Authentic Scottish Scones RecipeAuthentic Scottish Scones Recipe-Soft and Crumbly Tea Scones - Savoring Italy (2024)

FAQs

What is the problem with crumbly scones? ›

The less you knead the mix, the less the gluten will tighten up – which means your scones will stay loose and crumbly, rather than tight and springy. Make sure you sieve the flour and baking powder into your bowl. This means that the two will be well mixed together, which gives you a better chance of an even rise.

British scones are usually lightly sweetned and contain fruit like currants or berries. Scottish scones are often closer to a biscuit and are made with buttermilk, though some Scottish grandmothers will swear you should only use sour milk.

Baking tips for making the perfect scones

The colder the better when it comes to scones, we recommend a chilled bowl and pastry cutter too. Use pastry flour: This will create a noticeably lighter scone. However, self-raising flour works just as well and creates a higher rising scone that holds its shape nicely.

Scones are typically moist but crumbly, sort of like corn bread or Mexican wedding cookies. In my opinion, a scone should be light and flaky, not moist, but not dry either. The best result comes from using cold butter and cooling your dough in the fridge until just before sliding into a preheated oven.

The explanation is simple: As with other doughs, including pizza dough, resting lets scone dough's gluten relax completely, so that it doesn't snap back during shaping or baking.

Although the English eat scones mainly at teatime, the Scots eat them at almost any time: with midmorning coffee, with soup and salad at lunch, at afternoon tea or high tea, and even with a glass of wine at the co*cktail hour.

American scones use much more butter than British scones, and they usually have quite a bit more sugar. The extra butter is what makes them so much denser. This is not really a good or bad thing, as British scones pile on plenty of sugar (in the form of preserves/jam) and butter or clotted cream as toppings.

In Scotland and Ulster, savoury varieties of scone include soda scones, also known as soda farls, sour dough scones known as soor dook scones made with sour milk, and potato scones, normally known as tattie scones, which resemble small, thin savoury pancakes made with potato flour.

For example, if you substitute oil for butter or margarine, you can significantly reduce the amount of saturated fat in your baked goods. This streamlined recipe for Light Scones uses just 3 tablespoons of canola oil, which contains a fraction of the saturated fat found in butter or margarine.

What type of flour is best for scones? ›

The secret is using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. It's lower in protein and makes for ultra-tender scones. If you don't have any on hand, you can easily make your own using all-purpose flour and cornstarch (see the FAQs below). For a kid-friendly twist, don't miss my chocolate chip scones.

Why? When cold butter is rubbed into the flour, it creates flaky pockets of flavour (which soft, room temperature butter can't do). Once the cold butter and liquid (e.g milk) hits the oven, the water in the butter and cold liquid begins evaporating.

If the dough is too crumbly when you place it on the cutting board, add slightly more buttermilk. If the dough is too sticky when you put it on the cutting board, add more flour. Flour your hands and shape a chunk of dough into a disc. A larger disc will make a larger, more moist scone.

That slightly bitter, kinda “tinny” flavor you often experience when biting into a muffin, biscuit or scone is the result of using a baking powder in high quantities — as is needed for these quick-rise treats — with aluminum in it.

To ensure taller scones, start with a thicker dough disc and place the scones on a tray with sides, allowing them to slightly touch one another. This arrangement encourages the scones to push against the pan and each other, promoting height.

My scones are speckled

The proportions of bicarbonate of soda and acid (either sour milk or cream of tartar) may be incorrect or the flour and raising agents may have been insufficiently sieved. Speckling can also occur if granulated sugar, or too much sugar is used.

The crumblier the dough, the crumblier the resulting scones, so be sure not to add too much milk. You might not even need it all. I say roll the dough out, and using a rolling pin makes me feel all domestic goddess, but the be completely honest, you can just press the dough out onto a floured surface.

Put the scones in the microwave with a small glass of water, as the water will put moisture back into the scones without leaving them dry.

The mix should be moist, and while it should come out of the mixing bowl clean, expect it to leave your fingers a little sticky. Scone mix is far wetter than a dough – it's somewhere between a batter and a dough. Only lightly flour your work surface to avoid incorporating extra flour into the dough.