Simple and Easy Scone Recipe

Picture: My cheese scones which won 1st prize at my Gardening Society show this summer.

I know a bit about scones! I’ve made them in a National Trust volunteer kitchen, I’ve made them for church events and bake sales, for village coffee mornings and afternoon teas, I’ve made them for friends and family – and I’m always being asked:

“What’s your secret?/ Mine are too flat/ too hard/ too dry/ too stodgy.”

And I always answer –

IT’S EASY. Just follow these simple rules

·     Work fast

·     Use your hands

·     Keep the dough soft

·     Never use a rolling pin

·     Cut thick

·     Cook hot and quick

·     Eat on the day of bake

This recipe is for plain scones; notes for variations are at the end.

Ingredients

1 lb self raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

4 oz g hard margarine (or butter, but I prefer margarine)

2 tbsp caster sugar (or more, if you like a very sweet scone – I don’t!)

2 medium eggs, and enough milk to make 8 fl oz liquid (both eggs and milk must be at room temperature) Reserve a little of this mixture for brushing the tops of the scones.

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200C (fan). Prepare a baking sheet (or two) with parchment / baking paper.
   

2. Put the flour and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. Chop the margarine / butter into cubes and add that to the flour mix. Blitz the lot! Don’t over blitz, you want some of the fat pieces intact.  Then tip into a bowl.
   

3. Stir in the caster sugar.
   

4. In a jug, beat the milk and the eggs together. Reserve a bit of this mixture to brush the tops of the scones before baking.
   

5. Make a well in the middle of your dry mixture. Pour in the milk/egg mixture and work it in using a metal fork till it’s just combined then use your hands to bring the dough into a soft round ball. You may not need all the liquid, or a little more milk. It all depends on the flour and the temperature/humidity Work fast!
   

6. Flour your work surface and your hands. Get the dough out of your bowl and fold it over a few times. Be really quick and rough here.
   

7. Lightly pat the dough into a rounded shape about 1 inch thick.  NEVER EVER use a rolling pin.
   

8. Use a metal cutter to push down into the dough and bring out your scones with the cutter, and put them on the baking tray. Keep reshaping/ cutting the left-over dough until it’s all used up. The last little bit is especially for grandchildren!!
   

9. Brush the tops of the scones with the reserved milk/egg mix.
   

10. Bake for 12-15 minutes till golden. Cool on a wire rack and eat as soon as possible, with lots of jam and cream, or with butter if you prefer.

Variations

Fruit scones

Reduce the sugar (to taste) and add a good handful of sultanas

Cherry scones

Add 4-5 oz chopped glace cherries and 2 tsp almond extract (add to the milk mixture)

Apple and walnut scones

Add 1 finely chopped smallish tart eating apple (skin on) and 3 oz roughly chopped walnuts

Cheese scones 

No sugar! Add 2 tsp mustard powder and 1 tsp cayenne pepper to the flour.  Add at least 4 oz gated cheese to the milk before you add the milk mixture.  Top the cut scones with more cheese.

I like to make these scones as rounds. – Divide the dough into three rounds, pat out to a dome-like shape, brush with milk and top with grated cheese. Cut the dough shapes into 6 triangular wedges, but leave intact on the baking sheet and bake (they will need a little longer in the oven). Separate the wedges as soon as they come out of the oven.

Have you any other interesting variations? – Do let me know, and I’ll publish them here – I’m always keen to experience new flavours.