Scone Recipe | Life, Love and Sugar

Ok, so I LOVE scones and I have been on a mission to get you guys the best, bakery-style scone recipe for a while. Guess what? This is it. These scones are tall, soft, buttery, and just sweet enough to brighten your day. Best of all, they’re incredibly easy to make and come together in no time, perfect for when you want something delicious without a lot of fuss.

Unlike some scone recipes that require complicated kneading, folding, and rolling techniques to create a flaky texture, these are much simpler and have a tender, cakey texture that I am obsessed with. Whether you’re serving them for breakfast, a cozy brunch, or even a special occasion, these scones are guaranteed to impress.

What You’ll Need

These scones are made from ingredients you may already have in your kitchen. Here’s a look at them and a kew things to keep in mind. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card below for exact measurements.

To make the scones

• All-purpose flour – It really is important to measure this correctly in scones. Too much will give you dry crumbly scones and too little means they won’t rise properly and they’ll over spread. Either is a bummer, so grab a food scale to be sure you get this right.
• Sugar – Granulated sugar is best here. I liked ½ cup of sugar. It adds just the right amount of sweetness and adds to the tender texture. You could reduce it a bit, but if you do, I recommend only reducing by a tablespoon or two and replacing it with a little more cream.
• Baking powder – To help the dough rise.
• Salt – Brings out the natural flavors already present.
• Unsalted butter – The butter should be cold, cold, cold (even frozen!), and you should do everything you can to keep it that way until the scones go in the oven.
• Heavy whipping cream – You want milk that has a high fat content for the best results, so don’t use lower fat milks. They will cause your scones to spread too much. I like heavy whipping cream, but buttermilk is fine too. Either way, make sure it’s very cold (to help keep the butter from melting).
• Egg – To bind everything together and add lift and structure. Like everything else in this recipe, make sure the egg is nice and cold to help prevent the butter from melting.
• Vanilla extract – For flavor.
• Coarse sugar (optional) – You can use coarse sugar (aka turbinado sugar) to sprinkle on top of the scones if you’d like.

For the icing

• Powdered sugar – Other sugars won’t work. They will yield a grainy icing. So stick with powdered sugar.
• Vanilla extract – I will sometimes add a tiny splash of almond extract as well.
• Heavy whipping cream – You could use whole or 2% milk, but because they are thinner, you’d want to use less.

• Cut. Press the dough into a ball, working in any left-behind dry bits, then press the ball into an 8-inch disk and cut the dough into eight scone wedges.

• Chill. Arrange the scones on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
• Preheat. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Bake. Brush the chilled scones with a little heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar (if using). Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Tips for Perfect Scones

While scones aren’t hard, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure they turn out just right. If you want tall, moist scones that hold their shape, here’s what to do.

Cold Grated Butter

Your butter should be as cold as possible* when you add it to the dough, and you should do everything you can to keep it cold until the scones go in the oven. I also highly recommend grating it. It creates the perfect tiny little pieces of butter that take little effort to incorporate into your dry ingredients. Those little pockets of butter melt as your scones bake and leave little pockets throughout the scones that contribute to their cakey texture.

No Kneading Needed

This was the big question for me when arriving at the right texture for these scones. You often see recipes call for laminating, or folding, the scone dough to create flakey layers of butter. This is similar to what you do with biscuits for their flakey layers. I didn’t want these scones to be too biscuit-like, so I skip the folding and kneading. Instead, I simply press all the dough together, working it only enough to get it to all stick together. The result is a more cakey texture, rather than flakey.

Chill Before Baking

You want the butter as cold as possible when you put the scones in the oven, so after working the dough together and cutting your scones, you want to pop them in the fridge or freezer for a bit before baking. It just ensures cold butter and successful scones.

Variation Ideas

• Add berries! Like in the photo above, you can add blueberries, strawberries or even raspberries. I find that 1-1¼ cups fresh berries works best. You don’t need to chop the blueberries, but I recommend dicing the strawberries and chopping the raspberries.
• Other mix-ins. You could also add chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, or cranberries if you’d like.
• Zesty fun. I love adding a tablespoon or so of orange or lemon zest to these scones. Just fold ’em into the dough with the butter, and you’re off to the races.
• Icing options. I went with a simple vanilla icing, but you could totally mix in a little freshly squeezed lemon juice or some cocoa powder for a different flavor. Powdered dehydrated strawberries (or blueberries) would also work.

How to Store

• Room temperature/refrigerator. Seal the fully cooled scones in an airtight container (it’s best to wait for the icing to harden first) and store them at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can refrigerate them for up to 5 days, but they tend to dry out that way.
• Freezer. Seal your leftovers in an airtight container or wrap individual scones in a double layer of plastic wrap. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow them to thaw on the counter before diving back in.

More Classic Baking Recipes

Sometimes, you just want to stick to the classics. This scone recipe satisfies that itch, but so do these other timeless masterpieces: