Were you wondering what to serve at your next coffee or book club meeting? Look no further. Use this guide to learn how to make the best British scones. In England, these are served at “cream tea” in the late morning, or with afternoon tea. These scones are the best and super easy to make—They’re a fun treat to make as a compliment to your dinner, or a snack between meals to go with a refreshing beverage.
Perfectly flaky scones that can easily be made into any flavor you’d like including blueberry, cranberry orange, pumpkin, chocolate chip, pumpkin, and cinnamon!
Should I add an egg to my British Scone batter? What does it do?
It’s a matter of personal preference as to whether or not you add eggs to your scones. Adding an egg to your scone batter will change the texture of your scone, creating a richer, more dense result. This recipe will work either way and the egg is completely optional and does not need to be replaced.
What is the difference between a British scone and a biscuit?
A British scone uses more leavening and less butter than traditional biscuits. They are also made with cream. They end up denser and less sweet than American scones or biscuits.
You will use grated butter to create a biscuit-like dough, but you will use cream in the dough and to brush on top. These scones go great with traditional biscuit or toast toppings, like Apple Butter, jam, honey butter, or plain old, delicious butter.
Grating Butter vs. Pastry Cutter vs. Food Processor
Scones require a pastry technique where you cut a fat into a flour mixture in order to create a sand-like coarse meal texture. This process provides an even distribution of the cold fat in the recipe. When baked at a high heat this fat will expand quickly, creating a flaky, layered texture in the baked good. There are several different ways to accomplish this. You can use a cheese grater to finely grate your butter, you can use a pastry cutter which is a traditional manual method, or you can use the S-blade on a food processor and pulse the fat.
Can I make the dough in advance?
Yes. This dough freezes nicely to be made in later on. Make the dough and cut into wedges and then, wrap in parchment paper and seal in a freezer bag. To make, thaw the dough and bake as directed.
Flavor Options
- Blueberry Scones (1 cup blueberries + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- Chocolate Chip Scones (1 cup mini chocolate chips)
- Cranberry Orange Scones (3/4 cup dried cranberries + 2 tablespoons orange zest)
- Pumpkin Scones (replace half of the heavy cream with 1/2 cup pumpkin puree + 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice)
- Cranberry Scones (1 cup dried cranberries + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- Lemon Scones (replace 1/4 cup of the heavy cream with 1/4 cup lemon juice + 2 tablespoons lemon zest)
- Cinnamon Scones (replace white sugar with brown sugar + 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon)
Serving Suggestions:
British scones are complemented with jam and butter, clotted cream, honey butter, and apple butter. The most common fruity add-in used in England is sultanas or golden raisins. You can add in all kinds of fruits and berries to change up the flavor or make the scones a little sweeter.
Storage Instructions:
Store scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
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Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Love Scones! I’m diabetic and need to cut back on my carbs. Is there a substitute recipe for diabetes?
Unfortunately, because I am not a medical professional or a nutritionist I cannot give recommendations for diabetic approved recipes.
These are fabulous! See my review and pics on your Facebook page! Thank you for the recipe!
The scones were so easy to make and so delicious. I think I nailed it. The family loved them. Thanks so much for the video and recipe.
Amazing recipes! I want to ask how can we make a Banana scone variation?
I imagine you would do it just like the pumpkin version, add a half a cup of mashed bananas in place of half of the heavy cream.
Very buttery. I am not a cook so the forming and cutting were very difficult.
End product great!
Best scones ever…grating the butter makes all the difference!! I have made this receipe several times with several of the variations and it is consistently delicious!
Great recipe !
I have made them twice now and they are delicious!
Fam Fav !
Can I make them witg dried blueberries or cranberries ?
Absolutely!
Thank you! This is an excellent recipe! I will make it over and over. It has excellent flavor, looks beautiful when baked and was very easy to make with common ingredients. My dough was a little wet but I was not an ounce disappointed at how they turned out. My family loved them and I also shared 2 with the neighbor because anything this delicious should be shared with a friend!
I would better characterize these as American Scones, which are triangular shaped wedges that are denser and more ingredient filled than their British counterpart, which is round and lighter with no more than currents added and served with Strawberry Preserves and Clotted Cream. At least that is what I’ve observed when traveling within the UK, over that offered in an American Coffee Shop. I’m sure these are good in their own right, just different from an authentic British Scone.
Agreed, British scones are less sweet (only a few T of caster sugar). These are definitely American counterparts, but look good.
Hi Paul, we do make them exactly like this in England. I made them 60 years ago in for my first cookery class at school. Favourites here are ground almond and cherry😋. Also Cheddar, and Leicester cheese scones to go with morning tea/coffee. We make triangular ‘bread’ scones too, that’s the way my Nana would make them every Sunday, served warm with lashings of butter!