Foolproof Scone Recipe

Ingredients

• 375 g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 12 g caster sugar
• 180 ml whole milk (cold)
• 1 large egg (cold)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 90 g unsalted butter (chopped, cold)

Instructions

1. 1

   Sift dry ingredients together. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Into a large mixing bowl, sift in your dry ingredients; flour, baking powder and salt. Add in the sugar and stir together.

2. 2

   Whisk wet ingredients together. Whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Once whisked, set aside one tablespoon of the egg mixture- this will be your egg wash to be used later on.

3. 3

   Add butter to flour. Add in the chopped butter and using your fingertips, toss the pieces until they are separated and coated with flour. Using your fingertips, rub the flour and butter together until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. (Alternatively, use a pastry cutter) Some pieces of butter can be left larger, until they are the size of peas.

4. 4

   Combine wet with the dry ingredients. Make a well in the dry mix and pour the whisked egg and milk mixture into the centre. Use a fork to stir until the mixture just starts to come together to form a dough. It will still be very shaggy at this point and feel quite sticky. If necessary, use your hands to lightly bring it all together incorporating the dry flour left at the bottom of the bowl.

5. 5

   Bring the dough together and roll it out. Tip the scone mix onto a lightly floured surface and using your hands, bring it together and gently flatten it out. We're going to use a folding technique to create flaky layers and incorporate air into the dough and minimize kneading. I use a bench scraper to help me out. Fold the dough in half and turn, then fold it in half again. Using your hands, shape and press the dough into a round disc or gently roll with a rolling pin until the dough is roughly 3 cm (1 inch) thick.

6. 6

   Cut out scone rounds. Dip a 6 cm (2 1⁄4-inch) cookie cutter in flour and stamp out 4 or 5 rounds. Make sure that you don’t twist the cutter when pressing down as this can make the scones wonky when they bake. (They still taste the same so don't fret if you do twist it a bit.)

7. 7

   Cut scones from the remaining dough and bake. Gather any scraps and push them together with your hands until another disc is formed. Cut out as many rounds as you can with this leftover dough. Place the scones on the prepared baking tray so they're just touching each other.

8. 8

   Refrigerate, egg wash, and bake. Refrigerate the tray for 30 minutes to rest the dough. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) whilst the scones are in the fridge.Using the egg wash that you set aside earlier, brush the tops of the scones. Take care not to let any drip down the sides of the scones as this can inhibit their rise. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and well risen. Serve scones warm with cream and jam. Best eaten the day they are made.