Homemade Scones
One Recipe - Countless Possibilities!
Scones are my new favourite obsession. They’re so easy to make, take almost no time at all, and I have one recipe that works for both sweet scones or savoury scones. I start with the base ingredients below, and add additional ingredients to create different flavour combinations.
What’s great about this recipe is that it’s so versatile. I’ve tried simple swaps using different types of milk and flour-based on what I had on hand at the time. I love using Oat Milk (specifically Earth’s Own), though Almond Milk and Dairy Milk both work great, as well. I’ve made gluten-free scones with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and while I found that the gluten-free scones didn’t rise as high - they did come out a bit more crumbly, and almost tasted better!
Below are the base ingredients, and I'm including three recipe variations (Orange Cranberry, Salted Caramel Raspberry and Cheddar Cheese) to give you an idea of how you can use the base ingredients to create your own flavour combos. I’ve also included some tips at the bottom of this post to help you determine where in the instructions to add in your desired ingredients.
I hope you enjoy making these as much as I do. If you try any of these recipes, or use the base ingredients to make your own flavour combinations, then let me know by leaving a comment below! I’d love to hear how yours turned out!
Happy Baking!
BASE INGREDIENTS
2 cups All-Purpose Flour (sub: Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
1 Tbsp Cane Sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Butter - chilled and cubed
1/2 cup + 1 - 2 Tbsp Oat Milk (sub: Almond Milk or Dairy Milk)
{ 8 servings | 15 min prep | 25-30 min bake | 45 min total }
Orange Cranberry Scones
SCONES:
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Cane Sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Butter - chilled and cubed
1 Tbsp Orange Zest
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp Oat Milk (plus a little extra to brush on before baking)
1 cup Frozen Cranberries
OPTIONAL: Thin orange slices for decorating the tops of the scones.
GLAZE:
1 Cup Icing Sugar
3 Tbsp Fresh OJ
1/2 tsp Orange Zest
INSTRUCTIONS:
Pre-heat oven to 400ºF, line a baking tray with parchment paper, and gather your ingredients.
Cut large cranberries. in half, but leave some of the smaller ones whole. Keep in the fridge until step 8).
Mix/pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a high-speed food processor for a few seconds simply to incorporate.
Add chilled and cubed butter and blend for a count of 20 - until the mixture looks crumbly. It might end up looking more like thick sand - and that's ok, too.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
Stir in orange zest.
Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture and add 1/2 cup milk. Fold flour into the milk with a spatula until just combined.
Add remaining 2 Tbsp milk and frozen cranberries and mix until the mixture starts to form a dough. I start with a spatula, then use my hands to pull all the crumbs together. Be sure not to over mix, though. It doesn't all need to stick together perfectly.
Very lightly flour your work surface, then transfer the dough and knead just enough to bring in any loose crumbs.
Form a round by patting the dough down, and cupping the sides. Then flip the round once and do the same, and you should have a nice round about 1 inch high.
With a knife - cut the dough into 8 equal wedges, and transfer to the lined baking sheet. Make sure to leave about 1 inch between each wedge.
Lightly brush milk onto the top of each scone to help brown the tops (1 Tbsp is usually more than enough for this step).
I cut thin little orange pieces from the orange I zested, and placed one on each wedge before baking.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until tops are lightly browned. I find that 30 mins is the exact right amount of time, but I check at 25 mins. The scones will be solid to the touch once they're done.
While the scones bake - make the glaze. Simply combine ingredients until there are no lumps in the icing sugar, and set aside.
Once you've taken scones out of the oven, let cool completely on a rack before glazing. It's helpful to keep the parchment paper underneath the rack to catch the excess glaze.
I only ended up needing about half the glaze, but use more if you want your scones a bit sweeter.
Salted Caramel Raspberry Scones
SCONES:
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Cane Sugar (plus a little extra for sprinkling on top before baking)
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Butter - chilled and cubed
1/2 cup Salted Caramel Chips (sub: White Chocolate Chips)
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp Oat Milk (plus a little extra to brush on before baking)
1 cup Frozen Raspberries
INSTRUCTIONS: (same as above with a few modifications)
Pre-heat oven to 400ºF, line a baking tray with parchment paper, and gather your ingredients.
Keep raspberries in the freezer until step 7.
Mix/pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a high-speed food processor for a few seconds simply to incorporate.
Add chilled and cubed butter and blend for a count of 20 - until the mixture looks crumbly. It might end up looking more like thick sand - and that's ok, too.
Transfer the dry mixture to a large bowl and incorporate caramel chips until just combined.
Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add 1/2 cup milk. Fold flour into the milk with a spatula until just combined.
Add remaining 1 Tbsp milk and frozen raspberries and mix until the mixture starts to form a dough. I start with a spatula, then use my hands to pull all the crumbs together. Be sure not to over mix, though. It doesn't all need to stick together perfectly.
Very lightly flour your work surface, then transfer the dough and knead just enough to bring in any loose crumbs.
Form a round by patting the dough down, and cupping the sides. Then flip the round once and do the same, and you should have a nice round about 1 inch high.
With a knife - cut the dough into 8 equal wedges, and transfer to the lined baking sheet. Make sure to leave about 1 inch between each wedge.
Lightly brush milk onto the top of each scone to help brown the tops (1 Tbsp is usually more than enough for this step), and sprinkle a little cane sugar on the tops, as well.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until tops are lightly browned. I find that 30 mins is the exact right amount of time, but I check at 25 mins. The scones will be solid to the touch once they're done.
Once you've taken scones out of the oven, let cool slightly before serving. These scones are nice to eat a bit warm.
Cheddar Cheese Scones
SCONES:
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Cane Sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Butter - chilled and cubed
1 cup Orange Cheddar
1 cup Sharp White Cheddar
1/2 cup + 1 - 2 Tbsp Oat Milk
1 Egg (for egg wash)
INSTRUCTIONS: (again, same as above with a few modifications)
Pre-heat oven to 400ºF, line a baking tray with parchment paper, and gather your ingredients.
Mix/pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a high-speed food processor for a few seconds simply to incorporate.
Add chilled and cubed butter and blend for a count of 20 - until the mixture looks crumbly. It might end up looking more like thick sand - and that's ok, too.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
Incorporate the orange cheddar, then the white cheddar.
Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture and add 1/2 cup milk. Fold flour into the milk with a spatula until just combined.
Add remaining 1 Tbsp milk and mix until the mixture starts to form a dough. I start with a spatula, then use my hands to pull all the crumbs together. Be sure not to over mix, though. It doesn't all need to stick together perfectly. This dough may be a bit too crumbly, so you might want to add an additional Tbsp of milk here.
Very lightly flour your work surface, then transfer the dough and knead just enough to bring in any loose crumbs.
Form a round by patting the dough down, and cupping the sides. Then flip the round once and do the same, and you should have a nice round about 1 inch high.
With a knife - cut the dough into 8 equal wedges, and transfer to the lined baking sheet. Make sure to leave about 1 inch between each wedge.
Make the egg wash by whisking the egg together in a small bowl. Lightly brush egg wash onto the top and sides of each scone to help get the scones a light golden brown.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until tops are lightly browned. For these ones 25 mins seems to be the exact right amount of time, but I check at 25 mins to see if more time is needed. The scones will be solid to the touch once they're done.
Once you've taken scones out of the oven, let cool slightly before serving. These scones are nice to eat a bit warm.
TIPS:
If you want to freeze scones - simply do not put a glaze on the top (ex: orange cranberry scones).
I like to add dry ingredients (like chocolate/caramel chips, zest, cheese, chives, etc.) to the mix before adding the milk.
I add in the berries in with the last bit of the milk.