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BRITISH SCONES - That Rise To The Occasion! (All You Need To Know)

Close photo of a British scone with cream, jam and strawberry sliced in-between, serve don blue & white Willow tea set and more scones and tea to the background.
Try my authentic British Scone recipe & video tutorial, with tips on how to achieve a great rise for this classic British bake.
Caro @ Caroline's Easy Baking Lessons
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Serving Size 10 -12 Scones

Equipment

  • Scales or measuring cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Mixing spoon
  • Jug
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Pastry cutter/blender or 2 butter knives
  • Whisk or fork
  • Spare flour
  • Baking/parchment paper
  • Cookie Cutter (5-6cm or 2 - 2⅓″ - mine is 5¾cm/2¼")
  • Small bowl/dish
  • Pastry brush or clean artist brush
  • Timer
  • Cooling rack

Ingredients

  • 75 grams Butter, unsalted, cubed & at softened (2½ oz or level 2/3 stick or ⅓ cup)
  • 450 grams Self-raising Flour  (OR 15 ¾oz , 3⅔ cups All Purpose/Plain Flour PLUS 5½ (level) tsp Baking powder ) * See notes.
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder (rounded tsp) (In addition to that above if using Plain/A.P. flour - see notes*)
  • 50 grams Caster Sugar (1¾ oz or 1 level ¼ cup** – see note above)
  • 2 Med-Large Eggs (US - Large or XLarge)
  • 225 ml Milk approx. (up to 7½ fl oz or 1 cup) - will depend on size of eggs used.

Instructions

Prepare The Dough

  • Weigh out butter whilst cubing it & leave to come to room temperature.  Smaller cubes (about 1cm or ⅓" ) is good since a smaller surface area means they will soften faster). If you forget to take out on time, try a hack I reviewed for softening butter in about 12 minutes.
  • Prepare a large baking tray/sheet with baking/parchment paper (grease in place if there is no lip to it).
  • Weigh/measure in the flour into a large bowl, spoon in the baking powder, give it a mix through & then add in the softened butter & give a quick mix through.
    4 photo collage of preparing dry ingredients for scones - photo 1.
  • 'Cut the butter' into the flour in a choice of 3 ways. Use your hands and rub some of the flour and butter between your finger tips, lifting and repeating, until you have smaller flour coated butter pieces, about breadcrumb size. You can also use 2 butter knives to do this. I prefer to use a pastry cutter/blender for this job. Push down into the bowl & do a squashing motion whilst turning the cutter left and right. Repeat this until all the butter is now in tiny pieces, coated by the flour. See video for reference.
  • Add in the sugar & give a good mix through for even distribution. Pre-heat the oven to 220°c/200°c Fan Oven/425°f/Gas Mark 6.
    4 photo collage of mixing wet ingredients for British scones - photo 2.
  • Beat the 2 eggs in a jug & top up to the 300ml/10 fl oz or 1 ¼ cup mark with the milk, (depending on the size of the eggs, you might not need as much milk).  Whisk together & reserve 2 tbsp in a small bowl for later.  
  • Gradually add the egg/milk mixture to the dry ingredients until a soft but slightly sticky dough is formed. I tend to use a large spoon to start to mix it in, and then move on to using my hands. DO NOT USE A FOOD PROCESSOR OR MIXER. Only add enough of the liquid until just sticky.
    4 photo collage of adding liquid to dry ingredients for scones - photo 3.
  • Lightly flour a pastry board, counter/worktop or use some baking/parchment paper with a little flour on top. Dip your cookie cutter in some flour.
  • Form the dough into a disc & then flatten gently with your hands until you have a level piece of dough about 1"/2½cm high. Try not to go smaller than this. Don’t be tempted to roll out the dough as this won’t help the scones to rise.
    4 photo collage of flattening British scone dough and depth - photo 4.
  • Push the floured cutter down and DO NOT TWIST the cutter. Twisting can ruin the end structure of the scones. Let it fall onto the prepared tray or leave to the end if it doesn’t come up with the cutter. At which point, just pull back the excess dough & transfer via a palette knife. Try not to touch the sides of the scone.
  • Gently roll up the scraps of dough by hand and flatten out to cut out more scones. Note that these last few scones, won’t be as perfect as the first ones, just because of more handling.
    2 photo collage of cutting out scones and brushing eggwash - photo 5.
  • Brush very carefully the egg/milk liquid you reserved earlier, on to the tops of the scones only. If the liquid goes down the sides, it can ruin the rise of the scones. Shaking/taping the brush before moving to the scone & starting to brush from the centre and go outwards,

Bake The Scones

  • Bake for 8-12 minutes until well risen and golden in colour. Turn the tray/sheet during baking, to ensure an even bake if needed.
    2 photo collage of before and after bakign British scones - photo 6.
  • Cool a little on a cooling rack & enjoy warm with whatever fillings you enjoy. British classic toppings we have on our halved scones are - jams, fruit curds, butter and whipped cream or clotted cream.

Storing & Freezing The Scones

  • Store left-over scones in an air-tight container, preferably a cake tin and will last 3 - 4 days if kept cool.
    Close slim shot of a well risen British scone un cupt and served on British blue and white Willow tableware, with scones to the background.
  • You can also freeze baked and cooled scones, by wrapping in baking/parchment paper and then in a food baggie, labelled and dated. These will last up to 3 months, and simply defrost at room temperature and you can pop in the air fryer for 2 minutes at a moderate heat, or the microwave, halved and heated for only 20 seconds.

Video

Notes

*If using Plain/A.P. flour, be sure to add the 2 amounts of baking powder.
**Grind a small amount of granulated sugar to caster sugar consistency (see main blog for sizing).
For all other information, questions & tips, please refer to the complete recipe post & Scone video tutorial that is nearly real-time. 
More information and tips before the main recipe.
Check out my Cranberry Spiced Scones recipe, or my savoury version - Cheese British Scones.  Kids can also try my super simple Tear-&-Share Cheese Scones, with no need to cut out the dough.
Air Fryer Scones!  New for 2023, try my classic British Scones Made In An Air Fryer recipe.
Wide partial shot of a plate of 4 British scones un cut, with tea and coffee surrounding.
***I am not a qualified nutritionist, and all nutritional values are based on a serving of  1 scone (from a batch of 10 as per recipe above), with no toppings.  Bigger or smaller scones & the nutritional values will change.  All values from Whisk.com. 
Try the Air Fryer Double Chocolate Orange Scones.
Long shot of a white plate with 2 British chocolate scone halves with cream and jam, and first half bites missing.
 
Nutrition Facts
BRITISH SCONES - That Rise To The Occasion! (All You Need To Know)
Amount per Serving
Calories
260
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
8.1
g
12
%
Sodium
 
656.5
mg
29
%
Potassium
 
104.5
mg
3
%
Carbohydrates
 
39.8
g
13
%
Sugar
 
6.2
g
7
%
Protein
 
6.4
g
13
%
Vitamin A
 
77.8
IU
2
%
Iron
 
2.4
mg
13
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.