Scone secrets shared.

These are truly simple scones to make. But here’s the bonus… they are really light and fluffy. I haven’t yet been disappointed with this recipe. That’s why I’d love to share this one with you. Make them for a gathering, a morning or afternoon tea and you’ll honestly receive rave reviews from all.

When I was a tiny baby, my parents owned a cafe just south of Sydney. Mum made hundreds and hundreds of scones each week. She used to know the recipe by heart but she’s now forgotten it. I asked her why she didn’t write it down. Mum replied that she was traumatised with making so many, she didn’t want to make them again once they sold the cafe. Fair enough. But that left me without a recipe I was keen to have.

So my quest to find the lightest and fluffiest scones began. The one thing mum did tell me is that the milk MUST be icy cold. That was not negotiable. While there are many recipes that include milk, they fail to include this one very important step. I made several batches much to the delight of my family to delight. Through the process, I’ve learned that sticking to a few important tips is the secret to the perfect scone. This is now my go-to scone recipe but please ensure you also follow these important tips.

Important tips

There are a number of tips you need to follow to ensure your scone turns out light, crumbly and fluffy rather than a hard brick. These tips are not negotiable if you want to be known at home as the scone queen.

1. Follow the recipe exactly. Measure the ingredients and follow all instructions to the tee.
2. Do not over mix. It’s easy to over mix than under mix scone dough. Avoid using electric beaters to combine wet and dry ingredients. Opt for a metal cutlery knife instead. When you over mix, you are helping the glutens form a strong network which is how you create bread dough. You want to avoid this from happening.
3. Rubbing in the butter. This is another way to help prevent gluten formation. It also creates little pockets in the dough once the butter melts during the baking stage. It is how the scone breaks to create the cumbly texture. This is why you add the butter to the dry ingredients first. Rubbing in the butter consistently throughout the flour is essential for making that crumbly scone. You just need to be careful your fingers don’t melt the butter. If you want to use an electric beater, do it at this point of the recipe only.
4. Icy cold ingredients. It’s important to not let the butter melt until the dough is ready to go in the oven. Make sure your hands are not too warm when rubbing the butter and flour mixture together. Even when working with cold hands, ensure you chill the rubbed butter and flour mixture in the fridge. Also, make sure you use icy cold milk. Chill the milk further for 30min in the freezer. These are important steps to ensure light, crumbly and fluffy scones.
   

Simple Scones

These simple scones are light, fluffy, crumbly and delicious. Perfect for an afternoon tea treat to share with others. Serve warm with whipped cream and berry jam.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Servings 8 scones

Ingredients

 

• 350 g self-raising flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 85 g butter, cut into cubes
• 175 ml milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Heat the oven to 220°C.
• Tip the self-raising flour into a large bowl with ¼ tsp salt and the baking powder. Mix together.
• Add the butter, then rub in with your fingers until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Put bowl inside the fridge to keep crumbs cold.
• Put the milk and vanilla extract into a jug and cool down further in the freezer for about 30 minutes, or until icy cold.
• Put a baking tray in the oven.
• Make a well in the dry mix, then add the liquid and combine it quickly with a metal cutlery knife – it will seem pretty wet at first.
• Scatter some flour onto the benchtop and tip the dough out. Dredge the dough and your hands with a little more flour, then fold the dough over 1-2 times until it’s a little smoother. Pat into a round that's about 4cm thick.
• Take a 5cm round cutter and dip it into some flour. Plunge the cutter into the dough, then repeat until you have four scones. You may need to press what’s left of the dough back into a round to cut out another four. Do one more time at most to use the remaining dough, being careful not to overwork the dough.
• Brush the scone tops with a little milk. Carefully arrange on the hot baking tray where they are lightly pressed up against each other. Bake for 12 minutes until risen and golden on the top.
• Eat just warm or cold on the day of baking, generously topped with jam and whipped cream.

Notes

• If you don't have a round cutter, use a knife and cut into triangles or squares. 
• These scones are suitable for freezing. Simply freeze once cool. To serve once frozen, defrost first, then put in a low oven, about 160°C, for a few minutes to freshen them up.