Authentic Scottish Scones Recipe-Soft and Crumbly Tea Scones (2024)

FAQs

What makes scones crumbly? ›

The less you knead the mix, the less the gluten will tighten up – which means your scones will stay loose and crumbly, rather than tight and springy. Make sure you sieve the flour and baking powder into your bowl. This means that the two will be well mixed together, which gives you a better chance of an even rise.

British scones are usually lightly sweetned and contain fruit like currants or berries. Scottish scones are often closer to a biscuit and are made with buttermilk, though some Scottish grandmothers will swear you should only use sour milk.

A scone (/ˈskɒn/ SKON or /ˈskoʊn/ SKOHN) is a traditional Scottish baked good, popular in Scotland, Ireland and England.

Biscuits should be light—airy even—with well-defined flaky layers. Tender, yes, but sturdy enough to support or be dragged through gravy, a runny egg yolk, or a generous serving of maple syrup. A scone should not flake like a biscuit. It can have layers of course, but they should err on the side of crumbly.

A thicker and denser scone or a lighter and fluffier one? If you'd prefer a thicker one, go for a self-raising flour or a bread flour. But if you'd prefer a lighter and fluffier scone, we'd recommend all-purpose or pastry flour.

Although the English eat scones mainly at teatime, the Scots eat them at almost any time: with midmorning coffee, with soup and salad at lunch, at afternoon tea or high tea, and even with a glass of wine at the co*cktail hour.

Scone. [ skoon, skohn ] show ipa. noun. a village in central Scotland: site of coronation of Scottish kings until 1651. Stone of, a stone, formerly at Scone, Scotland, upon which Scottish kings sat at coronation, now placed beneath the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey.

For example, if you substitute oil for butter or margarine, you can significantly reduce the amount of saturated fat in your baked goods. This streamlined recipe for Light Scones uses just 3 tablespoons of canola oil, which contains a fraction of the saturated fat found in butter or margarine.

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.

Not chilling the dough before baking: to really ace your scones, it helps to chill your dough again before it's baked. Using cold ingredients does help, but your hands will warm up the dough when you're working with it and the extra step of chilling will help you get the best result.

What happened at scone in Scotland? ›

At Scone in 1249, the seven year-old Alexander III became the first Scottish king to be crowned, rather than merely enthroned. And in 1329, a Papal Bull granted Robert the Bruce's son, David II, the right to be anointed with sacred oil as part of the crowning ceremony.

99% of Scots pronounce “scone” to rhyme with “John” – see study.

Edinburgh Castle is the traditional repository of the Honours of Scotland, the country's crown jewels. A more ancient relic of Scottish royalty is the Stone of Scone (or Stone of Destiny), which arrived at the castle only in 1996, exactly 700 years after it was removed to England.

If you're using frozen fruit, don't thaw it out before you add it into your mixture, but do of course break apart the frozen chunks of fruit into smaller pieces. Add more buttermilk if the dough is too crumbly: If the dough is so dry that some of the flour won't stick, add a bit more buttermilk or water.

Just a reminder: Don't overwork the dough or the scones will turn out rubbery – or worse, bullety and hard. Cut out your scones cleanly. Twisting the cutter can impair the rise. If you use a fluted cutter, you can't twist it.

Overworking the dough: when you overwork your dough, your scones can come out tough and chewy, rather than that desired light, crumbly texture. The trick is to use light pressure and only the work the dough until it just comes together.