Paul Hollywood's best fluffy scone recipe - Something Sweet Something Savoury (2024)

FAQs

What is the best flour for making scones? ›

Use all-purpose flour for a higher rising scone that holds its shape nicely, both in and out of the oven. To make more delicate, lower-rising, cake-like scones, substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour. Reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1 to 2 tablespoons, using just enough to bring the dough together.

Avoid using a food processor to mix scones: A food processor will work, but it often overworks the scone dough. We recommend using your hands until the mixture comes together. Overworking the dough will lead to scones that are tough and chewy, rather than light and flaky.

British scones are often lightly sweetened, but may also be savoury. They frequently include raisins, currants, cheese or dates.

Recipes for scones sometimes provide a make-ahead option that involves refrigerating the dough overnight so it can simply be shaped and then popped into the oven the next day. But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

Much like cinnamon rolls, arranging your scones side by side, just touching one another, helps in making the scones rise evenly, and higher.

Heavy Cream or Buttermilk: For the best tasting pastries, stick with a thick liquid such as heavy cream or buttermilk. I usually use heavy cream, but if you want a slightly tangy flavor, use buttermilk.

Not chilling the dough before baking: to really ace your scones, it helps to chill your dough again before it's baked. Using cold ingredients does help, but your hands will warm up the dough when you're working with it and the extra step of chilling will help you get the best result.

Why should you stir batter for scones with a knife and not a spoon? You aren't stirring it, you're cutting the butter into the flour to coat, or shorten, the gluten strands with fat. This makes your scones tender.

Placing a dough in a cool oven that then slowly heats up actually affects the rising agent. Make sure your oven is at the right temperature you will be baking the scones at before you put them in. Also having an oven that is too hot or too cold will affect the baking of your scones immensely.

How thick should scone dough be? ›

It is far better that the scone mixture is on the wet side, sticking to your fingers, as the scones will rise better. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it out with your hand, or use a rolling pin, to a thickness of 1-2 cm (1/2 – ¾ inch).

Scones are typically moist but crumbly, sort of like corn bread or Mexican wedding cookies. In my opinion, a scone should be light and flaky, not moist, but not dry either. The best result comes from using cold butter and cooling your dough in the fridge until just before sliding into a preheated oven.

Although convenient and tasty, scones are a complete loss. They are typically extremely high in calories from the heavy butter and cream. And, although scones with fruit might seem healthier, most are even higher in calories and still high in saturated fat. Steer clear of scones.

That slightly bitter, kinda “tinny” flavor you often experience when biting into a muffin, biscuit or scone is the result of using a baking powder in high quantities — as is needed for these quick-rise treats — with aluminum in it.

The first scones

Scones were originally made using oats, shaped into a large round and scored into four or six wedges. They were then griddle baked over an open fire, although today's versions are made with flour and baked in the oven.

American scones use much more butter than British scones, and they usually have quite a bit more sugar. The extra butter is what makes them so much denser. This is not really a good or bad thing, as British scones pile on plenty of sugar (in the form of preserves/jam) and butter or clotted cream as toppings.

The earliest scones were unleavened and typically made with oats and milk. They were often cooked on a griddle and served with butter, jam, honey, or clotted cream. Today, scones are made with all sorts of ingredients like flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder etc.