Apple and Cinnamon Sourdough Scone Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes a scone good? ›

The best scones have a crisp, slightly caramelized exterior and a tender, buttery, just-sweet interior. They can be dressed up with a glaze, studded with fruit or nuts, or gently spiced.

A mixture of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar, or baking powder (which is a ready paired mixture of the two) are used as the raising agent in scones.

Plain scones – made easy!

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.

To ensure taller scones, start with a thicker dough disc and place the scones on a tray with sides, allowing them to slightly touch one another. This arrangement encourages the scones to push against the pan and each other, promoting height.

The two come in combination as bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is an alkaline and needs the addition of an acid, such as cream of tartar, to create the carbon dioxide that causes the scones to rise. The amount of cream of tartar - 4 1/2 teaspoons - is correct.

Use all-purpose flour for a higher rising scone that holds its shape nicely, both in and out of the oven. To make more delicate, lower-rising, cake-like scones, substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour. Reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1 to 2 tablespoons, using just enough to bring the dough together.

Keep scones cold before putting them in the oven: For best results, chill the mixture in the fridge before baking, this will help to stiffen up the butter again, which will stop your scones from slumping as soon as they hit the oven's heat.

Recipes for scones sometimes provide a make-ahead option that involves refrigerating the dough overnight so it can simply be shaped and then popped into the oven the next day. But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

Why should you stir batter for scones with a knife and not a spoon? You aren't stirring it, you're cutting the butter into the flour to coat, or shorten, the gluten strands with fat. This makes your scones tender.

Does scone dough need to be cooked immediately? ›

You could make the dough in the morning and cut out the scones and refrigerate them before baking. However the scones contain bicarbonate of soda, which acts quickly when it comes into contact with liquid and it will lose some of its raising power as it stands. Consequently the scones may not be quite as light.

Fluffy and soft with a little crisp to the edges and top. The perfect scone doesn't come easy. There are many little gritty things that can get in the way of achieving that all-buttery point of perfection.

It should be dry and soft like a bread, not dry and hard like a biscuit/cookie. Because scones are short breads they can become dry and crumbly, and I have asked chefs in top restaurants their scone secrets, but I think they were a bit coy with their answers.

The ingredients for Perfect Scones

It creates a crispy and light exterior and fluffy and soft interior that matches any kind of toppings. I like to have scones with whipping cream because we don't have clotted cream, which can be seen in Britain, and fruit jam.

The modern British scone (pronounced "sgonn," rhymes with gone) is made with white flour, sugar, a leavener, butter, and milk. Similar to American biscuits (though less rich), it's classically served with raspberry or strawberry jam and thickened cream (Clotted Cream or Double Devon Cream).