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 and taste pretty boring. However, boring isn’t in our scone vocabulary!! 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 🙂
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. 🙂
PrintHow 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 (1 stick; 115g) 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 | Rubber 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.
I made blueberry scones today. They are delicious. I did use the frozen grated butter, but I used fat free half and half instead of the cream. Not having the other option to compare, I guess I wouldn’t really know, but they are wonderful. I was wondering if I could bake them in a 9” round cake pan. What do you think?
I’ve made several batches including cranberry orange (absolutely amazing). Do you think I could bake them in a eight inch round cake pan?
My first time making scones. I made cinnamon raisin and they came out perfectly!! I can’t wait to try a savory batch. Also planning on cranberry orange. Yummy!!
This mater recipe looks good.
I am thinking chocolate chip toffee scones,
Bacon cheddar chive scones, maybe white chocolate raspberry scones.
Literally just took these out of the oven. I made mini scones but the cooking time was WAY too long. 18 minutes burned all the bottoms, some pretty horribly. Next time I will start with 12mins and adjust as needed. I did get the exact number of 16 mini scones. I made the base dough completely then made into 3 disks, made each a different flavor, then cut into mini scones. Chocolate chip, raspberry, and orange.
Otherwise the tops of them are beautiful and I’m waiting for them to cool so I can make a simple icing to drizzle on top. For this test we’ll have to cut the bottoms off so we can actually eat them without the taste being ruined by burned bottoms I think. I hope to get the baking time perfected as I plan to make a bunch of mini scones, per my mom’s request, for my bridal shower tea party since it’d be cheaper than buying them from a bakery.
We had a master scone recipe at my former workplace that required buttermilk rather than cream. We also used refrigerated cold, not frozen, butter that was added in larger pieces and only combined (by pulsing the mixer) until the butter itself was anywhere between marble and pea size. In fact, in ratio you use a larger amount of butter in your recipe than we used in ours (5 oz of butter per 3 cups flour). If you still want to use cream and only a half cup, try pulsing in your fruit first then pulse in your cream. You may find you will not need to add additional liquid.
Hi Sally,
Sorry to say this dough is very very wet. So wet in fact that I could not use all the liquid or it would have been muffin batter. As a professional baker, for many years, I can tell you that traditional scones do not include eggs as an ingredient. I think the addition of the egg is what made this dough so very slack. The dough is now sitting in my ‘fridge in an attempt to firm it up so I can cut it. We’ll see what happens the next time I make these with out the egg.
I made the blueberry scones last Saturday and they were fabulous and came out very moist and tender….a great recipe.
Hi Sally, I introduced my mom to blueberry scones and they were a hit but they’re a bit expensive so I would like to make it myself (well try). Heavy cream is a bit expensive so can i substitute it with whole milk, and should I use unsalted butter?
Hi Kim, I recommend sticking with heavy cream for this recipe. Thinner liquids change the flavor and appearance and can produce dry, bland, and flat scones. And yes, I use unsalted butter!
I made the blueberry recipe and it turned out great, didn’t last a day. My question is can I substitute almond flour? I have a son who doesn’t do any wheat flour of any kind? Wondering how this would work or if you have a scone recipe that has an almond flour base?
Hi Amy, I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I don’t recommend using almond flour in place of all purpose. I haven’t personally tested this with an alternate flour but I have heard from others who tried an all purpose gluten free (1:1) flour with success. Let me know you try it!
Hi Sally! If I want serve these with blueberry jam, do you think I will need to bake them just plain? Are there any flavors that might go along with them? As always, thanks for your advice!
Blueberry scones with blueberry jam would be fantastic OR you can just make them as written with no add-ins– though the zest from 1 lemon would be delicious!
This was my first time GF DF scone maker.
I used 1cup almond flour, 1/2c tapioca flour, 1/2 c all purpose GF flour. Used the brown sugar and instead of cream I used heavy coconut cream. I did the coconut milk wash. Sprinkled with raw sugar. I did blueberries and they came out good. Next time I want to increase the baking soda and flour, just a little. Thank you for this inspiration!
Thanks for such a quick response! Will try the recipe tonight and let you know how it all works out! 🙂
Well, they came out ok but I think I will use a bit more peach next time and just 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. The cinnamon was a bit much and took away from the peaches. Or, maybe I’ll just make peach scones and leave the spice out. Let’s put it this way, the Lemon Blueberry scones were more of a hit with everyone. 🙂
Hi, Sally!
I am new to scone baking and it is a fun recipe to work with! I’ve made the Lemon Blueberry and the Raspberry Almond Buttermilk which were a huge hit at our after-Mass gathering this past Sunday. I’d like to try the scones with peaches and you mention using cinnamon as an alternative to vanilla extract. Not sure if you think the peach/cinnamon combo is a good idea or not. If so, should I use a bit of vanilla and a bit of cinnamon?
Hi Denise! I recommend a vanilla and cinnamon combination. How about 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon with the peaches? So good!
Sally, do you think I could use this recipe if I don’t want to put any add-ins in the scones? So just your master scone recipe with the vanilla extract topped with sparkling sugar? Or does it need some sort of add-in to be flavorful? Thanks so much!
You can definitely leave these scones plain. Skip the add-ins. Plenty of flavor! Feel free to keep the cinnamon or even add a little extra vanilla extract.
Savory sungold tomato and basil scones!! Love the recipe! Their in the oven now. I’m going to melt some le tur cheese over the top and sprinkle on some crispy prosciutto. Great consistency and the instructions were wonderfully clear and thorough. Thanks!
This recipe looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it. Do you think substituting the flour with coconut flour or almond flour would work for a keto friendly scone?
Delicious! I used Blue Bird flour from Cortez, CO, substituted vanilla non fat yogurt thinned with milk, lemon zest and frozen blueberries and sprinkled with turbinated sugar. The texture is soft, moist, and a good bite. Will make again!
Totally LOVE this recipe!! It’s not too difficult, it’s fun to do and it’s delicious! I’ve been making mixed berry scones by making blueberry ones with raspberries placed on top before baking so that they don’t break. 🙂 and that vanilla icing!! I’ve even halfed the vanilla for icing the scones so it’s not too much vs the fruit. Yum! Total crowd pleaser! And I love that I actually get to knead something!
I made the scones with ham, shredded cheese and scallions. My husband ate three regular sized scones and declared they were delicious. I’d say he enjoyed them. Thanks for reliable and trustworthy recipes.
Thanks for this! I’ve been looking for a good basic scone recipe since I stopped working at a coffee shop a few years ago. I just made some raspberry white chocolate chip ones and they were delicious!
We enjoyed this recipe at our house. I just out chocolate chips in there. The only issue i had was that I also tried to go off the golden brown color part when baking. I brushed with heavy cream before chilling and the tops of the scones never browned. So I overbaked them not trusting the time. 🙁 they were still good but next time they WILL be perfect. 🙂
Hi Sally,
I messaged you a couple days back saying all we could taste was baking powder. Well! Come to find out the flour I used had been sitting in my MIL’s pantry for a very long time. I just made a batch at home and they are brilliant!! Love them so much! Who knew “very” old flour can affect the taste like that!? Lol! Thank you
I’m so glad to read this! Yes, flour can actually go bad. Best to use fresh!
I love the chocolate chip scones I made this weekend. They kind of taste like weirdly fluffy but dry (in a good way) chocolate chip cookies. I guess they’re a cross between a muffin and a cookie. They are a bit bigger than I’d really like, particularly for my toddler who doesn’t like to share, so next time I’ll be making the smaller 5″ circle option you wrote about in the funfetti scone post.
Anyway, I’d like to make a bacon cheddar version, but I’m wondering about adding in the cheese in general. Does the cheese need to be frozen like the butter to be most successful? Would using pre-shredded cheese affect how the dough comes together? Does the type of cheese affect the recipe overall, like using a softer or wetter cheese like mozzarella compared to dry cheddar? Thanks!
Hi Meredith! Glad to help. You do not need to freeze the shredded cheese because you are not cutting it into the dry ingredients like you do with the butter. Pre-shredded cheese is fine, but you always get better flavor with cheese you freshly shred yourself. Softer, wetter cheeses may cause the scones to slightly over-spread, but they won’t be a disaster or anything. As long as the dough itself is cold going into the oven– you’re good!
So I went the savory route! I changed the salt part bc the only butter I had was salted and the mix in I used was apple smoked bacon with chives…oh my goodness. It’s the bomb! Lol. I love your recipe and I’m making this my go to recipe! My daughter (4yr old picky food critic) loved these! I wanna make another batch already and I haven’t even finished my first one lol. Thank you for sharing!!!
Your savory scones sound incredible, Alyssa! Glad they were a hit with your daughter, too 🙂 Thanks for your positive feedback!
First time scone maker! I followed this recipe and we taste a strong baking powder flavor..did I do something wrong?
Thanks Sally for your scone recipes and detailed descriptions on how to get them just right. I am wondering how dried fruits would work? I was thinking of doing dried cherry and almond scones today.
Hi Shannon! I love using dried fruits in scones– I recommend 3/4 – 1 cup total in the dough.
I used whole wheat flour and 2% lactose-free milk. Loved the tip to grate the frozen butter. The scones came out fantastic – I will definitely make again!
I have been baking for over 50 years..(yes, I was a mere toddler when starting at Mom’s knee) and I never made scones before but always had it in my mind to do so. Well, let me tell you… the wait is over! I followed the master recipe but used the food /and cut the butter into tiny cubes which incorporated beautifully . My only gripe with myself of course, is I forgot to chill them for 15 minutes. No matter. They turned out fabulous , just spread a wee bit. I made cranberry and white chocolate chips . Lordy.. the house still smells great! My 90 year old friend ( who still works out at my gym , can you believe it?) was treated to some of them . Tomorrow, hopefully I can do the blueberry. I have the baking urge lately and it’s in the high 80′ s here in North Carolina. A keeper forever. Thank you so much!!!!
I’ve used your basic scone recipe before and they are terrific! Going to try them with fresh apricots and almonds today. A little cheat tip : I tried a Cooks Illustrated tip which eliminates the grated butter grind. Instead put the liquid (I use buttermilk ) in the freezer for about 15 minutes then stir in the butter (melted). This creates the fat globules you’re looking for without the work. Try it!
Love all your recipes, Sally! You’re my go to girl for all my baking.
Thanks for the response, Sally. The apricot/almond scones turned out great tho the apricots were overripe so were more mush than pieces. Please let me know if you try this hack. I’d love to know your opinion. I was doubtful but tried it because I trust Cooks Illustrated.
Sally & Nora,
I made blueberry scones using the hack. They turned out perfect. Light not heavy. My family couldn’t get enough of them. I’m laughing because they did not last an hour in my house.
I would suggest using the hack….it was worth it.
I made coconut using this recipe. 1 tsp of coconut extract instead of vanilla and 1 cup of sweetened shredded coconut. They didn’t last long 🙂
Turned out great, fluffy yet crunchy. I made them with chocolate chips for my mother 🙂
Sally, these Scones were delicious! The blueberries, together with the cinnamon, were great. They were incredibly moist, even after several days. A great recipe, thanks!
Made these scones with blueberries. They were delicious.