Using my perfected master scone recipe, build your own scones with a variety of add-ins like chocolate chips, berries, or cheese and herbs. These better-than-the-bakery treats are flaky, flavorful, and moist with crisp crumbly edges. There’s a lot of helpful information and step-by-step photos, but feel free to jump right to the recipe!
Scones are sweet or savory, perfect with coffee and tea, welcome at baby showers, bridal showers, brunch, snack time, bake sales, Mother’s Day, and wherever muffins or coffee are appropriate. (All the time!)
But depending on the recipe and technique, scones can be dry and sandpaper-y with flavor comparable to cardboard. They can also over-spread. My basic scone recipe promises uniquely crisp and buttery scones with crumbly corners and a soft, flaky interior.
I have several scone recipes that begin with the same basic formula. Let’s review the fundamentals so you can learn how to make the best scones. Sit back because there’s a lot to cover in this post!
What are Scones?
Depending where you live, the term “scone” differs. English scones are more similar to American biscuits and they’re often topped with butter, jam, or clotted cream. American scones are different, but different isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Today’s scones are sweeter, heavier, and aren’t usually topped with butter because there’s so much butter IN them. Sweetness aside, there’s still room for vanilla icing or a dusting of confectioners’ sugar on top. By the way, here’s my favorite recipe for traditional scones.
Scones are leavened with baking powder, so making them is generally quick. Blueberry scones are my favorite variety, but that quickly switches to pumpkin scones in the fall months! (Here are all my scone recipes.)
No matter which flavor you choose, these scones are:
- Moist & soft inside
- Crumbly on the edges
- Buttery & flaky
- Not sandpapery 🙂
One reader, Wendy, commented: “Oh my gosh, I was so intimidated at the thought of making scones. I thought it was so much more complicated. I’ve made these scones twice already—once blueberry and once ham and cheese. SO GOOD! Thank you for an uncomplicated, fool-proof recipe! ★★★★★“
One reader, Yelena, commented: “Absolutely delicious! Easy to make, simple ingredients, and just perfect. ★★★★★“
One reader, Venessa, commented: “It’s my go-to scone recipe. They turn out moist for a scone and so very yummy. Easy to make, which I always appreciate. Thank you! ★★★★★“
One reader, Donna, commented: “This was my first attempt at making scones. The result was amazing! These scones are super easy and delicious! The perfect consistency and nice and moist. I received so many compliments! ★★★★★“
Video Tutorial: Scones
Let’s start with a video tutorial.
Only 7 Ingredients in this Basic Scone Recipe
You only need 7-9 ingredients for my master scone recipe.
- Flour: 2 cups of all-purpose flour is my standard amount, but set extra aside for the work surface and your hands.
- Sugar: I stick with around 1/2 cup of sugar for this scone dough. Feel free to slightly decrease, but keep in mind that the scone flavor and texture will slightly change. Reduce to about 2 Tablespoons for savory flavors. Brown sugar works too. However, if using brown sugar, whisk it into the wet ingredients to get out all the lumps. For example, see my caramel apple scones.
- Baking Powder: Adds lift.
- Salt: Adds flavor.
- Butter: Besides flour, butter is the main ingredient in scones. It’s responsible for flakiness, flavor, crisp edges, and rise.
- Heavy Cream or Buttermilk: For the best tasting pastries, stick with a thick liquid such as heavy cream or buttermilk. I usually use heavy cream, but if you want a slightly tangy flavor, use buttermilk. Thinner liquids change the flavor and appearance. You’ll be headed down a one way street to dry, bland, and flat scones.
- Egg: Adds flavor, lift, and structure.
- Optional: Vanilla extract adds necessary flavor to sweet scones, but skip it if you’re making savory scones. Depending on the flavor, cinnamon is another go-to ingredient.
And don’t forget about the add-ins! Scroll down to see all my favorite scone flavors.
How to Make Scones from Scratch
So now that you understand which ingredients are best, let’s MAKE SCONES!
- Mix the dry ingredients together. Use a big mixing bowl because you want lots of room for the mixing process.
- Cut in the grated frozen butter. You can use a pastry cutter or 2 forks, like we do with pie crust, or your hands. A food processor works too, but it often overworks the scone dough. To avoid overly dense scones, work the dough as little as possible. Messy and crumbly is a good thing!
- Whisk the wet ingredients together.
- Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients. Mix together, then pour out onto the counter.
- Form into a disc and cut into wedges. Wedges are easiest, but you can make 10-12 drop scones like I do with my banana scones.
- Brush with heavy cream or buttermilk. For a golden brown, extra crisp and crumbly exterior, brush with liquid before baking. And for extra crunch, a sprinkle of coarse sugar is always ideal!
- Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Keep scone dough as cold as possible. To avoid over-spreading, I recommend chilling the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator before baking. In fact, you can even refrigerate overnight for a quick breakfast in the morning!
- Bake until golden brown. Scones bake in a relatively hot oven for only 20-25 minutes.
Cold Ingredients & Frozen Grated Butter
Keeping scone dough as cold as possible prevents over-spreading. When scones over-spread in the oven, they lose the flaky, moist, and deliciously crumbly texture. In other words, they’re ruined. But the easiest way to avoid disaster is to use cold ingredients like cold heavy cream, egg, and butter.
But frozen grated butter is the real key to success.
Like with pie crust, work the cold butter into the dry ingredients to create crumbs. The butter/flour crumbs melt as the scones bake, releasing steam and creating air pockets. These pockets create a flaky center while keeping the edges crumbly and crisp. Refrigerated butter might melt in the dough as you work with it, but frozen butter will hold out until the oven. And the finer the pieces of cold butter, the less the scones spread and the quicker the butter mixes into the dry ingredients. Remember, you don’t want to over-work scone dough.
3 Tricks for Perfect Scones
If you take away anything from this post, let these be it!
- Heavy Cream or Buttermilk: Avoid thinner milks which yield a flatter, less flavorful scone. Canned coconut milk makes a wonderful nondairy option!
- Frozen Grated Butter: See above!
- Refrigerate Before Baking: Remember, cold dough is a successful dough. To avoid over-spreading, I recommend chilling the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator before baking.
How to prevent flat scones: See #2 and #3. 🙂
How to Freeze Scones
I used to be totally against freezing scone dough. You see, the baking powder is initially activated once wet and if you hold off on baking, the scones won’t rise as much in the oven. However, the decrease in rise is so slight that it doesn’t make a noticeable difference. In fact, you can even shape this scone dough into wedges and refrigerate overnight before baking.
- Freeze Before Baking: Freeze scone dough wedges on a plate or baking sheet for 1 hour. Once relatively frozen, you can layer them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time in the recipe below. Or thaw overnight, then bake as directed.
- Freeze After Baking: Freeze the baked and cooled scones before topping with icing or confectioners’ sugar. I usually freeze in a freezer-friendly bag or container. To thaw, leave out on the counter for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds or on a baking sheet in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes.
15+ Scone Flavors
- Blueberry Scones and Chocolate Chip Scones (both pictured)
- Cranberry Orange and Pumpkin Scones
- Banana Scones and Lavender Scones
- Lemon Blueberry Scones and Sprinkle Scones
- Caramel Apple and Cinnamon Chip Scones
- Triple Chocolate Scones – they taste like brownies!
- Strawberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- Ham & Cheese Scones
- Mixed Berry (pictured): Follow recipe below and add fresh or frozen mixed berries. Raspberries and blackberries burst easily, so don’t go overboard on those.
- Cherry Chocolate Chip: Follow recipe below and add 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 3/4 cup chopped fresh or frozen cherries.
- Raspberry Almond: Follow the recipe below and add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract with the vanilla. After shaping the scones, gently press frozen raspberries into each, using about 1 cup total. (Avoid mixing them into the dough, as they can bleed.) Top the shaped scones with sliced almonds before baking (1/3 cup / 37g total almonds). After baking, drizzle with the raspberry icing from these mini vanilla pound cakes.
- Fresh Herb: Reduce sugar to 2 Tablespoons, leave out vanilla extract, and add 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 cup chopped herbs such as rosemary, parsley, and basil. Additionally, feel free to add 1 cup shredded cheese to the dough and top with sea salt before or after baking!
Using the master recipe below as a starting point, toss in your favorite add-ins like white chocolate chips, toasted pecans, sweetened or unsweetened coconut, dried cranberries, peanut butter chips, etc. If it’s a particularly wet add-in like chopped peaches, blot them with a paper towel before adding to the dough. Top with lemon curd, raspberry sauce, or any of the suggested toppings below. Above all, have fun finding your favorite flavor!
Look At All Of Your Scones!
Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
Print
How to Make Perfect Scones
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 large or 16 small scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Use this basic scone dough for any sweet scone variety. See blog post for a couple savory scone options. Feel free to increase the vanilla extract and/or add other flavor extracts such as lemon extract or coconut extract. Read through the recipe before beginning. You can skip the chilling for 15 minutes prior to baking, but I highly recommend it to prevent the scones from over-spreading.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream or buttermilk (plus 2 Tbsp for brushing)
- 1 large egg
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1–1.5 cups add-ins such as chocolate chips, berries, nuts, fruit, etc
- optional: coarse sugar for topping
Instructions
- Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter using a box grater. Add it to the flour mixture and combine with a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. See video above for a closer look at the texture. Place in the refrigerator or freezer as you mix the wet ingredients together.
- Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, the egg, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the add-ins, then mix together until everything appears moistened.
- To make triangle scones: Pour onto the counter and, with floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add 1-2 more Tablespoons heavy cream. Press into an 8-inch disc and, with a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges. For smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 wedges. To make 10-12 drop scones: Keep mixing dough in the bowl until it comes together. Drop scones, about 1/4 cup of dough each, 3 inches apart on a lined baking sheet. To make mini (petite) scones, see recipe note.
- Brush scones with remaining heavy cream and for extra crunch, sprinkle with coarse sugar. (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.)
- Place scones on a plate or lined baking sheet (if your fridge has space!) and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat(s). If making mini or drop scones, use 2 baking sheets. After refrigerating, arrange scones 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
- Bake for 18-26 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Larger scones take closer to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes. Feel free to top with any of the toppings listed in the recipe Note below.
- Leftover scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Freeze Before Baking: Freeze scone dough wedges on a plate or baking sheet for 1 hour. Once relatively frozen, you can layer them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time in the recipe below. Or thaw overnight, then bake as directed.
- Freeze After Baking: Freeze the baked and cooled scones before topping with icing or confectioners’ sugar. I usually freeze in a freezer-friendly bag or container. To thaw, leave out on the counter for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds or on a baking sheet in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare scones through step 4. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Continue with the recipe the following day.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Box Grater | Pastry Cutter | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Bench Scraper | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush
- Scone Flavors: See blog post above. If adding fruit, use fresh or frozen. If frozen, do not thaw. Peel fruits such as apples, peaches, or pears before chopping. If desired, add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon with the flour. I usually add cinnamon when making chocolate chip scones.
- Over-spreading: Start with very cold scone dough. Expect some spread, but if the scones are over-spreading as they bake, remove from the oven and press back into its triangle shape (or whatever shape) using a rubber spatula.
- Mini/Petite Scones: To make smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 equal wedges. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Optional Toppings: Vanilla icing, salted caramel, lemon icing from this iced lemon pound cake, maple icing from these banana scones, brown butter icing from these pistachio cookies, lemon curd, orange icing from these hot cross buns, raspberry icing from these mini pound cakes, dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I’m never one to choose a scone at a bakery; however, these homemade ones are delicious! I tried your apple variety for the May Baking Challenge – easy to follow, and they were a hit with the crew at work. Thanks for another great recipe!
I had some blueberries I needed to use and remembered your master scones recipe. I added cardamom too and they were delicious! Definitely will be hanging onto the recipe. I will admit I only had 2% milk though so used that, and they turned out fine though I can tell they’d be even better with a higher fat content!
Love these! So buttery and moist! I might try savory ones next!!
I forgot to rate the recipe in my comment just a little while ago. DEFINITELY 5/5!! 🙂
Made these over the weekend and they were absolutely amazing. Will definitely be making them again!!
This is my new favorite scones recipe- thank you Sally for your work to perfect it! I tried the cranberry orange variation. My batch would have turned out flawless, but I forgot to lower my oven rack and they got a little crispier than I usually care for…however, that’s all the more reason to enjoy them with a dunk in some hot tea!
Tried the recipe and absolutely loved it! I made multiple flavors and all of them were terrific. I made strawberry, pineapple, kiwi, apricot and blackberry scones- all deliciously amazing! Definitely making it again
I followed this recipe exactly but added raspberries with blueberries. They were light and delicious! They remind me a little of blueberry muffins! So good! I ate the whole batch!
One word. AMAZING!! I made the raspberry and almond scones and they turned out perfect! My family loved them and can’t wait for another batch this weekend. This is the best recipe, thank you Sally!
I have made scones every weekend in May! I started out with blueberry lemon then cranberry orange then cherry almond and now pumpkin. We have loved them all! I was wondering if you have considered a chocolate zucchini scone. I think they would be delicious, but I’m not sure on the right amounts of cocoa powder and zucchini. Thoughts? I was thinking of adding chocolate chips and/or a chocolate glaze
So many scones, I love it! Thank you so much for trying so many scone recipes, Courtney. I love the idea of a chocolate zucchini scone, but I haven’t tried it yet. I recommend using my chocolate scone recipe as the starting point though!
Hi I tried scones for the first time. My scones were browning way too much evne though I reduced baking time. I was wondering if it’s coz I have a convection oven? Do you use a convection oven for this recipe ?
Hi Niyatee! I actually use a conventional oven. Typically when baking with a convection oven, it’s best to lower the baking temperature by 25 degrees F. I recommend that if you decide to try the scones again.
Hi I tried them again at 180C and used orange zest and orange icing, they tasted amazing! the only thing was they were slightly cakey in the interior, do you know why that could happen?
I made the chocolate chips scones, and they are divine ! Can’t wait to try a savory one !
Hi Sally! I made two batches of the mini scones for my coworkers. One batch got pretty burnt on the bottom, any idea why? Baked for about 17 min. The flavor is good, though with how much you raved about these being moister than typical scones, I was surprised when they turned out a bit dry for me. I posted pics to the FB group, though probably cant see any issues from the images I took. Anyways these are tasty and the directions are easy to follow.
Hi Lydia! Try turning down the oven heat if you decide to make the mini scones again. I wonder if they were over-cooked. That could be why they tasted dry as well.
This was my first attempt at scones. And my second. Within two days. Because they were so dang good! I made my first batch mocha pecan, using espresso powder, coffee extract, mini chocolate chips, and pecans. The second batch was savory, bacon cheddar with cayenne pepper. Not sure which I liked best! I currently have the cinnamon chip scones in the oven. Can’t wait to try those and the triple chocolate ones! Give me all the scones!
I made the chocolate chip scones. So delicious and easy to make!
Your banana scones are my favorite treat to take to a brunch. I’m pretty self-conscious about my baked goods but these are always a hit. Thanks for sharing!
Hello Sally!!!!
So excited today because it is my first time to finally join your monthly baking challenge after many years of doing almost all your recipes : ) And this is my second time to do a scone recipe, my very first was your Funfetti Chip Scones! I feel very successful the second time since i made sure my butter was frozen before grating and after mixing with the dry ingredients, plus the extra 15 minutes of the dough in the refrigerator really makes the difference : ) Your Chocolate Chip Scones was a huge hit!
I made mine savory, with blue cheese and onion powder, along with bagel spice, whatever that is. Adds a crunch and some speckles!
First time making scones and they turned out great! Made them choc chip.
Hi Sally!!
I was needing a little baking therapy today & made some scones for the baking challenge. This recipe is so simple & easy to follow! I made chocolate chip scones (LOVE the addition of cinnamon in those!) & (turkey) ham & cheddar for a savory variety. Both turned out fantastic!! I must say though I did not expect to like the savory ones over the sweet but man are they good!! Thanks for yet another fantastic baking challenge!
These are seriously the best scones I’ve tasted! I made the lemon blueberry ones, and they are divine. Thank you, Sally, for such detailed step-by-step instructions 🙂
Best and only scone recipe I use. I’ve made blueberry, blueberry lemon, orange cranberry, mixed berry, and strawberries and cream variations – all baked up beautifully and tasted amazing. These have become a go-to easy bake for me (yay for being able to use cold ingredients straight from the fridge!) and they always impress my coworkers when I’m feeling generous and bring them in. This time I also made an orange curd for the first time (with your lemon curd recipe) and was amazed by how good it was on blueberry scones. Magical.
Made these with dried cranberries and they came out perfect!! 🙂 Will totally make them again x
This was so delicious! This will definitely become a regular in my house. Thanks Sally!
These scones we’re delicious! I used blueberries and made a lemon glaze for the top. They were a HIT!
It’s been ages since I’ve made scones and this recipe was fantastic & super simple! I loved how versatile this recipe is – makes it easy to use what you have on hand. I made these with 2 kinds of chocolate chips & walnuts. Came out delicious & the texture was perfection. 🙂
I made these as Mango & Dark Choc Chunk scones, as much as I detest grating frozen butter it is worth it – love this recipe! Thanks Sally so delicious with the best texture!
I’m so excited to try these – I’m planning on making these with rosemary. I have a great rosemary olive oil i want to add as well to really get a strong rosemary flavor, any suggestions for incorporating this?
Hi Emily! While I haven’t tried this, you could try replacing a couple Tbsp of the heavy cream with the olive oil. Reduce the butter slightly too.
Made the blueberry scones. Mine were not very pretty like the pictures above, but they tasted great!
I made berry scones with strawberries and blackberries with your master recipe for Mother’s Day and they were a huge hit! Can’t wait to try different variations! Thanks Sally!
I made them with mini chocolate chips and they were delicious!