Scones
Here's your basic "start here" scone recipe. While this simple vanilla scone is delicious as is, it's also the perfect vehicle for your favorite add-ins; we happen to love dried cranberries and walnuts. Though chocolate chips are tempting, too!
Our guarantee: These tender scones will have a dark-gold outer crust, and a light-gold, moist inner crumb. They'll taste mildly of butter and vanilla.
Dough
- 2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup cold butter
- 1 cup to 2 cups chopped dried fruit, chocolate or other flavored chips, nuts, or a combination, optional
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or the flavoring of your choice
- 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup half and half or milk
Topping
- 2 teaspoons milk
- 2 tablespoons sparkling white sugar or cinnamon sugar, optional
Directions
|
1) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. |
|
|
|
3) Stir in the fruit, chips, and/or nuts, if you're using them. |
|
4) In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla or other flavor, and half and half or milk. |
|
5) Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together. |
|
6) Line a baking sheet with parchment; if you don't have parchment, just use it without greasing it. Sprinkle a bit of flour atop the parchment or pan. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12) Bake the scones for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden brown. When you pull one away from the others, it should look baked all the say through; the edge shouldn't look wet or unbaked. |
|
13) Remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly on the pan. Serve warm. When they're completely cool, wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to several days. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 10 mins.
- Baking time:
- 25 mins.
- Total time:
- 1 hrs 5 mins.
- Yield:
- 12 scones
- Recipe comments (46) »
Tips from our bakers
- For a less traditional, slightly sweeter scone, increase the sugar in the dough to 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces).
- Scones are best served warm. They're delicious as is, but add butter and/or jam, if you like. To reheat room-temperature scones, place on a baking sheet, tent lightly with foil, and warm in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.
- Why freeze the scones before baking? Because 30 minutes in the freezer relaxes the gluten in the flour, which makes the scones more tender and allows them to rise higher. It also chills the fat, which will make the scones a bit flakier.
- To make free-form rather than wedge-shaped scones, increase the half and half or milk to 3/4 cup. Using a large ice cream scoop or spoon, dollop the scone dough in 1/3-cupfuls onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the scones in a preheated 375°F oven for about 30 minutes.
- These simple scones are a wonderful blank canvas, awaiting your palette of chips, nuts, or fruit. Some of our favorite combinations are butterscotch chips and pecans; chocolate chips and dried cherries; and diced crystallized ginger and diced dried peaches.
- Flour is like a sponge; it absorbs liquid during humid weather, and dries out in dry weather. In summer or when it's hot and humid, use the lesser amount of milk or half and half in this recipe; during winter, or when it's very dry, use the greater amount. Either way, start with the smaller amount, and drizzle it in till the dough is the correct consistency.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size 1 scone (63g)
Servings Per Batch 12 |
|
| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories 210 | Calories from Fat 80 |
| Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat | 9g |
| Saturated Fat | 5g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 55mg |
| Sodium | 320mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 27g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1g |
| Sugars | 7g |
| Protein | 5g |
| * The nutrition information provided for each recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information. | |
Reviews
11/14/2009
I made these with chocolate chips and didn't like them nearly as well as the KAF Classic Scones recipe prepared with chocolate chips. I'm going to stick with the Classic Scones.
10/27/2009
Just pulled these out of the oven (yes, I really did decide to make scones at 11:30pm). I stirred in some orange zest along with about 1.5 cups chocolate chips. That part is delicious. They are just a teeny bit bland still and probably not as magical as they should be since I used vegan margarine (Earth Balance) and Rice milk for my no-dairy household. Still, this is probably one of the best recipes I've tried so far. When the no-dairy crowd isn't consuming, I'm going to try making them with some raw whole milk, I have a feeling they'll be truly amazing with that change. :)
10/26/2009
I have been a baker for 44 years and i have to take my pastry chef's hat off to you all for this magnificent recipe. It took me three tries to perfect, but my pineapple, cranberry, apricot scones are "to die for". The reason it took 3 tries was just to get the flavor combination just right. I use 1/2 vanilla 1/2 almond extract or all almond and nuts and have a written copy of the recipe on hand for all that ask. Fabulous!
10/15/2009
I added currants to these scones. They turned out perfectly, flaky, moist, and full of flavor. I actually added about a 1/2 tsp of all-spice to my dry mixture. I also lined an 8-inch cake pan with plastic wrap and pressed the dough to about an inch thickness. (I saw this fancy trick in a scone making video demonstration on this website.) I put the cake pan filled with scone dough in the freezer covered overnight, and easy breakfast in the morning! I cut my frozen dough with a chef's knife and that was a little tough on my hand, but it made it through. Really yummy scones though. Great job, King Arthur Bakers!
Maybe next time you can cut your dough before you freeze-even easier! Joan@bakershotline
10/13/2009
Sponge-like texture, not what I'd imagined at all. Nothing close to what you'd get at Starbucks, or what you'd get from a scone mix like Puyallup Fair Scones, or Krusteaz scone mix. I followed the recipe exactly, no substitutions. They were good enough to eat, but I'll probably try another recipe next time.
10/01/2009
These were the first scones I've ever made. I put in about 1 1/2 cups of frozen blueberries. They turned out perfectly. I will soon be trying other variations of ingredients. MMMM! Can't wait!
09/30/2009
Easy to make and so flaky and delicious. I shaped the dough into a rectangle and made 16 smaller wedges. They only took 15 minutes to bake. I used skim milk and didn't seem to effect the recipe. I used dried cranberries and raisins this time, I can't wait to try this recipe with other variations. Questions: Can this recipe be substituted with white whole wheat and get the same flaky results? Can the dough be made the night before and frozen overnight to bake in the morning?
You may subsitute about 1/3 of your all-purpose flour and still have good results. Freezing overnight will be great-may need just a few minues longer to bake. Joan@bakershotline.
09/20/2009
Close to perfect. The lack of baking powder taste is wonderful. The crumb is moist and they have a nice thin, but crunchy crust. I'd give them more like a 4.5 if I could. I've had few I like better ... the "cream currant scone" at Peet's Coffee, is really great (maybe making this recipe with cream instead would get closer) and there's this nice little tea shop in Cambridge (England) that had (probably 10 years since I've been there) wonderful scones. But I've no recipe for either of these. This is unquestionably the best recipe I've got.
09/19/2009
This is a great recipe. The dough was wet and I was afraid I used too much 1/2 and 1/2 but after 30 minutes in the freezer it was great. I used pecans and dried cranberries and extra vanilla-one teaspoon extra and these lovely scones are light, tender and have a great subtle flavor. Thanks!
08/27/2009
I tried this recipe last night and it turned out great, they are very tender and light even though I didn't leave them in the freezer for the full 30 minutes as it was very late. I added a cup of slivered almonds and and chopped chocolate with almond essence. I'll certainly make again.
Bookmark/share
this recipe