Authentic English Scones

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Step 2

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add in butter and work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles sand. (See video.)

Step 3

In a measuring cup or bowl, mix the milk, sugar, egg, and vanilla together and whisk well until fully incorporated.

Step 4

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, reserving a few tablespoons of the milk mixture that you will later use to brush the scones.

Step 5

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until the dry ingredients are completely coated with the wet ingredients, and the wet ingredients have been completely absorbed by the dry ingredients. The mixture will resemble coarse crumbs.

Step 6

Dump the mixture out onto a flat surface and knead the dough together into a ball, but do not overwork the dough. Once the dough comes together, stop kneading. This process generally takes about 20 turns.

Step 7

Flour your work surface and a rolling pin, and roll the dough out to about a 1-inch thickness.

Step 8

Use a fluted biscuit cutter that is approximately 2 1/4 inches to 2 1/2 inches in diameter to cut out your scones. (If you do not have a fluted biscuit cutter, you can use a plain sided biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass turned upside down.) Place cut-out scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet or a baking sheet that has been greased with butter. Reroll scraps of dough and continue to cut-out scones until all the dough has been cut into scones.

Step 9

After you've transferred the cut-out scones to the baking sheet, brush each scone with the remaining milk, sugar, and egg mixture.

Step 10

Place the baking sheet into the preheated oven and bake scones for approximately 8 minutes.

Step 11

After 8 minutes, rotate the baking sheet and continue to bake scones for another 8 minutes until the scones are golden brown on top.

Step 12

When the scones are done, remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the scones to a wire cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. Once cooled, the scones can be sliced in half and topped with clotted cream and strawberry jam for a delightful afternoon teatime treat. Enjoy!