Basic Scones Recipe
These simple scones are light, flaky and buttery, and there are endless variations on this basic recipe.Check out this step-by-step scones tutorial for more info.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt (table salt, not Kosher)
- 4 Tbsp butter (½ stick)
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup dried currants
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Cut butter into the flour until the mixture resembles crumbs.
- In a separate bowl, beat two eggs and stir in the cream. Then stir the egg-cream mixture into the dry ingredients.
- Stir in currants.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured board and press it together into a single lump. If it doesn't hold together yet, add water (you could use milk, too, or more cream) a tablespoon at a time, until it does. Don't overwork the dough, though.
- Roll dough out to a thickness of 1 inch. Cut into rounds with fluted pastry cutter.
- Prepare your baking sheet pan by greasing it with butter or shortening or lining it with parchment paper. Or use a silicone baking mat, which is my favorite technique.
- Place scones on the baking sheet.
- Separate the third egg and beat the egg white. Then brush the tops of the scones with the egg white.
- Bake 15 minutes or until golden.
Variation: For triangular scones, turn the dough out and separate it into two halves. Form each half into roughly circular shape, being careful not to overwork the dough. Then roll each half to to 1-inch thickness, and cut into wedges with a knife. Proceed with remaining steps as written.
