Simple English Scone Recipe you will love.
This recipe is a simplified version of My foolproof Cream Tea Scones. The methods and the flour/liquid ratios are the same. However, I've used ingredients that you will most likely have at home. Even though this isn't my number 1 scone recipe, it still makes lovely scones.
Occasionally, when I don't have bicarbonate of soda or citric acid (needed for my foolproof recipe), I go back to this simplified version.
I was hoping to make this recipe with self-raising flour, but it seems like it is still challenging to get hold of it (almost four months after the beginning of the lockdown in March). I might update the ingredients once I can test self-raising flour and will be happy with the result.
Everyday Scone Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g plain flour
- 14 g baking powder level
- 80 g caster sugar
- pinch salt
- 150 g butter
- 2 medium eggs; 100 g chilled and beaten; The total amount of liquid (including the eggs and milk) shouldn't exceed 260ml. If your eggs are heavier than recommended 100g/100ml use less milk.
- 160 ml of milk
Equipment
- baking sheet
- baking paper
- mixing bowl
- fork
- a cutter (5.5 cm for smaller scones - makes around 10 scones)
- kitchen scales
- grater
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C (without the fan).
- Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Mix with a whisk or fork to make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed through the flour.
- Grate the chilled butter into the flour using a coarse grater (work fast). Incorporate the butter in with a fork. Stop once you have an even crumbly mix. (You can use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour but I discovered that using a fork is actually easier, gives me even crumbs and prevents the butter from softening too much).
- Tip: Use a fork for most of the mixing. This way the ingredients stay cold and you are less likely overwork the dough.
- Stir the sugar into the crumbly mix.
- Make a well in the middle, add beaten eggs and with a fork keep combining the dry and wet ingredients.
- Tip: Leave a small amount of egg at the bottom of the bowl, you can add a little bit of milk to it later and use the mix instead of an egg wash to brush the top of your scones.
- Add the milk in a few steps. Keep gently combining with a fork.
- Finally, use your hands to incorporate the last bits of dry flour into the mixture by pressing and turning the dough in the bowl (it doesn’t take more than 8 – 10 movements). Stop when the dough is just about to hold together. It will look very messy.
- Tip the dough onto the lightly dusted counter. Gently pat the dough into an oval/circular shape at least 3 centimetres tall.
- Cut the scones out using a round cutter. The top of the scones might have a few cracks and an uneven surface. That’s why I place the scones onto the tray with the top side down and the bottom - smoother side up.
- For smaller scones use a 5.5 cm cutter. I’m able to cut around 10 scones and as I don’t like a waste, I pat the leftover dough together again and cut out 3 additional scones.
- Brush the top of each scone with egg/milk wash and bake them on 200 C for approximately 13 minutes.
- Let the scones cool down before serving. Enjoy them with clotted cream and jam.
Susie says
I replaced half teaspoon baking powder with citric acid.great recipe, thanks!