How To Make English Scones Recipe - Fast Food Bistro (2024)

You will not believe how easy this British scones recipe is until you try it yourself. Combine, mix, and in the oven. In less than half an hour you have them on the table. So, are you ready to learn how to make English scones? Join me in the bistro kitchen!

Delicious Fluffy English Scones Recipe

This is a great bistro recipe because what better to start the day or accompany afternoon tea with these easy scones.

You can eat them with jam, clotted cream, or unsalted butter and you will want another one. They are light and fluffy but do not need any proofing.

The butter will make the flaky and that is what you want. Do not over mix the dough, keep your ingredients and the dough cool, and work fast.

Bake them golden brown and you are in scone heaven.

You can make them in your trusted oven but if you want some fast scones you can prepare them in the Air Fryer as well.

What Is a Scone?

Before we share how to make them, first the question of what is a scone and where they come from.

Scones are round baked goods that originate from England. They are made with wheat flour, butter, and a leavening agent like baking powder.

This results in soft, fluffy, and flaky bread. A scone is slightly sweetened and served with sweet toppings. You bake them in the oven on a baking tray.

English Scones vs American Scones

So what are the differences between an English scone versus an American scone?

Even though scones are British they look similar to the American biscuit but there are a number of differences:

English scones are mostly sweet but American biscuits are not sweet
British scones are made with cold butter while American scones are made with shortening or animal fat
American biscuits are served with breakfast or as a bread roll for dinner as opposed to British scones being served with cream tea or high tea

English Scones Ingredients

If you want to make this English scones recipe you need the following ingredients on your grocery list:

All-purpose flour
Milk
Unsalted butter
Sugar
Baking powder
Egg
Salt

How To Make Scones

Start this English scones recipe by preheating the oven to 425℉. Then take a big bowl like the mixing bowl from OXO and add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

When Are My Scones Done?

As every oven is different there is an easy trick to determine if your scones are done. Take one scone and tap on it in the center.

When it sounds hollow you know your scones are done.

Why Won’t My Scones Rise?

There can be a number of reasons why your scones won’t rise:

Fresh ingredients – Always use fresh self-raising flour or fresh baking powder for this recipe. This gives you the best chance your bakes will rise properly in the oven
Wet dough – The dough should be sticky but not too wet. When your dough is too wet it will not rise

Can You Make Scones Ahead Of Time?

You can easily make your basic scone dough ahead of time and keep them in the fridge overnight until you are ready to bake.

You can easily make the dough freeze until you want to bake. Additionally, you can make the scone, and bake them before you freeze them.

What Do You Do Put On English Scones?

Scones can be made plain, with raisins or sultanas. So, you can eat scones as it is, but they are usually served with:

Jam (strawberry jam)
Clotted cream
Unsalted butter

You can also add some delicious homemade blueberry pie filling or red currant pie filling.

How To Store Scones

You have several ways to store homemade scones. Let them cool completely before storing:

Room temperature – you can store English scones at room temperature in an airtight food container, breadbox, or a resealable bag. You can store them for at least 2j to 3 days
Freezer – if you want to store them longer, I recommend you store them in the freezer. Put them in a freezer-friendly food container or in a resealable bag

I never store them in the refrigerator as bread does not store well in the fridge. The texture of bread changes in the fridge.

How To Reheat Scones

If you have leftover scones, you have several ways to reheat them:

Air Fryer – reheat your scones in an Air Fryer. Just preheat the Air Fryer to 320℉ for 3 minutes. Then add the scones to the Air Fryer basket and heat them for 3 minutes or until warm. Serve them immediately
Oven – you can also reheat your scones in the oven. Preheat it to 350℉ and in the meanwhile put the scones on a baking tray. Warm them for 5 minutes or until warm
Microwave – you can also warm scones in the microwave (but it is not my recommended way). Put the scones on a plate. Sprinkle the scones with a little bit of water. Set the microwave to 1 minute. Check to see if the scones are warm else repeat. Be careful as bread in the microwave can turn hard really fast

I hope you will love this English scones recipe as much as I do and give it a try!

Made a recipe please tag @fastfoodbistro on INSTAGRAM, PIN on PINTEREST, and like us on FACEBOOK for more information and updates.

English Scones Recipe

Yield: 18

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Looking for quick and easy scones? Take a look at this delicious traditional English scones recipe. Eat them with jam, clotted cream or butter.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup whole milk
¼ cup of sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons salt
1 large egg

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425℉/218℃. Then take a big bowl and add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt
Take a wooden spoon and whisk the ingredients. Then add the butter in small chunks and stir to combine
The butter-flour mixture should have a sand-like texture and you should not see the butter
Take a second bowl and combine the egg and milk into an egg wash. Save 2 tablespoons to brush your scones with
Pour the remaining egg mixture into the flour mixture. Stir the dry and wet ingredients into a coarse dough
Flour a board and put the dough on it.
Knead no more than 10 times just so the dough comes together into a ball.
The dough should be slightly sticky so resist the urge to add flour.
Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough in a circle about 1 inch thick. Use a 2 to 2.5″ cookie cutter and cut the scones
Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Put the scones on the baking sheet and brush them with the remaining egg wash
Bake the scones for 13-15 minutes golden brown or until they have doubled in height
Serve

Notes

Instead of whisking the flour and butter by hand you can also make the mixture in a kitchen machine
Do not overwork the dough else the dough will not rise and stay flat.
When cutting the scones try to make a clear cut. Do not move the cutter around too much this will prevent the scones from rising in the oven

Recommended Products

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases without additional cost to you.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 105Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 182mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 0gSugar: 3gProtein: 2g

Please note: Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.