Basic Scone Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons salted butter, (softened)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Optional: coarse sugar for decoration/garnish
• 1 cup add in ingredients, such as almonds, chocolate chips, dried berries, etc. See blog notes.

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside.

2. 2

   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 course sand. Set aside.

3. 3

   If you're adding nuts or berries, add them now and fold into the flour and butter mixture.

4. 4

   Next, in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla extract.

5. 5

   Pour in the milk and egg mixture into the butter and flour mixture. Use a spatula to fold ingredients together. Don't overmix - the dough will form quite quickly and shouldn't be one complete, perfectly round ball of dough.

6. 6

   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.

7. 7

   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.

8. 8

   Use a pastry brush to lightly dust off any excess flour. Top scones with sanding sugar, if using.

9. 9

   Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on your oven, until the top is just slightly golden in colour.

10. 10

    Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack immediately.