky and a little wet at first.
Don't worry about this as you need to dust your hands and dough. Try to handle the dough as little as possible, and not be heavy-handed. This will cause the scones to be heavy and tough
6. Take a 5cm (2 inch) cutter -( Plain cutters cut more cleanly and give a better rise than patterned edge cutters ) and dip it into some flour.
Plunge in a single movement into the dough, then repeat until you have four scones.
By this point, you'll probably need to press what's left of the dough back into a round to cut out another four.
Try not to overwork the dough, be light with your hands when reshaping.
Tips for cutting the scones
- To ensure your scones rise vertically in the oven, when you use your cutter, be sure to cut the scone in one vertical action straight down through the dough.
- When removing the cutter, DO NOT do a twisting action, but remove the cutter straight up
- If you twist the cutter, this will destroy the structure of the dough and you will not get the scones to rise properly with the classic break apart in the middle look.
7. Brush the tops with beaten egg, then carefully place onto the hot baking tray.
8. Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top.
These scones will freeze very well once cooked in an airtight bag, just defrost and reheat if you want them warmed through.
Serve with whipped cream and jam, or as I have done in the pictures, served with butter and some Home Made Lemon Curd. See HERE for the recipe for Lemon Curd
Variations
Cranberry and Lemon Drop Scones
We've also got a great savory scone recipe if you'd like to make that to serve with your afternoon tea, Cheesy Sausage and Jalapeno Scones. Delicious!
Recipe Card
Classic English Scones
Classic English Scones.
Quick and Easy to make moist, light, and fluffy! Step by step instructions to make perfect scones. Serve for High Tea or Afternoon Tea
Ingredients
- 350 g self-raising flour *** Please seive, US Measure is 2 cups and 13 tablespoons
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp caster or regular sugar
- 3 oz or 85 g butter, cubed
- ¾ cup or 175 ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- A squeeze lemon juice
- beaten egg, to glaze
- 1 cup or 200 g raisins, dried fruit etc of your choice. (I used raisins)
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 220C/ 425 F / Gas 7. Also pre heat your baking tray.
- In a mixing bowl, add the sifted flour, salt and baking powder,and combine.
- Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Using a flat bladed knife, stir in the sugar. Then add the dried fruit if using.
- Put the milk into a jug and heat in the microwave for about 30 secs until warm, but not hot. Add the vanilla and lemon juice, then set aside for 2 minutes.
- Make a well in the dry mix, then add the liquid and combine it quickly with a flat bladed knife. Once combined, place it on a well dusted work surface.
Try to handle the dough as little as possible, and not be heavy handed. This will cause the scones to be heavy and tough
- Take a 5cm (2 inch) cutter -( Plain cutters cut more cleanly and give a better rise than patterned edge cutters ) and dip it into some flour. Plunge in a single movement into the dough, then repeat until you have four scones.
*** See tip below for cutting.
- By this point you'll probably need to press what's left of the dough back into a round to cut out another four. Try not to over work the dough, be light with your hands when reshaping.
To ensure your scones rise vertically in the oven, when you use your cutter, be sure to cut the scone in one vertical action straight down through the dough. When removing the cutter, DO NOT do a twisting action, but remove the cutter straight up. If you twist the cutter, this will destroy the structure of the dough and you will not get the scones to rise properly with the classic break apart in the middle look.
- Brush the tops with beaten egg, then carefully place onto the hot baking tray. Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 330Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 600mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 2gSugar: 26gProtein: 6g
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Catherine
says:Hello! I’ve been making scones for years and years but as many have stated, never with the warming techniques you suggest. I followed the recipe to the letter. The scones did rise well for me but were pretty dry and flavorless. It is possible I overcooked them as they were brown at under 10 minutes with my convection oven set at 400. But the recipe calls for a fraction of the usual butter and sugar than most of my recipes so I am wondering if that would account for the lack of flavor? As so many are happy with the results, I feel I am definitely doing something wrong on my end.
Also, the flour is for two cups plus 13 tablespoons US, right? And three ounces butter?
I also brushed the tops with cream and dusted with course sugar so they have a great crunch but were dense inside, not light and fluffy. And yes, I was careful with handling. Only enough to shape it into a circle and yes used self rising flour. Everything sifted etc. Just can’t figure out what I did wrong.
Paula
says:Do you grease the baking sheet?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Paula, no, you don’t need to grease the baking sheet. However, it’s important to preheat the sheet in the oven so it’s hot before you put the scones on. Hope that helps!
Isabella
says:Thank you! These are by far the BEST SCONES, they tasted soooo Good!! I chose yours to bake because it was different. Yours had Warm milk and Heated tray! Unique! It is DA BEST of the Best Scones!
Claudia
says:Mine didn’t rise much :(
Vanessa
says:These are super fluffy! I added 1 tsp of lavender to flavour it. It’s certainly very easy to tweak this recipe to suit your taste. Will definitely be making more Thanks!
Z
says:Thank you so much! I was wishing for fluffy, crispy topped scones and knocked these up last night. I followed the steps carefully as recommended (thank you for reiterating why) and had the best scones ever! Never buying supermarket scones ever again.
I actually used a glass to cut as don’t have a cutter but I’ll be buying one asap as I’ll be making my own fluffy ‘dream’ scones at home from now on. Also, for any others new to baking, I didn’t have caster sugar so I used some brown sugar and they came out just fine.
Lovefoodies
says:Hey! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and thanks for adding about the sugar in case any one else finds that helpful.
Happy baking!
Mary
says:I made these on a whim and used dried cranberries. I love to cook but I am not the best baker. These scones turned out beautifully and tasted amazing. We enjoyed them for Mother’s Day with butter and jam. Thank you for the easy and delightful recipe.
Michaela Boyle
says:I love this recipe!! My partner loves cheese scone instead of fruit. Would you recommend same recipe and quantity but add grated cheese in place of fruit or would you do a different recipe?
Thanks in advance.
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Michaela, glad you like the recipe!
We have a cheesy sausage jalapeño scone recipe here, https://lovefoodies.com/cheesy-sausage-and-jalepeno-scones/ . You can just leave out the sausage and jalapeño if you wish, but it has the ingredients you need for plain cheese scones. Please enjoy!
Amy
says:Oh so delicious–fluffy, tender, a little sweet. So good, can be eaten plain if you want, nothing else needed! I live at high-altitude (over 5000 ft) so always have to adjust a little for baking, but this was my first time using self-rising flour, so I followed the recipe exactly (and weighed ingredients). Mine didn’t look exactly as pictured, but pretty darn close. I think I need a little more practice with the cutter….so hard not to remember not to give it a little twist! Will definitely make again. Thank you Mary for the recipe and the excellent instructions.
Lovefoodies
says:Hey Amy! So glad you enjoyed the scones! The twist of the cookie cutter takes some getting used to, but hopefully you’ll notice the difference in the rise if you remember to bring it straight up as opposed to doing a twisting action.
I’ve made some sausage and jalapeño scones if you want to check those out. They’re really yummy!
Stay safe and happy baking!
Nancy Karvzewski
says:I am having trouble printing the British Scone recipe, apparently the 3 step process is not recognized by my IPad. I was able to print the Welsh Cakes using a different format. HELP
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Nancy, I’m not sure what you mean by the 3 step process for printing but if you scroll down to the bottom you will see a recipe card and a print button which will print just the recipe (no photos etc). Hope this helps
Paul Hiebing
says:I really enjoyed this recipe, as I was looking up something to make with the self-rising flour I bought. I have made this twice to very favorable reviews in my family. However, both times I felt the scones were a little undercooked as they were still somewhat doughy in the middle. A few more minutes in the oven cleared that up. So in the future I guess I need to remember to give it about 13 minutes! Otherwise, very tasty and fairly easy to whip up in the morning.
Theresa Overby
says:Can I use fresh fruit instead?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Theresa, yes, however, be aware you don’t want any fruit which is too wet as that will make the dough a bit soggy.
Julie
says:Hi Theresa
If you use fresh fruit you can coat it in flour so it is not so wet. Just a dusting is fine.
Amy Cookson
says:Easy and super tasty!