These are a classic homemade scone recipe. You can add all sorts of zests, nuts, fruits, chocolates and purees to make these whatever flavor scones you would like. This recipe is probably one of my oldest recipes. In the beginning of my restaurant, these were the first thing my husband and I came up with. They are one of my favorites and my kids and I hope they become a favorite of yours as well.
scone ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter
2 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
When I developed this recipe I had pastry flour on hand all the time. However, at home I have made these scones with all purpose and they turn out just fine. If you use pastry flour you will get a slightly lighter scone. If you don’t have cold butter on hand you can use room temp. You may need less or more whipping cream just to get the right texture for your batter. Most of the time 1 cup is just right.
mixing scones
Start with putting the dry ingredients and sugar in a bowl. Give it a stir to get everything evenly distributed. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter, fork or your hands; cut the butter into small pieces. Here you would add zests, died fruits, chocolates and spices.
Add the eggs and about half of the whipping cream; give it a few stirs and then the rest. Here is where you would add purees, extracts and juices. Keep in mind if you are adding a juice or puree it will affect the amount of whipping cream you need; therefore add a bit at a time and stir to see how your dough looks. If its too dry add some cream. You want to make sure to not over mix your dough. Its ok if there are some streaks of egg and butter in there.
forming the scones
Once done mixing the scones dump the dough onto a well floured surface, push the dough together into a mound and then flatten to about 3/4 to an inch thick. Here is where you would fold in fresh or frozen fruits. After the dough is flattened sprinkle the fruit on an press slightly into the dough. After that, fold one side over and press gently and then repeat with the other side. Fold dough again from the opposite direction and then flip dough over so the folded side is underneath. Now, press and shape into a circle about 8 inches across.
This folding process gives you the nice flaky-ness you want in your scone. Just be sure you aren’t “kneading” the dough. It just needs some gentle pressing and shaping.
Now you can cut your scones intro eight triangles using a bench scraper or a knife. You may want a little flour on your cutting device before each cut to prevent dough from sticking to the sides of the scraper.
freezing scones
If you would like to have scones on hand to bake off anytime, you can freeze the unbaked scones individually on a pan or platter. And then transfer to a silicone freezer bag or a freezer container. When you want to bake some pull scones out of freezer and continue as usual.
baking the scones
Arrange the scones on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and brush with an eggwash of 1 egg and a couple tablespoons of water mixed together. Sprinkle with sugar of your choice, for instance, I use raw sugar because it creates a nice crunchy top which I love. However, granulated sugar and coconut sugar makes a nice topping as well.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. After the scones are sugared up then put in the oven starting at 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Here are some flavor combinations to try
♥ Blackberry Lavender | 1 tsp lavender petals, 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
♥ Brown Butter Sage & Pecan| 1 tbsp candied sage, use brown butter that is chilled in place of regular butter, 1 cup chopped pecans
♥ Cranberry Orange | zest and juice of 1 orange, 1 cup dried cranberries
♥ Blueberry Lemon | zest and juice of 1 lemon, 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
♥ Pistachio Dark Chocolate | 1 cup pistachios, 1 cup chopped dark chocolate
♥ Apple Walnut | 1 peeled and chopped apple, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 tsp cinnamon
These scones are probably one of my oldest recipes. In the beginning of my restaurant, these were the first thing my husband and I came up with. They are one of my favorites and my kids. I hope you enjoy this recipe.
scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups pastry flour (all purpose is fine)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter (room temp works too)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup whipping cream
Instructions
- Start with putting the dry ingredients and sugar in a bowl. Give it a stir to get everything evenly distributed. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter or fork (or your hands) break the butter up and mix around till it is in small pieces. At this point you would add zests, died fruits, chocolates and spices.
- Then add the eggs and about 1/2 cup of the whipping cream, give it a few stirs and then the rest. Here is where you would add purees, extracts and juices. Be sure to keep in mind if you are adding a juice or puree it will affect the amount of whipping cream you add. So add a bit at a time and give a stir and see how your dough looks. If its too dry add some cream. You want to make sure to not over mix your dough. Its ok if there are some streaks of egg and butter in there.
- Once you are done mixing, dump the dough onto a well floured surface. Push the dough together into a mound with floured hands flatten to about 3/4 to an inch thick. Now here is where you would fold in fresh or frozen fruits. After the dough is flattened sprinkle the fruit on an press slightly into the dough. Then fold one side over and press gently and then repeat with the other side. The fold again from the opposite direction, or whichever way is longer. Flip dough over so the folded side is underneath. Press and shape into a circle about 8 inches across.
- Now you can cut your scones intro eight triangles. I use a bench scraper but a knife works just fine. You may want a little flour on your cutting device before each cut to prevent dough from sticking to the sides of the scraper.
- Arrange the scones on a parchment, or silpat lined baking sheet. Brush with an eggwash of 1 egg and a couple tablespoons of water mixed together. Sprinkle with sugar of your choice.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. After all your scones are properly sugared up, put in the oven and start at 12 minutes. After this I check and rotate and add another 3-5 minutes. You want them to be a nice golden brown on top.