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
Burnt to a crisp! I followed the directions and they were turning out perfect until the bake. Bake at 400 for 22-25 min – at 22 minutes they were burnt to a crisp and black. Super frustrated!
Hi Christan, maybe take a look at the cookie sheets/pans that you are using. Dark metal sheets typically over-bake bottoms and thin flimsy cookie sheets = burnt bottoms. You can also try moving your pan to a different position in your oven – away from the heat source, or turning your oven down a bit. Hopefully this helps if you try these again — thanks so much for giving these scones a try!
dear Sally can I use a ceramic eight scones pan to bake this recipe? how do I proceed? Does the cooking time change? Thanks
We’ve never baked with a scone pan before so we’re unsure of the exact bake time, but imagine it should be similar. Same temperature as well.
I’ve been using Sally’s baking kitchen recipes for a few years now but have never commented. I love all her recipes not just this one. They work every time so I’ve grown to really trust her stuff. Thanks for all the great recipes!
Thank you so much for making our recipes, Natalia!
Best ever! Thanks for great instructions and tips.
My go to scone recipe! Moist and delicious. I’m wanting to do a cinnamon sugar version. Any recommendations for measurements or filling? Should I make a cinnamon sugar paste like you would for cinnamon rolls? Or just add cinnamon and top with coarse sugar?
Hi Bianca, you may enjoy this recipe for cinnamon chip scones!
I too like to add blueberries to this recipe, but even when using frozen blueberries they always start to get mashed when the dough starts coming together and invariably turn the dough into a wet mess. How do I avoid this?
Hi Beth, some breakage can be normal when folding in the blueberries. Just be sure to use an extra gentle hand. You may find fresh blueberries easier to incorporate, since they won’t bleed as much. We hope you’re enjoying these scones!
OMG!!!! This is a winner! Scones came together quickly. Recipe was easy to follow. This was first time I attempted making scones! I have biscuits down to a science… lol. My husband asked for blueberry. I added some lemon zest for a little brightness. They baked up tender. I sprinkled with turbano sugar before 20 minute refrigeration. I let oven preheat the entire time. I also rotated pan half way thru to ensure even browning. Definitely will be making these again with different flavor profiles. Hubby already asking for chocolate w/chocolate chips.
I made this today using buttermilk made from
Almond milk (1 cup almond milk with 1 tbsp of lemon juice). Came out delicious. Split the dough and made blueberry scones and chocolate chip scones.
This is my go-to scone recipe. I’ve used this recipe for single batches to batches for 70 people. It. Never. Fails. Everyone loves them and I’m Pretty sure I have the recipe Memorized at this point haha. I’ve also made a gluten free version for some friends and used Gluten free flour, coconut milk, and added blueberries for the add ins. Best scones EVER!!! My go-to flavors are cranberry white chocolate, rosemary Raspberry, and herb cheddar. 5 stars.
So glad this scones recipe is your go-to, Kylee!
To double or triple this recipe, any tips?
Hi Kelly! We recommend making separate batches for best results.
OMG~These are the best ever! They didn’t last an hour. Everyone gobbled them up. I added cranberries and lemon zest. So flaky. They melt in your mouth with a nice little crunch on the outside.
Ok, this recipe is the best! I added almond extract, black cherries, and dark chocolate chunks and they turned out perfect. Can’t stop eating them.
I’ve tried many scone recipes and this one always gets the most compliments! I just go to Sally’s website now when I want to bake something because I know it’s going to turn out perfectly. Sally, could you tell me how I could incorporate lemon and cranberries into this recipe to make a lemon cranberry scone? Normally you mix the juice with milk but this recipe doesn’t have milk. Could I add it to the wet ingredients? Thanks so much for any help!
Hi Aleksia, we would replace the blueberries in our lemon blueberry scones recipe with cranberries for a lemon cranberry scone. Let us know how it goes!
Excited for my scones to get out of the oven!
I weighed out all ingredients as listed but for some reason, the dough was ingredient dry and difficult to bring together – any idea what went wrong?
Hi Kelly, if the dough seems too dry, add 1-2 more Tablespoons heavy cream in step 3. Hope you enjoyed them!
Do you have a good true Vanilla Scone. Every recipe I try from other websites taste very boring and bland. I did use the master scone and added vanilla Bourbon paste from Trader Joes and it was good but would love to see what your vanilla scone ingredients would be and what you would do differently. Your master scone recipe is my go to recipe for a sweet morning treat.
Hi Joanne, Feel free to increase the vanilla extract and top with this vanilla icing!
I’m ready to play with different flavors for my scones. Is there something Will using molasses for some of the sweetener cause too wet a dough? How should I counteract that?
Hi Sandy! We haven’t tested scones using molasses. It would take some testing to get right because of the added moisture. Let us know if you try anything.
It’s my go-to scone recipe. They turn out moist for a scone and so very yummy. Easy to make, which I appreciate. Thank you!!
I’ve had these on my list to make and finally made them. The dough was absolutely perfect! I went for a savory flavor (cheddar cheese) and found that the flavor was a bit too sweet. I’m wondering if I cut down on the amount of sugar, should I replace with flour, or just cut some out?
For fruit and other flavors, the sweetness will be perfect!
I made these it came out delicious!!!
Best ever scones I have ever made. So moist (as far as scones go). Rave reviews from friends❤️ and my S❤️N. I also make you Angel Food Cake which is above and beyond. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I love all your recipes. I want to make these for my mom but she wears dentures so needs to eat softer things. Any recommendation on what to add to make them airier or lighter?
Hi Claire, these aren’t particularly dense, have you made them before? Perhaps a muffin would be a better choice – let us know what you try!
The first time I tried the recipe, I followed it word for word and it was pretty bad, and the second time I tried to change some things and it was still awful.
What a WONDERFUL PRESENTATION!!! I will give this a try. Thanks so much!
This is for the triple chocolate scone-looks like we are not able to leave a comment on it for whatever reason. It was wonderful! I made it gluten free with bobs red mill 1:1, added sour cream 1/3 c, xanthum gum 1/8 tsp. Let it come to room temperature x30 min. Baked on a double metal sheet at 425 for about 16 min. Perfection! Great scone recipe, thank you!
I have been making these scones for a few years, a family favorite!!!
My first taste of American scones was in Miami. I’d moved there from England and yearning for home, I was excited when a local bakery was running a promotion with English pastries. They served scones, but not as I knew them…and I loved them anyway. Having moved back, I did miss the American version (preferring them to muffins) and only recently thought about making them. The Miami bakery scones aren’t a patch on these – I’ve made the blueberry scones a few times now and my family and friends love them so much, they disappear within a few minutes and plenty of requests for more! I’ve taken to freezing (before baking) batches and baking smaller quantities as needed, otherwise everyone is overindulgence! They come out surprisingly well from frozen and I’ve only had to add an extra couple of minutes to baking. I sprinkle with sugar and sugar pearls on top (without brushing a liquid) and they have a great crunch on the outside; beautifully soft on the inside.
This recipe was so easy to make and when I brought them into work I got so many compliments!! People were surprised they weren’t from a bakery! Very excited to try different flavor combinations in the future!!
Do you know the calories by chance?
Hi Aleah, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Fantastic scones everytime!
One suggestion. Put the box grater in your freezer. It helps to keep butter frozen.
Made these today as a change from my usual Martha recipe. The recipe was easy to follow and so mush easier grating the frozen butter. I put the mixing bowl and the flour mixture in the freezer as well before i added the butter then back in the freezer to freeze again then added the milk mixture when everything was nice and cold. I added lemon zest and frozen cranberries and they turned out amazing. I will definitely use this recipe again.
Made scones for the first time today… I always think of them as so dry and gross…
Not these! So yum!
Question.. any thoughts on using this frozen grated butter method for pie crust?
Hi Lexie! You can use frozen butter and grate it for pie dough. However, you’ll still need to cut it in. You can use a fork and mix very well.