Basic Scone Recipe

Scones are everyone’s favourite, and with this Basic Scone Recipe, you can customize to your own tastes and preferences.  Add chocolate chips, almonds, dried cherries, cranberries, or blueberries; how about shredded coconut, raisins, or flavoured extracts?  Endless possibilities; always delicious results!

BASIC SCONE RECIPE

I begin to crave scones as soon as the weather starts to warm up.  There is nothing I enjoy more than a hot coffee, and a freshly baked scone, made with my Basic Scone Recipe.

Living in the city, and pretty much as close to downtown as one can be without being in the core, our balcony is our personal summer oasis.  We live on a busy street, with lots of foot traffic, cars, public transit, and people from all walks of life.  

Sitting out on our balcony with my coffee and scone, I love to watch the world go about its business while I relax in the warmth of spring, shaded by a large tree that towers well above our fourth-floor balcony.

If I’m not sitting out there with a scone, I’m probably sipping on hot coffee and enjoying one of my White Chocolate Raspberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins!

IT’S ALL ABOUT CUSTOMIZING!

Luckily, McKenna and John.e love scones too, which is why I love this recipe so much.  I can whip up a batch in literally 15 minutes from start to finish. And, this Basic Scone Recipe allows me to easily customize each batch so that we all get exactly what we want.

Myself and John.e, we share similar tastes, so oftentimes, I make a batch of Lemon Cranberry, and a second batch of Lemon Blueberry.  McKenna, on the other hand, likes chocolate chip scones.

In the recipe below, follow the instructions and pick a cup of your favourite add-in; try to stick to dry ingredients.  If you want to add fresh berries, the texture of the scone will change greatly, because of the extra moisture.  To be honest, I would stay away from fresh berries and fruits for this particular recipe.  

The scones you see in the pictures are plain. I did not add any nuts or seeds or berries or fruits, etc.

ADDING EXTRA INGREDIENTS

If you’re adding flavour ingredients, use a one-cup measure. More than that will not allow the dough to come together enough to form a scone – it will be too dry.

You can add more than one dry ingredient, just be sure the total amount is one cup; for instance, sometimes, I make a Toffee Almond Crunch scone. In that case, I use 1/2 cup sliced almonds and 1/2 cup toffee bits.

Lastly, if you’re adding lemon as I did for my cranberry and blueberry scones, just add freshly grated lemon zest – that’s all you need and you will not need to change the amounts of any other ingredients. About a tablespoon of freshly grated lemon zest will give you lots of lemon flavour!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

1. All Purpose Flour – I think anyone who bakes even just a little will have this type of flour in the pantry.
2. Butter – Use salted butter in this recipe. It certainly helps to better the flavour.
3. Sugar – There are only three tablespoons of sugar in this recipe, which means these are just the right amount of sweet.
4. Baking Powder – all of that puffy rise is the result of the baking powder.
5. Egg – This helps the rise as well, but also helps to hold everything together when making the dough.
6. Milk – Certainly a binding agent, but makes a lighter scone.
7. Vanilla Extract – Vanilla is common in many scone recipes, but you can experiment with other extracts too.
8. Sanding Sugar – I love to top scones with sanding sugar before baking them off. It’s completely optional.
9. Add-ins – I left these scones plain, but you can add up to one cup of nuts, seeds, dried fruits or berries, etc.

HOW TO MAKE BASIC SCONES

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and butter, to a mixing bowl. Use a hand-held mixer to beat the butter into the dry ingredients until the combined ingredients resemble coarse sand. Set aside. If you’re adding nuts or berries, add them now and fold them into the flour and butter mixture.

Next, in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Pour the milk and egg mixture into the butter and flour mixture. Use a spatula to fold the ingredients together. Don’t overmix – the dough will form quite quickly and shouldn’t be one complete, perfectly round ball of dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your hands to push the dough together, gathering up the bits into a mound. Next, sprinkle the top lightly with a little flour and push the dough down into a round shape about 1 inch thick.

Use a large knife to cut the dough into 8 wedges and transfer the wedges to the baking sheet with about an inch of space in between each wedge. Use a pastry brush to lightly dust off any excess flour. Top scones with sanding sugar, if using. Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on your oven, until the top is just slightly golden in colour. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack immediately.

OPTIONS ARE ENDLESS

Now, this coming weekend, forget about getting up early to prepare breakfast for your loved ones.  You don’t need to do that anymore.  By following my Basic Scone Recipe, you can have freshly baked scones – from start to finish – on your table in less than 20 minutes; that includes the measuring out of ingredients and baking time.  How’s that for a great start to your day?

I’d love to hear about the ingredients you’ve added to your scones.  Write to me and tell me about it.  I’m always open to new flavour combinations!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!