4.95 from 141 votes

Scones

Name: Scones
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; ¼ cup granulated sugar; 2 teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; ½ cup very cold unsalted butter (I like to place my butter in the freezer 15 minutes before beginning to ensure it is cold ); ½ cup heavy cream; ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract; ½ cup add-ins (optional: frozen berries, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.); Additional heavy cream for brushing over scones (optional); Additional sugar for sprinkling over scones (optional)

By Sam MerrittPublished Jul 11, 2024

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Servings: 8 scones

30 mins

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Look no further, you’ve found the best easy, foolproof recipe for tender, buttery, and perfect scones, ready in just 30 minutes! My recipe includes plenty of tips and tricks as well as a detailed video tutorial. Includes notes on how to add your favorite mix-ins like fruit, chocolate, or nuts, too!

Close-up view of a tall, wedge-shaped scone surrounded by other scones on a striped towel.

A Simple, Classic Scones Recipe

This quick and easy scone recipe makes flavorful, beautifully textured scones without any fuss. It comes together in minutes in a food processor (easy clean-up!) and yields professional, tea-party worthy results every time. They taste terrific plain, but can also be dressed up with add-ins or a sprinkle of sugar or a smear of jam.

If you’ve been too intimidated to make this wedge shaped treat in the past, you won’t be after trying my scone recipe. You’ve got this!

Why you’ll love this recipe:

No pastry cutter needed! Instead we’ll use a food processor, which does all of the heavy lifting without overworking the dough. Note: I do also provide instructions for how to make them with a pastry cutter or grater, if you don’t have a food processor.
Completely customizable. Frozen fruit (or fresh fruit, it’s just a bit messier), chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, or citrus zest are all great options. I’ve used this recipe for lots of different flavor variations such as my lemon poppy seed scones, chocolate scones, raspberry scones, and more! You can also omit the sugar and make a savory version–yum!
No eggs. This is no accidental omission. I found that using eggs makes for less flaky and less melt-in-your-mouth results.
Flaky, tender layers, thanks to a little laminating. This process is easy, and it’s great practice for when you want to try making biscuits or puff pastry 😉

What You Need

One of the best things about my scones recipe is that it uses basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand.

Overhead view of labeled ingredients including flour, butter, heavy cream, and more.

Butter. Keep your butter as cold as possible, as cold butter pieces distributed throughout the dough makes for tender, flaky, and buttery layers! I like to freeze my butter for at least 15-30 minutes (or longer) before I begin.
Flour. Do NOT use self-rising flour or your scones will become much too tall and tip over. Stick with regular, all-purpose flour (“plain flour” in the UK).
Heavy cream. This helps bind everything together, much like an egg would, but the results are much more melt-in-your-mouth. Make sure to keep this nice and cold too!
Sugar. A small amount adds sweetness, but not so much that you can’t add a vanilla glaze or sweet add-ins. I also add a splash of vanilla extract. You can omit or reduce these if you are making savory scones.
Add-ins. These scones are great plain, but if you’d like, you can add chocolate chips, nuts, frozen fruit (fresh can get messy), etc. Cheddar cheese is a great addition for a savory version! Note that making this recipe with add-ins, especially moist add-ins like fruit, will result in a slightly longer bake time.

SAM’S TIP: If you can get your hands on it, I recommend using a high quality European butter in this scone recipe. It has a higher fat content and makes for especially delectable, tender results.

How to Make Scones

Four photo collage showing scone dough being prepared in a food processor.

Pulse the dry ingredients together in your food processor.
Add the butter pieces and pulse until incorporated; the butter pieces should be no larger than a chocolate chip at this point.
Pour the cream and vanilla over the butter mixture.
Pulse until your dough starts to clump together. You can test this by pinching some dough between your fingers–if it clings together, it’s ready!

It’s important to note that you should be pulsing the ingredients in brief spurts and not simply blending. Pulsing make sure everything gets evenly distributed. If you just blend everything, it won’t incorporate evenly and the batter will get too wet, too warm, and over-worked.

Four photo collage showing chocolate chips being worked into scone dough before it is formed into a disc, cut into wedges, and baked.

Lamination: Turn your dough out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle any add-ins overtop, if using, and form it into a disc. Fold the dough over itself (add more add-ins here if desired), flatten, rotate 90 degrees, and repeat. Do this process about 5 times total.
Form your dough into a disc that is about 1″ thick and 6″ wide. Avoid over-handling your dough and don’t warm it up too much, or your scones could become flat and dense. The disc doesn’t need to be super smooth.
Cut the disc into wedges, pressing straight down with a sharp knife–do NOT saw! If you do, then your scones may tip over in the oven or have messy edges.
Place the scones on your baking sheet, brush them with cream, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until light golden brown and let cool slightly before enjoying.

SAM’S TIP: If your dough gets too warm during the lamination process, you can pop your scones in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before baking. It’s very important that your dough stays nice and cold!

Wedge shaped scone being brushed with heavy cream before baking.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make scones without a food processor?

You can use a grater or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour instead; however, your dough will be very dry and will require more effort to come together. I provide more detailed instructions for this in the recipe below.

Can I make them in advance to bake later?

Yes! To do this, prepare your dough as instructed, then wrap in cling wrap (or place in an airtight container) and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

If baking from the refrigerator, you can follow the recipe as written. If baking from frozen, the scones may need a few extra minutes in the oven. I always wait until just before baking before brushing them with cream and sprinkling with sugar.

Can I freeze after baking?

Yes! To freeze baked scones, let them cool completely after baking. Once they’ve cooled, transfer them to an airtight container (I like to loosely wrap each scone in wax paper or parchment paper so they don’t stick together) and enjoy within 3 months.

Interior of a scone showing tender, flaky layers.

This scones recipe is tasty enough to be served plain, but a little honey butter, strawberry sauce, or whipped cream on the side never hurts!

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜

I originally published this recipe many years ago, but have just updated it as I thought it could use a new video and some updated tips and tutorial photos.