Everybody needs a great, classic scone recipe!!! These are really quick plain scones you’ll make again and again.
These scones are made with a food processor which is not only faster, it eliminates the risk of common pitfalls. Soft and fluffy insides, golden tops, serve them with copious amounts of jam and cream for the ultimate classic afternoon experience.
Classic plain scone recipe
Perhaps the simplest of all baked goods in this entire world, the humble scone surely conjures up fond memories for every Aussie. Gatherings with family and friends, school bake sales, fundraising morning teas at work, a quaint little cafe in the Southern Highlands, or your grandmother’s kitchen.
(Your grandmother, not mine. Mine lived in Tokyo and hated cooking. I would have died of shock if she ever baked anything. Or refused to eat it out of suspicion 😂).
Plain scones – made easy!
This is how I make plain scones. They are soft and fluffy on the inside, with the signature “flaky folds” when you break it open, and a golden rustic-but-not-too-rustic top:
Food processor. Self raising flour and cold butter – blitz 8 seconds. Add milk – blitz 8 seconds until ball forms.
Turn dough out, knead lightly 10 times (no more), lightly roll across the top to smooth surface. Cut scones out, bake 12 minutes.
No egg. No lard. No cream. No sugar. Why complicate something that’s already perfect?
Food processor, all the way
“Food processor?”, I hear traditionalists gasp in shock.
Yes. (She says firmly). Food processor. Not only is it faster with literally zero effort, it eliminates a lot of “risk factors” when it comes to making scones (eg overworking dough, melting butter with hot hands) and the dough comes together better. Softer and smoother, which means your scones will have a smoother top compared to handmade ones.
Here’s a comparison of the finger-rubbing method vs food processor. They are virtually identical in terms of rise and fluffy-factor, but the surface of the food processor scone is noticeably smoother.
Not that there’s anything wrong with a rustic top on scones. Scones are, after all, humble and rustic food, not intended to look like something from a Michelin star patisserie. 🙂
Essential Tips for making the BEST Scones!
It alarms me that I feel like I could write an entire essay on scones, so I’m restraining myself and summarising final tips for your new scone making life.
1. Resist the urge to twist – I feel like my hand always wants to twist when pressing the cutter into the dough. Resist the urge. Push straight down and pull straight back up. This will ensure your scones rise and they rise straight, not wonky.
2. Don’t smooth the sides once cut – For the same reason as above. So when handling the cut scones, minimise touching the cut sides.
3. Knead 10 times, no more – Kneading the dough makes the surface of scones smoother with a more even rise. However, many recipes will tell you never to knead the dough because it would make the scones tough.
After decades of scone making, I can definitively tell you – scones can take kneading. I have found that 10 light kneads does not affect the fluffiness, rise or softness of scones at all, but it does make the scones smoother on the surface.
So 10 kneads. That’s my rule!
4. How do you serve scones? With copious amounts of of jam and cream, with coffee and tea. I know not of any other way. 🤷🏻♀️
Scones FAQ
What’s the difference between a biscuit and a scone? That’s biscuits as they’re known in America that look like scones! A southern classic served savoury, fabulous with grits, sausage gravy and eggs. And a comparison of this humble Aussie scone recipe with this New York Times Biscuits recipe verifies that they are indeed made the same way – just used for different purposes. 🙂
Should scones have egg? Some recipes do, but it’s much softer and fluffier without egg (because egg binds better but removes moisture from baked goods). I tried with and without side by side just to be 100% sure.
Are scones British? Yes, we Aussies have the Brits to thank for brining scones to our shores. 🙂
Why are my scones lopsided? To avoid wonky scones, see Tip #1 above: press the cutter straight up and down, do not twist. And avoid touching the sides when transferring to the baking tray.
How long to scones keep? Scones are best served on the day they are made but will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Just warm them before serving to make them soft and fluffy.
The great Aussie scone. Old fashioned comfort food that will never go out of fashion.
Interestingly, someone told me the other day that apparently there’s a Great Debate in the UK about whether jam or cream should be dolloped on first. The thought of cream first then dolloping jam on the cream never even crossed my mind!
Someone, please explain!! 😂 – Nagi x
More Aussie favourites
Lemonade Scones 3 ingredient shortcut scones!
And more afternoon tea favourites
Cinnamon Swirl Bread – easy, no yeast!
Cheese, Herb and Garlic Loaf or Zucchini Cheese Loaf– quick bread, no yeast
Blueberry Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze or Blueberry Lemon Yoghurt Cake
Savoury Cheese Muffins or Cornbread Muffins (personal fave😇)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Scones
Ingredients
- 3 cups / 450g self raising flour (Note 1)
- 80 g / 3 oz cold salted butter , cut into 1 cm / 2/5″ cubes (Note 2)
- 1 cup / 250 ml milk, fridge cold (Note 2)
- Extra flour , for dusting
- Extra milk , for brushing
Serving:
- Strawberry jam (or other of choice)
- 250 ml / 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan / convection).
- Place flour in food processor, then butter. Blitz on high for 8 seconds until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Pour milk all over the flour (don’t pour in one place). Blitz for 6 to 8 seconds on high until the crumbs turn into ball(s).
- Transfer dough onto work surface, scrape out residual bits in the food processor.
- Knead lightly no more than 10 times just to bring the dough together into one smooth ball, then pat down into a 2 cm / 4/5″ thick disc. Dust with extra flour if necessary (I don’t need it).
- Optional: Lightly roll across the top with a rolling pin to smooth the top.
- Dip a 5 cm / 2″ round cutter into Extra Flour.
- Plunge cutter straight down and back out into dough – do not twist. Repeat all over disc.
- Remove excess dough from around scones, then carefully transfer scones onto baking tray, taking care not to smear / press the cut sides. (Note 4)
- Gather together dough scraps and repeat. I get 10 scones in total.
- Brush tops lightly with milk. (Optional)
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the top is golden and it sounds hollow when tapped.
- Remove from oven, then transfer onto dish towel and wrap loosely (makes top soft).
- Once cooled to warm (10 – 15 minutes), serve warm.
- Tradition is to split the scone with hands (no knife!), slather with jam and dollop on cream.
Cream:
- Whip cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Makes 2 cups of whipped cream.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Of course I didn’t give him an entire scone piled high with jam and cream…… I mean, that face? I can totally resist.
I followed the recipe to the letter including all notes, and it was the worst scones I ever made, dry and not fluffy, went straight to the waste.
Loved this recipe!! I want to try and make it with rice flour – can I simply swap the flours, or do I need to adjust the baking powder or anything else?
Hi there
I’m replying to Helen’s question…
Heyo Helen, Yes, I bake what I need with the batter, then freeze the rest to bake the next time so we always have fresh piping-hot scones each time. Nagi’s recipe comes out tops every time, frozen fruit and all!
HI, Can you freeze the scones, and would my Kitchen Aid work?
Loved the food processor idea worked well
Now do you have one for pumpkin scones
A quick observation about cream going on before jam. Having lived half my life in Australia and the latter half in Britain, I’d never encountered cream first and was puzzled by the idea.
I now think it depends on the cream. In Australia, whipped cream is quite light in texture and is ideal on top of jam. The use of clotted cream in Britain is more common with scones and if you tried to put it on top of jam, you’d get nowhere. It has a texture more akin to cream cheese (but is unmistakably cream in taste and silkiness). It is far easier to put clotted cream onto the scone first before topping with jam.
These came out perfect. And so quick to make them. Much better way than by hand .
I always fail at scones but these turned out perfect!
made these using a nutribullet since we don’t have a food processor and they still turned out great! we blitzed for a bit longer than the time suggested by nagi and stopped and shook between bursts. used half the amount of sugar for the whipped cream and found it still quite sweet – will reduce further next time we make these.
I like ur recipe cause they simple and no many ingredients
The cream on top/jam on top debate. My suggestion is that it depends on the density of each. Jam on the bottom with fluffy whipped cream on top makes sense. But if you are lucky enough to have rich clotted cream, then it makes more sense to make it the foundation with the looser jam on top. Stable construction method!
Very easy, basic ingredients, and yummy!
Made these this morning, with the addition of cheese and cayenne pepper. Best scones I’ve ever made, so light and fluffy. Thanks Nagi, team and Dozer!
I just made a vegan version of these using Naturli vegan butter and soy milk. They rose well and the texture was good. A little paler in colour so next time I’ll try hotter oven.
Thank you for your easy foolproof recipe! Fast and easy for morning tea!
Hello Nagi. Just to shed some light on your query about COF or JOF. (I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate).
There has always been disagreement between Devon and Cornwall with respect to whether cream or jam goes on first. As a Devonian, I think the best way of considering the dilemma is to treat the cream like butter. If it was a slice of bread, would you put butter on top of the jam? The Cornish have trouble with this, but they are good at other things. Enjoy your scones!!
It’s a good and easy scone recipe. Works.
But at note 1:
Do not replace 6 tsp flour with 6 tsp baking powder if you have no self raising flour like I did. It’s faaaar too much (even the smaller European tsp, careful tea and tablespoons are different sizes in different countries) and it was so tasting like an antacid base, that I had to throw the lot out.
Use half the amount of baking powder if you need to sub please or look at other web pages how to sub and get the raise in a normal flour. 2 teaspoons per cup were way too much.
Michelle, the directions on the McKenzie’s Baking Powder container states 2 teaspoons per cup of plain flour, so 6 teaspoons for 3 cups of flour is correct. A standard teaspoon is 5 ml, and a flattened spoon and not rounded spoon should be okay and not caused that bitterness you experienced . I always add 2 TSP per cup but I do use a set of proper measuring spoons.
From Estonia: I agree with Michelle. In my part of the globe we do not have the same products, the consistence of baking powder and recommendations are different. The baking powder that I use is 1 tsp / 150 ml. If I would add 2 tsp /cup, I would also get unedible result. Otherwise – great recipe, thank you, Dozer! Pardon – Nagi 🙂
Is it possible you used baking soda instead of baking powder? it shouldn’t taste like antacid with just baking powder.
Is it ok to use my KitchenAid instead of a food processor? 🤔 Thank you ☺️🙏💕
Nooo still too much mixing!
Not sure if I’ve done something wrong but I did need to add a little more butter to make it look like bread crumbs but tasted absolutely amazing once I had baked it!
Hi Nagi. As usual, you have come to the rescue with a brilliant recipe. I made them and they were delicious. The main debate in the UK is between Devon and Cornwall. Devon put the cream on first but Cornwall do it the only way it should be done by putting jam on first. It squashes the cream too much otherwise 😂 regards to you and Dozer x