This is the best scone recipe, showing you how to make the very best scones! Tender, flaky, buttery, and with plenty of tips on how to add your favorite mix-ins, this is the only scone recipe you’ll ever need!
For the best, flakiest scones, I recommend using a food processor, though I also include tips on how to make scones using a pastry cutter or box grater if you don’t have one handy. Today’s recipe also includes a video walking you through every step of the process and showing you how I make scones in my own kitchen!
I always thought that scones were unapproachable. I don’t know if it was the name, their unusual wedge-like shape, or what, but something about them just seemed too fancy and high-brow for my humble kitchen.
It wasn’t until college when I was procrastinating from writing a particularly tedious Psychology paper that I decided to first try my hand at them and was shocked to find that, hey, scones are actually really, really simple.
In fact, they’re just about the furthest thing from unapproachable. Scones aren’t much different from biscuits (and if you’ve tried my easy biscuit recipe, you know how humbly straightforward that recipe is), their fluffy, buttery interiors are just slightly sweeter and their shape is just a bit more pointed.
Let’s dig in to today’s scone recipe so you can learn everything there is to know about how to making scones in your own kitchen.
What are the Ingredients to Bake Scones
My scones are simple:
- flour
- sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- butter
- heavy cream
- vanilla extract
I’d bet you already have most of these in your kitchen already, am I right?
Can You Make Scones in Advance?
Yes, you can store unbaked scone dough!
Make your scone dough as instructed in the recipe, cut it into wedges, and then wrap each scone in cling wrap and store in an airtight container (or Ziploc bag) in the freezer until you are ready to bake. Be sure to bake your scones within 3 months of freezing.
These scones can be baked from frozen (no need to let them thaw), and may need just a minute or two longer in the oven. I always wait until just before baking before brushing them with cream and sprinkling with sugar.
How do You Keep Scones Fresh?
For this scone recipe, I really recommend eating your scones the same day you make them, preferably still warm soon after coming out of the oven.
You can store them in an airtight container for 1-2 days, but in my opinion scones are always best enjoyed the same day that they are made.
Can You Freeze Baked Scones?
Yes! To freeze baked scones, let them cool completely after baking. Once they’ve cooled, transfer them to an airtight container (Tupperware or a Ziploc bag works well, I like to loosely wrap each scone in wax paper or parchment paper so they don’t stick together).
To defrost your frozen scones, you can microwave them from frozen. The time required will vary depending on the power of your microwave. Frozen baked scones should also be enjoyed within 3 months of freezing.
Can I make Scones without a food processor?
Absolutely, and all of my previous scone recipes that I’ve shared (like these chocolate chip scones) were made by cutting the butter into the dough using a pastry cutter or grater. Just be prepared to do a bit more manual work cutting the butter into the dough, and making the dough cohesive will take a little more effort and more working together (I promise my scone recipe doesn’t need more liquid than I call for!).
However, scone dough is pretty dry, and a lot of people had trouble getting the dough to cling together doing this manually. Even my sister and mom use their KitchenAid mixer to work the dough together until it’s cohesive, which is fine but does tend to make your butter softer than is ideal.
By using a food processor instead, the machine does all of the heavy lifting for us without overworking our dough, so I recommend using one if you have it!
This is the food processor I used for this scone recipe (affiliate). It was a bridal shower gift 4 years ago and it’s a workhorse, I use it all the time!
Pictured above are these perfect scones made with a lemony twist, I included notes in the scone recipe below on how to make your own lemon scones, too.
Enjoy!
How Do You Make Homemade Scones Recipe
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Scones Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup very cold unsalted butter I like to place my butter in the freezer 15 minutes before beginning to ensure it is cold (113g)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (120ml)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup your favorite add-ins optional: frozen berries, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.
- Additional heavy cream for brushing over scones optional
- Additional sugar for sprinkling over scones optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F (190C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the basin of a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Cut butter into Tablespoon-sized pieces and scatter over flour mixture, pulse until butter is cut up into the flour mixture and butter pieces are no longer visible.
- Combine the heavy cream and vanilla extract in a measuring cup and pour heavy cream over your flour mixture.
- Pulse until dough begins to clump together.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and (handling lightly, as you don't want to over-work this dough) add any add-ins at this point, gently working them into the dough. Fold the dough in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5 times and taking care to not overwork the dough.
- Form the dough into a smooth disk about 1" thick by 6" round.
- Cut the disk into 8 wedges, pressing the knife straight down with each cut.
- Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet and place about 2" apart. Brush lightly with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake on 375F (190C) for 14-16 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown. Don't over-bake your scones or they will be dry and tough.
- Allow scones to cool on baking sheet before serving and enjoying.
Notes
How to Make Lemon Scones
Add 1 Tbsp of fresh lemon zest into the scone batter with the butter Once scones have cooled, dip in a simple glaze made of 1 1/4 cup (160g) powdered sugar, 1 1/2 Tablespoons (20ml) lemon juice, 1 1/2 teaspoons of water, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.Nutrition
Matthew Butler says
I’m a bit of a newbie at baking and opted to go with tradition and make by hand, mainly because I don’t have a food processor lol. I’ve been recreating a lot of my mums English recipes and as these are not too far removed from english scones and rock cakes I thought I’d try my hand. A couple of things that help me with the butter are breaking it down into small pieces when working into the dry ingredients, and not entirely working it in 100% so there’s a tiny amount to melt into the dough while baking, also try placing the cut scones in the freezer for about 10 mins to firm the butter back up a little. I really understood the importance of not overworking the dough with this recipe, you need a little air to combat density. I never paid attention to that before! These really are amazing and perfect proportions of ingredients, which I wouldn’t even attempt to customise other than adding frozen blueberries or peaches.
Sam says
Thank you so much for the feedback, Matthew! I am so glad you enjoyed the scones! 🙂
Joy says
I made these while dogsitting for a friend, and was limited in my ingredients and tools. Worked beautifully, though!
I used a combination of sour cream, half-and-half, and butter in place of the heavy cream I didn’t have on hand. I think the magic happened, however, when I used a hand-crank egg beater in place of the food processor.
These turned out light, fluffy, and significantly less dense than other scones I had made, recipes that generally included egg. Never again!
Thanks!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed the scones, Joy! 🙂
Joanne miller says
Wonderful recipe. Using food processor made this recipe perfect! Do not listen to the Nay Sayers regarding use of food processor. For some reason, I had to add more cream as I couldn’t get the dough to come together. Thank you for this recipe.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Joanne! 🙂
DIANE says
I’ve made these twice now, once exactly as directed and once with a few modifications. Most professional baking sites will tell you not to use a food processor for scone dough, as it overworks the dough. I did find the texture to be a bit more dense than I prefer, more like a biscuit. But the flavor was my favorite of all the scone dough recipes I was testing.
I wanted to try making this dough by hand but felt there was too much flour in proportion to wet ingredients to come together easier. So I reduced the flour to 200 grams (just short of 1 3/4 cups) and almost doubled the cream. I also did not freeze the butter, just kept it cold in the fridge with the cream.
Once dry ingredients were in bowl ((I added zest of 1 lemon) I cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes and added it to dough, then mixed with fingers until butter was size of peas or bigger. Added wet ingredients, including drop of lemon oil, and combined just until it started to come together. Then onto a floured counter, patted into a disk (no multiple folding, I also felt that overworked the dough), cut into 8 pieces, placed on baking sheet with parchment, and froze them for 30 minutes (another professional tip for better rise). Then brushed them with mix of egg and cream, sprinkled with sparkling sugar, and baked at 375 for 20 minutes. Sheer perfection, and I’ve been testing scone dough all week. This will now be my go-to for experimenting with add-ons.
Joy says
Can you substitute vegan butter in place of the dairy butter? Will it work the same?
Sam says
Hi Joy! I have never used vegan butter so I am not sure how it will work. The butter is very important to this recipe so I would be concerned that it wouldn’t work. If you do try it, let me know how it goes. 🙂
Savannah says
You absolutely can! You can also substitute the heavy cream with coconut cream mixed with an alternative milk if you are completely vegan. The scones turn out wonderful!
Frida says
Hi, how can I substitute the heavy cream?
Sam says
Hi Frida! Unfortunately I am not sure whether or not you could use milk. 🙁
Griffin Terras says
I tried this recipe, and everyone loved it! The density was a bit much, but the overall flavor was great! We didn’t have heavy cream available, so we substituted it with warm milk and melted butter (using cold milk densitizes the butter). Thanks so much for this recipe!
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the scones, Griffin! 🙂
Savannah says
Hi! Just wanted to say that you can replace heavy cream with 1/2 cup regular milk and 2 tbsp melted butter mixed in. Works exactly the same! Also coconut cream mixed with any alternative vegan milk works wonderfully as well! I’ve done both substitutions using this recipe and all the scones turned out great!
Cheryl says
Since I do not purchase or cook with white sugar and white flour, I made these phones with spelt flour, Half & Half whole spelt and white spelt, and coconut sugar. I think I may have under bake them a bit at 14 minutes so next time I will try 15 but I did not want to over bake. Thank you for the recipe. It was scrumptious
Sam says
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed, Cheryl! Thank you for sharing your substitutions!