Scones

Name: Scones
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: 350 g (2¾ cups) self-raising flour, or all-purpose + 15 g (4 tsp) baking powder; plus extra for dusting; 5 g (1 tsp) baking powder; 2 g (⅓ tsp) fine sea salt; 85 g (6 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cubed; 40 g (3 tbsp) superfine (caster) sugar; 175 ml (¾ cup) whole milk; 5 ml (1 tsp) lemon juice; 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract; 1 large egg (about 50 g), beaten, for glazing

Tall, light and flaky, ready in 30 minutes

Makes: 8 scones (6 cm / 2½ in)
Hands-on: 15 min
Total: 35 min
Level: Easy

Proper British scones: tall, light and soft, with a golden top and sides that pull apart. Cold butter, a light hand and a hot oven are all you need. Serve with jam and clotted or whipped cream, still warm.

Ingredients

350 gself-raising flour (2¾ cups)or all-purpose + 15 g (4 tsp) baking powder; plus extra for dusting
5 gbaking powder (1 tsp)
2 gfine sea salt (⅓ tsp)
85 gcold unsalted butter, cubed (6 tbsp)
40 gsuperfine (caster) sugar (3 tbsp)
175 mlwhole milk (¾ cup)
5 mllemon juice (1 tsp)
5 mlvanilla extract (1 tsp)
1large egg (about 50 g), beatenfor glazing

Diet: Vegetarian
Allergens: gluten, milk, egg
Origin: United Kingdom

Method

Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F) and put a baking sheet inside to heat up.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it looks like fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar.
Warm the milk briefly until just lukewarm, then stir in the lemon juice and vanilla; it will thicken slightly.
Make a well in the flour, pour in the milk and mix quickly with a table knife until it just comes together into a soft, sticky dough.
Tip onto a floured counter, flour your hands and fold the dough over two or three times until smoother. Pat it out to 4 cm (1½ in) thick; don't roll.
Dip a 6 cm (2½ in) cutter in flour and stamp out rounds, pushing straight down without twisting. Gently press the scraps together and cut more until you have 8.
Brush the tops only with beaten egg. Put them on the hot sheet, lined with baking paper, close together. Bake 10–12 minutes, until risen and golden. 12 min
Cool on a rack 5 minutes, wrapped in a clean towel if you like soft sides. Serve warm, split by hand, with jam and cream. 5 min

Why it works

Baking powder reacts twice, once when wet and again in the heat, and the lemon juice gives it an extra boost of acid for lift. Cold butter in small pieces melts in the oven and produces steam that separates the layers. Cutting straight down without twisting leaves the edges open so the scones can rise tall and evenly.

Common mistakes

Overworking the dough, which makes scones heavy and tough. Handle it as little as possible.
Twisting the cutter. It seals the edges and the scones rise lopsided.
Egg wash running down the sides, which glues them and stops the rise.

Variations

Fruit scones: Stir 80 g raisins or sultanas into the flour after the sugar.
Cheese scones: Leave out the sugar and vanilla, add 100 g grated mature cheddar and ½ tsp mustard powder, and sprinkle more cheese on top.

Make ahead and storage

Best within hours of baking. Freeze baked scones for 2 months and warm at 180°C (350°F) for 8 minutes. Unbaked cut scones freeze well too; bake from frozen, adding 3–4 minutes.