English Scones Recipe

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This English Scones recipe is sweet, buttery and so versatile. Serve for breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert. Try this easy recipe today!

English Scones

Sweet, wonderfully baked, tender, fall apart English Scones. Where have you been all my life? Blake and I were the only ones awake at 6:30 as I was making these so we took our time and that little dude talked to me about all sorts of things: cars, trucks, eating dough, “Mom, SUGAR” and “roll circle cutter“. What a sweet little boy I have. And now what sweet scones you’ll have!

Main Ingredients

You only need 8 pantry staples to make these delicious English scones! Here’s what you’ll need:

• All-Purpose Flour – to fill out the scones but also used to shape the dough into a circle. The dough will be wet so the flour is used to prevent sticking to the counter and your hands.
• Baking Powder – to help the scones rise.
• Salt and Vanilla – both are used for flavor.
• Granulated Sugar – used not only to sweeten the scones from the inside but also the outside. Sprinkling the tops of the dough before baking creates a bakery-style scone!
• Shortening – you could also use butter here, I just happened to have shortening on hand.
• Egg – this creates stability within the dough so it doesn’t spread when baking. Without an egg you would have to use very cold shortening or butter to prevent spreading. Kind of like pie crust.
• Heavy Cream – for moist scones, use dairy with a higher fat content such as heavy cream or buttermilk. The heavy cream is also used to brush the tops of the unbaked scones. This encourages browning.

How to Make English Scones

This recipe is really quite simple! Plus your little ones can help too. For full recipe details, see the recipe card below.

1. Start by measuring out your dry ingredients and shortening into a food processor. Pulse it a few times until the shortening is incorporated.
2. Add in the wet ingredients and pulse again until the dough just starts coming together.
3. Dump all the crumbs out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball. Roll dough out to be about 1 inch thick.
4. Now you can grab some round cookie cutters and cut out your scones. You can also cut into triangles, but where’s the fun in that?
5. Once the scones are all cut out, brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with more sugar….because why not. These are sweet English scones, after all.
6. A quick bake in the oven and your scones are done!

Rising Issues

If your English scones don’t rise as much make sure of these three things:

1. Are you using fresh baking powder? I know this sounds weird but baking powder can lose its potency after a while. If it’s been longer than 6 months, you might want to pick up some new baking powder.
2. Overmixing can lead to a more dense dough. So mix in the food processor until ingredients are just combined. The rest of the dough can take shape by hand when you are rolling it out.
3. Too much flour can also weigh your scones down. Make sure you are measuring your flour correctly by fluffing it, scooping it into the measuring cup with a spoon and leveling it off.

What to Serve with Scones

These Sweet English Scones are buttery, crumbly, soft, and tender…and taste amazing with butter! Make that plain butter, honey butter, or even cinnamon butter.

And I guess jam if that is your thing. Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, orange marmalade, the options are endless!

Ooh! Or clotted cream. But that might be pushing it. Maybe whipped cream would be more subtle.

Leftovers

Any leftover English Scones can be stored at room temperature, for 4 days or in the fridge, for 2 weeks. Make sure to store covered or in an airtight container to preserve freshness.

Reheat in the microwave, toaster, toaster oven, or oven! Or enjoy at room temperature.

Freezing English Scones

You can also freeze English Scones for up to 4 months!

Baked

Bake scones as directed and cool. Freeze in an airtight bag or container for up to 4 months. To thaw, transfer the scones to the counter for a few hours or overnight in the fridge. Either warm in the microwave or in the oven, then enjoy!

Unbaked

Once you are done cutting the dough into wedges or circles, freeze on a plate or baking sheet for at least an hour. Then transfer to an airtight bag or container and freeze for up to 4 months. To bake, either bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the baking time or thaw overnight and bake as normal.

More Scone Recipes to Love!

If you loved these English Scones Recipe check out these other scones.

• Simple Scone Recipe
• Blueberry Scones with Almonds
• Lemon & Cranberry Scones
• Green Onion, Swiss & Parmesan Scones
• Cornmeal Blueberry Scones
• Chocolate Covered Coconut Almond Scones
• Pepperoni Pizza Scones

The printable recipe card is below. Have a great day, friends!

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5 from 4 votes

Sweet English Scones

This English Scones recipe is sweet, buttery and so versatile. Serve for breakfast, as a snack or for dessert. Try this easy recipe today!

servings 8 scones

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/4 cup granulated sugar + more for the top
• ▢ 1/3 cup shortening
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ▢ 3/4 cup heavy cream + extra for the tops

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside.
• In the bowl of a food processor, measure out all dry ingredients and shortening. Pulse until the shortening is dispersed evenly in tiny little chunks. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, vanilla, and heavy cream together. Pour into dry ingredients and pulse until the dough starts to form.
• Dump the dough onto a floured work surface and work the dough until it comes together in a ball. Roll out to be 1 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch circles and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush with cream and sprinkle with more sugar.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until bottoms are lightly golden. Serve warm with ridiculous amounts of butter. And I guess jam if you're feeling up to it.

Notes

Rising. Use fresh baking powder. Don't overmix. Measure your flour carefully.

Storing. Any leftover English Scones can be stored at room temperature, for 4 days or in the fridge, for 2 weeks. Make sure to store covered or in an airtight container to preserve freshness.

Reheat in the microwave, toaster, toaster oven, or oven! Or enjoy at room temperature.

Freezing Baked. Bake scones as directed and cool. Freeze in an airtight bag or container for up to 4 months. To thaw, transfer the scones to the counter for a few hours or overnight in the fridge. Either warm in the microwave or in the oven, then enjoy!

Freezing Unbaked. Once you are done cutting the dough into wedges or circles, freeze on a plate or baking sheet for at least an hour. Then transfer to an airtight bag or container and freeze for up to 4 months. To bake, either bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the baking time or thaw overnight and bake as normal.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 304kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 311mg | Potassium: 261mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 362IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 109mg | Iron: 2mg

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: english scones, english scones recipe, scones