Tanya Peasgood

Tag: scone recipe

  • Easy Scone Recipe

    This is my mum’s failsafe scone recipe – works perfectly for creating plain, fruit, or cheese scones. The basic recipe makes 12 scones

    Ingredients

    • 450g self-raising flour
    • Good pinch of salt (preferably seasalt)
    • 110g butter (chilled and cut into small cubes)
    • 50g golden caster sugar
    • 300ml milk (and a little extra for a glaze)

    Process

    1. Preheat your oven to 220C/425F or Gas mark 7
    2. Lightly grease a flat baking sheet (or line with baking parchment)
    3. Sift flour & salt into a large bowl
    4. Add the butter, rubbing it into the flour with your fingertips. If you lift your hands whilst doing this you’ll get more air into the mixture to help it rise. The ingredients are combined when the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs
    5. Stir the sugar into the mix
    6. Add enough milk to make a soft dough (not too sticky) drawing the mixture together using a palette knife rather than your hands
    7. Flour your worksurface and also dust your hands with flour and then turn the dough onto it. Knead it lightly and then wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes
    8. Get the dough out of the fridge and flatten with your hand (no need to roll) on a floured surface until the dough is about 1.5 inch thick (you can make them thinner – about an inch – but I like scones that are taller than they are round!)
    9. Cut out scones with a 2 inch (5cm) cutter – don’t twist as you press cutter down as this makes them rise unevenly
    10. Re-roll the trimmings and cut out the remaining scones
    11. Arrange on the prepared baking tray and lightly brush with a little milk
    12. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. They’re ready when they’re well risen, the top is golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped
    13. Cool on the tray for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a wire rack

    They’re great eaten still warm with butter and jam, adding clotted cream for a treat. They’re still OK the next day – but better if warmed for a couple of minutes

    Variations

    You can vary the plain scone mix – here’s a couple of options:

    • Add 50g of dried fruit to the mix before adding the milk. Raisins are good as they’re smaller and don’t cause the scone to crumble when cut
    • Leave out the sugar and add 75g of grated cheese (mature cheddar or Red Leicester work well). Add in a touch of mustard powder or cayenne pepper too for some extra flavour. You can also sprinkle a little cheese on top before cooking. Cheese scones are very nice toasted the next day