English Style Scones
These English Style Scones bake up light, soft, and fluffy, and are a wonderful treat for breakfast or afternoon tea. Spread them with jam, clotted cream, butter, or simply eat them plain. They’re incredibly delicious and are made in 25 minutes. No chilling required!
To this day, if you go to my childhood home and open up the refrigerator, you will find bags of scones in there, made by a bakery called Sconehenge. Located in Berkeley, California, I devoured these absurdly delicious scones all throughout my childhood.
My dad still has access to these scones since he lives in the Bay Area, but it has been 15 years since I lived in California. Translation: my enjoyment of these scones, the best scones (!), has been limited to brief Christmas and summer visits.
I remember a few years ago I tried to recreate these scones, and searched the internet endlessly with phrases like “Sconehenge recipe,” “Sconehenge copycat recipe” and “how to make Sconehenge scones.” Nothing came up. It made me crazy!!! I couldn’t figure out how these scones were so different from American scones like Maple Scones and Cheddar Chive Scones. These tender scones weren’t hard or dry. Rather, they were soft, fluffy, pillows of wonder.
The mystery was finally solved when I went to England and tasted an English Style Scone. I took one bite and thought, THIS TASTES LIKE SCONEHENGE! Then the “duh” moments poured in. Sconehenge…a riff on Stonehenge…which is in England…oh. The things you realize AFTER the dots have been connected.
Well, the good news is now I know how to make these delightful scones. They’re English style!
English scones are made differently from American scones, and instead of being stiff and dry, they’re fluffy and soft. A lot of people think these look like American biscuits, and they kind of do, but they’re prepared quite differently.
Tips for Best Results
Work quickly, and resist the urge to add excess flour – I paired these two tips together, because they really go hand in hand. You’ll want to have all your ingredients ready to go so that you can carry the recipe out quickly, because the butter will only get warmer and the dough stickier if you take too long.
Push the cutter straight down – When you go to cut your circles of scone dough, make sure to push the cutter straight down. Do not twist the cutter. This will ensure the scones rise as high as possible.
Use the best quality butter – It’s incredible how different brands make wildly different tasting butters. Some don’t taste like much of anything, while others have incredibly rich flavor, that slightly sweet dairy fat flavor all humans love. My favorite butter is Kerrygold. Plugra and Vermont Creamery also make great butter. If you look up butter taste tests online, you’ll see that they are definitely not all equal.
Step by Step Overview:
To get started, combine all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a food processor, then add softened butter:
Why not cold butter?
Using softened or room-temperature butter instead of cold butter is one of the major differences between English style scones and both biscuits and American-style scones. Biscuits and American scones both use cold butter that’s rubbed or “cut” into the dry ingredients, and left in chunks. Here we want more of a sandy texture.
Pulse the food processor ingredients until the softened butter is well incorporated into the flour.
Note: If you don’t have a food processor and are using a pastry cutter, you’ll need to work it through quite a bit to get the texture right.
You can see that unlike a pie crust, we don’t have big pieces of butter in the flour. Rather, it has a sandy, soft texture:
Dump this mixture into a large bowl.
Whisk together milk and an egg, saving 2 tablespoons of this egg wash in a small bowl for later. Then add the rest to the flour mixture:
Stir together with a spatula, then when it’s roughly combined, dump it onto a lightly floured surface:
The mixture will be wet, but resist the urge to add too much excess flour, since this will make your English scones drier.
Lightly flour the dough, then knead it until it smooths out a bit, just a few times:
You can see that it’s still sticky, and there are bits sticking to my counter. Again, this is important for a hydrated dough, a soft texture, and good rise.
As with anything where you combine flour with liquid, try not to knead too much, or excess gluten will develop and make the scones tough, and also prevent them from rising as high.
Roll the dough about an inch thick:
Use a 2.5″ cutter to cut circles, or, use a sharp knife to cut square pieces. Then place them on a silicone mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Make sure not to twist the cutter at all when cutting the circles. Push straight down toward your work surface, otherwise they won’t rise as tall.
How to freeze these, if you’d like:
At this point you may freeze the unbaked scone circles, then when you’re ready to eat, bake them from frozen at the same temperature for about 5 extra minutes.
You can also freeze completely baked scones, and let them thaw to room temperature when you’d like to eat them. Bread and baked goods tend to freeze beautifully.
Before baking, brush each scone circle with the reserved egg milk wash:
After a quick trip into a hot oven, about 15 minutes, they’ll be puffed and golden brown, with a slightly crisp exterior:
I like to enjoy them fresh and warm from the oven, but if you plan to store leftovers, make sure to cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.
How to Serve
Serve the scones while they’re warm with your favorite jam (I love this strawberry jam) and clotted heavy cream for extra bonus points. My grocery store sells this in the fancy cheese section. Butter is of course lovely too, especially Homemade Orange Honey Butter.
You can certainly enjoy these after they’ve cooled as well, but like many baked goods, they are always at their peak when they’re fresh and warm out of the oven. I love these for Mother’s day, baby showers, and weekend brunches.
For your next homemade baking projects, I also suggest these Homemade English Muffins, my favorite Banana Bread, and Pumpkin Muffins.
Flavor Additions and Substitutions
Here are a few easy ways to experiment with different flavor combinations. This is a great recipe for playing around with variations, and can be looked at as a master scone recipe of sorts.
Citrus zest: If you’d like to add orange zest or lemon zest, those additions work beautifully. Add up to 1 tablespoon of zest to the flour mixture.
Dried fruits: Add up to 1 cup of your favorite dried fruit after you’ve combined the wet and dry ingredients, but before all the flour has moistened. Blueberry scones made with dried blueberries are one of my favorites. Dried cherries are also wonderful.
Crunchy sugar: For an exterior crunch, sprinkle on a little sugar to the tops of each scone after brushing with egg wash. Turbinado sugar has great texture.
Chocolate chips: Add up to 1 cup of your favorite chocolate chips after you’ve combined the wet and dry ingredients, but before all the flour has moistened.
What about fresh fruit? This is possible, but I issue a caution. Add up to 1 cup, but know that fresh fruits are trickier because they tend to be wet, and this is already a fairly wet dough. Adding fresh fruit makes the scone dough more challenging to work with.
Recipe Tips and FAQ
At room temperature, for a few days. In the fridge, for a couple weeks. In the freezer, a few months. Because there are only simple ingredients here and no preservatives, the scones will mold if left out for more than a few days.
You can either freeze scones baked or unbaked. To freeze baked scones, let them cool to room temperature, then freeze in an airtight bag for up to 3 months. To freeze unbaked scones, make the recipe up to cutting the dough circles, then bake the circles straight from frozen for 5 extra minutes, or until cooked through.
Bake in a 300F oven for 5-10 minutes, until warmed through. You can also cut them in half and toast them. Add a few extra minutes if reheating from frozen.
Yes. Like any baked good, these are best fresh, but they’re still fantastic the next day. Reheat them per the instructions above, or bake from frozen (instructions are in the post).
As noted above, it’s normal for the dough to be a little bit sticky, but it should still be workable. If it’s not workable, this is probably either because there’s not enough flour, or the butter got too warm. So first, try to weigh the flour if possible. There is already so much variation between cup measuring and brands, and weighing the flour will help ensure proper proportions. Next, try to assess if the dough needs more flour, or if it’s too warm. For example, if the butter you used is softened above 70 degrees F (or if you used the microwave softening feature for a bit too long), the butter may be too warm by the time you’re working with it. Popping the dough into the fridge will firm the butter slightly, and may help you roll it out. Or, you can add just enough flour to the outside to roll it out, then cut the pieces.
First, make sure you’re using fresh baking powder, one that has been opened less than 6 months ago. Also, if you knead the dough too much, the scones won’t rise as tall. Knead gently, and just enough to bring the dough together. Adding more flour also prevents the dough from rising as high, so only dust lightly.
Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!
Here’s a video I made for the scones, if you’d like some more visuals on the process:
English Style Scones
Ingredients
For the Scones:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (10 ounces by weight)
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar a couple times to combine.
- Add the butter and pulse 7-10 times until the butter is completely distributed. You shouldn’t see any chunks of butter, and the mixture should have a sandy texture to it. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk to combine the milk and egg. Save 2 tbsp of it for the egg wash later, and pour the rest into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Stir to combine with a spatula, until a rough dough forms.
- Transfer to a lightly floured countertop and knead about 10 times until the dough comes together into a relatively smooth ball. Take care not to knead too much, or the dough will be tougher and not rise as high.
- Roll the dough about an inch thick and use a 2.5″ cutter to cut about 7 circles. Re-roll the scraps and cut out another 2.
- Place the scones onto a parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the reserved egg wash.
- Bake the scones for 13-15 minutes, until about tripled in height, and golden brown on the tops and bottoms. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
549 Comments on “English Style Scones”
Baking is new to me and I do the mixing by the bread machine. Couldn’t make it right until I read your instructions having egg and milk mixed first – it worked! I am so happy. Thank you!
A couple questions:
1. How can I make the crust crispier/crumblier?
2. And it already softens after a few hours, is that normal for home baking?
Many thanks!
So, this was my second time making these scones. The first time I made them, they did not rise and were a little overcooked (but my oven runs hot). Little did I realize that baking powder isn’t good past 6 months. So this time around I used new baking powder, I also reduced the egg wash by 3 tablespoons instead of 2 and added a bit back in as needed. They turned out glorious this time. Definitely do not twist the cutter as you cut out the scones and make sure the baking powder is less than 6 months old. Oh, I also used heavy whipping cream instead of whole milk (I just happened to have it in the fridge) and it added a nice, moist texture to the scone, probably a little more dense than it should be but so tasty. I’m so happy these turned out, I love a good scone and my kids couldn’t eat enough! (Even the first batch w: the old baking powder was really tasty, my youngest insisted on eating some when I was going to throw them out🤣). I love this website! Btw, if you haven’t made Joanna’s no boil lasagna, you must! So easy and tasty. My kids done even like lasagna and they gobbled it up. Thank you Joanna for providing so many great easy recipes ♥️
Hi Nina, thank you for sharing so many details. I agree it’s important to have fresh leavener. And glad everyone enjoys the lasagna too! Happy cooking and be well 🙂
ended up way too sticky and had to add extra flour to make the dough workable
I tried the recipe, but it turned out bitter and did not rise. Could it be the baking powder? I opened a new box of baking powder :((
Are you 100% sure you used baking powder and not baking soda? Baking soda typically comes in a box…whereas baking powder generally does not.
Yes you are right. I used baking soda. That must be my mistake. And now with this Covid, its hard to find baking powder. Will try again. Thanks for the clarification.
hello! can i use milk instead of whole milk?
Just made these. SCRUMPTIOUS!
I make scones often and tried this recipe for the first time today. It worked perfectly. Thank you!
This was terrible. All i tasted was baking powder and the scones did not rise at all. Don’t waste your flour on this.
You obviously did something wrong because I made this recipe and the scones rose. The baking powder could not be tasted either.
The scone dough came out soft and slightly sticky (other recipes yielded dry doughs for me) and they tasted good. Soft and buttery.
I’m just mind-boggled about the rise. They expanded sideways rather than upwards. The baking powder is still active, the dough was rather sticky than dry, and I used minimal amount of flour for dusting and kneaded as least as possible, just until the dough came together.
The dough was very soft and marshmallowy. Do you have any advice?
I have heard that if you twist the cutter they will not rise as much. Just a thought!
I’ve been trying to recreate my Irish grandmother’s scones for ages. Tried your recipe this morning and I’m thrilled. They didn’t triple in height but are pretty good. It was easy and I’ll be doing these regularly. I will also try with sultanas. One little comment – in Britain and Australia we say “scone” with a clipped “o” as in scon, rather than the N Am pronunciation with an elongated O. 😊
Hi Janice – commenting on your comment : – )
Two things: my daughter’s in-laws are from England and I always love when her MIL says “scone rhymes with lawn – it isn’t scone that rhymes with bone!”
Also – if your bakes aren’t rising well for you – make certain your baking powder is fresh. It makes such a big difference in my opinion.
Heading into the kitchen to try this recipe now. I am tired of my cream scones not being fluffy enough.
I absolutely love the scone recipe. I’ve made it several times and I also make my own clotted cream with it and they are to die for. Thank you
I have tried to make beautiful scones for ages and they all turned out flat. These were absolutely beautiful to look at and delicious to eat. Thank you for an amazing receipe!
The mixture turned out like a paste instead of dough. Did I add too much milk?
Hi Brandon, can you tell me if you measured by hand or if you used weights, and whether you used the metric conversions or not?
What if you don’t have a food processor?
In England and Ireland we just use our hands, never a food processor, just rub in with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Nice recipe. I live in England, and we tend to add raisins. Some recipes use almond and glacé cherries instead of raisins. Just a thought for those wanting to try an alternative!
I made this recipe for my dad. He is from England and loves English scones. Sadly you can’t find English scones in America. I made this and bought jam and clotted cream as well for Fathers Day and he said it was the best gift and breakfast ever! The scones rose BEAUTIFULLY and were so fluffy and soft. They were perfect and tasted great. Thank you for this. I am officially my dad’s favorite kid now.
can you use soy milk instead of whole?
Ive used soy milk mixed with some dairy alternative sour cream or yogurt to give it a higher fat content and they came out great!
I made this today and they turned out perfect…l didn’t change anything on the recipe
Excellent recipe and instruction. I am definitely going to use this as a base to play with some other flavors. Thank you! Delicious!
Also, I used 2% milk because that was all I had and it worked great for me. And I recommend kneading at least 10 times, I found that my scones from the second round rose much better than the first round of cut-outs, probably because I needed to work the dough just a little bit more.