Best scone recipe | How to make scones | Jamie Oliver (2024)

FAQs

What not to do when making scones? ›

Overworking the dough will lead to scones that are tough and chewy, rather than light and flaky. The less you knead the mix, the less the gluten will tighten up – which means your scones will stay loose and crumbly, rather than tight and springy.

How to get scones to rise higher? Arrange them on a tray with sides so they touch each other, encouraging them to rise upward instead of spreading out. Another trick is using baking powder in the correct ratio, which gives your scones the perfect lift.

1. Flour. Know what flour you should use! We recommend using all-purpose flour.

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.

The resting of the dough helps to relax the dough so everything remains tender, if you kneaded the dough and baked the scones immediately the insides would be great but the outsides would be tough and chewy.

Scones and biscuits both need a hot, quick bake. The high, quick heat is needed to turn that butter into nice steamy air pockets without leaving pools of butter on the cookie sheet.

But if you want your scones to be a little less-sweet, you can easily swap this for a golden caster sugar. Like any scone recipe, in terms of flavour, butter is always king. However, when it comes to texture, a decent block margarine can be just as good.

My scones have a dense, heavy texture and poor volume

You may have used too little raising agent or over handled the dough before it was baked. The oven may have been too cool.

A scone is slightly dryer than a biscuit and yet, when done well, not dry at all. Scones are intended to be consumed with a hot beverage of your choice after all. And clotted cream, or butter, or jam.

The mix should be moist, and while it should come out of the mixing bowl clean, expect it to leave your fingers a little sticky. Scone mix is far wetter than a dough – it's somewhere between a batter and a dough. Only lightly flour your work surface to avoid incorporating extra flour into the dough.

How do you know when scone dough has been kneaded enough? ›

Holds Its Shape – Lift the ball of dough in your hand and hold it in the air for a second. If it holds its ball shape, that means the gluten is tight and strong. If it sags down between your fingers, the gluten is still loosey-goosey and needs some more kneading.

The easiest way to make scones is to remember the scone ingredient ratio and use it as a formula: 1 part fat, 2 parts liquid, 3 parts flour, by weight. The fat is usually cold butter, the liquid can be cream (or milk or buttermilk), and the flour is generally all-purpose flour (or self-raising flour in the UK).

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.

Factors That Help Scones Rise with Flaky Layers:

Layers and pockets of cold butter. Baking powder and baking soda. Clean knife cuts when shaping the dough. High oven temperature.

Generally you would rub the butter into the flour, kind of like you're making pie dough. You'd rub it in until it resembles a bread crumb mixture, which is the same. But you would then, very briefly, bring it together into a dough, and you would stop touching it as quickly as possible. Then cut out your scones.

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.

Over-kneading your dough will result in scones and biscuits that are tough, dense, or rubbery. The longer you knead the dough, the stronger the gluten network will be. We want just enough gluten for the scones to hold their shape, but not so much that we sacrifice the light and flaky texture.

Make sure your butter and liquid ingredients are cold, too. If the butter is soft when your scones enter the oven, it will leak out, taking your scone's moisture with it. And don't forget to use high-quality flour, which will give you consistent results, great flavor, and the structure needed for a good rise.