Fluffy, buttery and warm from the oven, scones are one my mum’s favourite things. So when I extended my stay in KL (topped off by the fact I was restless from not having cooked anything for weeks) Mum invited some of her friends over for some morning tea. I guess you could call it a mutually beneficial agreement – they wanted to eat and I needed to cook, after all, it’s been months since I’ve cooked, baked or otherwise made anything from scratch. Can you tell I’m getting restless? We’ve only been in temporary accommodation in Sri Lanka with an awful kitchen for I don’t know… fifty three whole days.
But let’s not get distracted. I’m here to tell you all about scones. The kind that are slightly crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. Not too biscuity, and not too cakey either. They should be good enough to eat on their own, though of course they’d be even better topped with jam and cream. Or if you’re like Mum, butter AND jam and cream.
Siew, Mum and Sarah – they’re a sewing group that meet up regularly to create craft items for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association.
In my opinion, and backed by science, here are a few universal secrets to great scones.
Buttermilk is better.
Sure there are lots of other scone recipes that don’t call for buttermilk, but there is a reason that so many great scone recipes feature it. The acidity of the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda in the self-raising flour, creating carbon dioxide (CO2) that helps leaven the dough and give it rise.
If you don’t have buttermilk to hand, add a tablespoon of lemon juice to milk, yoghurt or curd as a substitute.
Keep your ingredients cold.
Cold butter helps the rise in scones, just like cold puff pastry will rise higher. Tiny pieces of butter are layered and folded into the dough, and when those cold butter pieces bake, they create pockets of steam that cause the dough to rise – yielding delicious, fluffy scones.
Light fingers make light scones.
The most important rule, by far. Don’t overwork the dough – I know, it’s easy to mistake it for a type of bread, especially when most instructions tell you to knead the dough. In fact, overworking the dough activates the gluten, resulting in rubbery, tough scones. This goes for patting the dough out too – don’t use a rolling pin. Gently does it.
And a couple of cheats –
You don’t have to sift the flour.
Sifting flour aerates it, but you can use a whisk to the same effect. If your flour is fresh and still loose in the bag, you probably don’t even need to sift it at all. I don’t. After all, you’re going to be rubbing butter into it in the next step anyway.
You can use a food processor.
In fact, it’s likely better for your scones. Using a food processor stops the warmth from your fingers being transferred to the butter, resulting in a flakier scone. But, if you don’t have one, don’t panic – they’re perfectly good being made my hand.
Mum’s sewing group helping me thoroughly test the scone recipe and instructions.
- 300g self-raising flour - (no self-raising flour? Add 5% [15g] baking powder to plain flour)
- 3 tsp (15g) sugar
- pinch of salt
- 90g cold butter, cut into 1cm cubes
- 1 cup (250ml) buttermilk - use less in a hot climate (no buttermilk? Add 1 tbsp lemon/lime juice to plain yoghurt)
- handful of dates or raisins -optional
- milk, for brushing
- flour, for dusting
- Preheat your oven to 200C. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set it aside.
- Place flour, sugar and salt in mixing bowl and whisk just to combine the ingredients.
- Using your fingertips, rub butter into flour until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the dried fruit (if using) and toss it about so it's well coated.
- Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk. Stir lightly with a spatula until the flour is moistened and the dough comes together. Do not overmix or your scones will be tough - the mixture will seem very wet, but resist the temptation to add more flour.
- Turn the mixture out onto a floured countertop and gently bring the dough together. Using fingertips, pat it out to a roughly 3cm thickness.. Dip a scone cutter into some flour to stop the dough sticking to it, then cut out the scones. Gently bring together any scraps and cut them again.
- Sit the scones closely together on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with a little milk. Place the tray in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until they're lightly golden. When they're ready, remove them from the oven and immediately wrap them in a clean tea towel to keep them warm. Serve immediately.
If using dried fruit, toss them in a tbsp of flour and add them to mixture between steps 3 and 4.
- 300g self-raising flour - (no self-raising flour? Add 5% [15g] baking powder to plain flour)
- 3 tsp (15g) sugar
- pinch of salt
- 90g cold butter, cut into 1cm cubes
- 1 cup (250ml) buttermilk - use less in a hot climate (no buttermilk? Add 1 tbsp lemon/lime juice to plain yoghurt)
- handful of dates or raisins -optional
- milk, for brushing
- flour, for dusting
- Preheat your oven to 200C. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set it aside.
- Put the flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Scatter the cold butter into the bowl, then pulse quickly until mixture resembles breadcrumbs - you'll hear the chunks of butter stop clunking around and the mixture should be slightly yellow.
- Add the buttermilk and pulse a few times to create a loose dough - don't worry if it hasn't all come together - just tip the mixture onto a floured countertop and bring it together with your fingers. Remember that being gentle is the secret to good scones.
- Using fingertips, pat the mixture out to a roughly 3cm thickness. Dip a scone cutter into some flour to stop the dough sticking to it, then cut out the scones. Gently bring together any scraps and cut them again.
- Sit the scones closely together on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with a little milk. Place the tray in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until they're lightly golden. When they're ready, remove them from the oven and immediately wrap them in a clean tea towel to keep them warm. Serve immediately.
If using dried fruit, toss them in a tbsp of flour and add them to mixture between steps 3 and 4.
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