February 28, 2019
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After years of making scones, I’ve finally perfected the best scone recipe that yields a perfectly light and fluffy breakfast or afternoon treat.
You’ve seen them in your favorite coffee or pastry shop, but today I’m showing you how to make easy scones at home.
How to Make Big Fluffy Scones
First things first, making scones is A LOT easier than it sounds. In fact, it’s very simple, right down to the ingredients which are:
- Flour
- baking powder
- salt
- sugar
- butter
- half and half
And I bet you already have them all in your pantry.
To make this recipe even easier I like using a food processor to combine the dough. If you don’t have one a pastry cutter will do the trick, be prepared to use a little more elbow grease. You will want to work the dough until it resembles wet sand.
Once, the dough is ready, place it on a lightly floured surface and give it a few kneads. Be sure not to overwork the dough; this will make your scones come out solid and tough!
From there, you roll it out into a circle, about an inch thick, slice into triangles and place onto a baking sheet or scone pan. I like to brush the tops with extra half and half to give the baked scones a beautiful golden brown recipe.
Fruit Scone Recipe
This recipe is also the perfect base for add-ins. You can add any frozen or fresh fruit like blueberries and raspberries as well as nuts and even chocolate chips.
When I want a little more variety, I’ll go for these Grain-free Blueberry Scones, Raspberry White Chocolate Scones, or Carrot Cake Scones.
Can Scones be Frozen?
Good news, scones are easily freezable both unbaked and baked.
To freeze unbaked scones, make the scone dough as directed, cut into triangles, place onto a baking sheet and transfer them to the freezer. Allow the scones to freeze solid before putting them in a large zip bag, labeled with baking directions, and freeze them for up to 3 months.
No need to defrost the scones, bake them, as usual, allowing an additional minute or two in the oven.
If you’ve already baked the scones, allow them to cool down to room temperature before placing them in a zip bag, and freezing for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to eat, warm them in the microwave or toaster oven and enjoy.
Either way, you freeze them, you’ll always have a batch of scones ready for unexpected company or a breakfast treat.
So who’s ready for scones?! Bonus points for everyone who’s already preheated their ovens!
Best Scones Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold
- ½ cup half and half cold
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor until combined, about 5 pulses. Add butter and pulse until fully incorporated and mixture looks like very fine crumbs with no visible butter, about 20 pulses. Add half and half to the dry ingredients and blend until fully combined.
- Transfer dough to well-floured counter and gather into ball. With floured hands, knead until the surface is smooth and free of cracks, 25 to 30 times. Press gently to form a disk.
- Using a floured rolling pin, roll disk into a 9-inch round, about 1 inch thick.
- Cut into 8 triangles and place onto the baking sheet.
- Brush tops of scones with reserved half and half.
- Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake scones until risen and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer scones to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Serve scones warm or at room temperature.
Jenny
This is definitely a 5 star!
Jenny
I just made it, and it is delicious ! I added a tablespoon of apple cranberry chutney to the scone, and put the dough in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before baking. I had to bake an extra few minutes due to the extra moisture from the addition of the chutney. Thank you so much for the recipe.