Easy English Scones – Quick, Moist and Delicious Scones

Who doesn’t love, fluffy, moist and tender, fresh from the oven Easy English scones slathered with jam and cream? No one we know! Made even better considering you can have a batch on the table in 20 minutes. No need for a food processor or any special equipment, this recipe just keeps getting better and better. 😃

Traditional English scones use butter that’s rubbed between your fingers to incorporate the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Now this isn’t a difficult thing to do but it does take time, which is why we fell in love with this recipe for Easy English scones. No more butter rubbing, just sift the dry ingredients and stir in the cream and milk, pat or roll out the dough and cut the scones then bake.

Easy English Scones served with jam and cream are quintessentially part of the Australian psyche. For decades a morning, or afternoon tea isn’t quite cricket without serving scones. 

Our Mum Noela was a dab hand at whipping up a couple of dozen scones with absolutely no effort. Straight from the oven and pulled apart straight into a clean tea towel shroud to keep them warm and moist and served with whipped cream and definitely some of our homemade Strawberry and Vanilla Jam.

Our parents in the younger years of their marriage lived in rural Australia where serving scones with jam and cream was almost an everyday event.

If there were fires raging, or town folk flooded in, the girls from the bush would rally and make up dozens of scones to serve to weary firefighters or rescuers and this still holds true today.

At a Glance This Is What You Need To Make English Scones

Are Scones English or Scottish

Scones got their start as a Scottish quick bread and became popular and an essential part of the fashionable ritual of taking tea in England when Anna, the Duchess of Bedford (1788 – 1861), one late afternoon, ordered the servants to bring tea and some sweet breads, which included scones. She was so delighted by this, that she ordered it every afternoon and what now has become an English tradition is the “Afternoon Tea Time” (precisely at 4:00 p.m.). They are still served daily with the traditional clotted cream topping in Britain

Sift and Mix

Tips for making scones

1. Always use a knife to mix your scones as the secret to creating a lovely soft scone is to handle the dough as little as possible. Mixing with a spoon or a food processor until the dough is smooth results in over working the dough. Gluten is developed the more you mix and the more gluten the tougher your scone will be. So just trust us when we say to use a knife and you’ll have prize winning scones instead of rock cakes.😡
2. Using cream makes the scones richer and is easily incorporated without lengthy mixing – less gluten 🥰
3. Tip the scone dough out of the bowl and very lightly pat into a flat disk on a floured surface with the heel of your hand or rolling pin. About 3cm (1 1/4 inches) thick is good.
4. 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.
5. Only lightly flour your work surface to avoid incorporating extra flour into the dough 
6. Cut out your scones using a scone cutter or glass and don’t twist the cutter in the dough, just use a straight down cut and pull straight out of the dough. Twisting the cutter seals the edge of the cut and prevents the scone from rising as well as it should.🤪
7. Pack the scones closely on the baking tray so they support each other as they rise, cooking the scones in this way keeps the sides of the scone moist and soft
8. Make scones the day you need them and wrap them in a clean tea towel straight from the oven, wrapping in a cloth helps to trap steam and keeps the scones lovely and soft.

Roll, Cut and Bake

What To Eat With English Scones

Traditionally English scones are served with clotted or whipped cream and jam. You can also serve them with a delicious lemon curd, fresh berries that are sliced and macerated with a little sugar or we’re even partial to a little mashed banana drizzled with golden syrup or honey. Mmmm!

Watch How To Make  Easy English Scones

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How To Freeze Scones

Once cooked and cooled wrap scones in plastic wrap then foil then place in a ziplock bag squeezing out as much air as possible and freeze for up to 3 months.

To serve leave scones on the bench for 2-3 hours to thaw or thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Pop into a preheated 150c (300f) oven for 10 minutes or so to warm through. 

You can ping the English Scones in a microwave for 15-30 seconds depending on the wattage of your microwave along with a small glass of water as the water will help to put some moisture back into them.

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Yield: 12 scones

Easy English Scones

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Super fluffy, soft and moist English Scones take about 20 minutes to make, so you have no excuse for not making a batch or three

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Ingredients

• 340 gms self raising flour  2 cups / 12 oz plus more for dusting
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tblsp icing sugar or caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 250 ml cream 8 1/2 oz / 1 cup
• 80 ml milk 1/3 cup / 3 oz

Instructions

1. preheat the oven to 200 c / 390 f
2. sift dry ingredients into a large bowl
3. add the cream and milk
4. using a knife stir the ingredients until they have all come together
5. now using your hand gently press the mixture together
6. turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured bench
7. using your hands press the mixture into a flat round shape, then using your hands or a rolling pin flatten the scone dough until it is approximately 3 cm / 1 1/4 inch thick
8. dip a scone cutter or a small glass into flour ( helps to stop the dough from sticking to the cutter ) now press down on the cutter until you have cut all of the way through the dough. Lift the cutter from the dough and the cut out is usually still inside, gently tap the cutter on your hand until the scone releases - we used a 5 cm / 2 inch cutter
9. place the scones so they are all touching in the shape of a circle or a square etc, onto a tray that is lightly floured or lined with baking paper.
10. when the oven has reached the correct temperature place the scones on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until the tops and bottoms are a light golden colour.
11. remove from oven and cover with a clean cloth, then allow scones to cool for 10 - 15 minutes before serving - if you've ever eaten bread straight from the oven you'll understand - the bread or in this case scones can become very doughy and clump on the roof of your mouth. NOT NICE 🤨

Nutrition Information

Yield

12

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 251Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 23mgSodium 440mgCarbohydrates 42gFiber 1gSugar 21gProtein 4g

Nutritional information provided here is only intended as a guide.