Name: Light and fluffy scones
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 8 - 16
Ingredients: Dainty scones (makes 16); 2½ cups (375g) self-raising flour; ½ tsp baking powder; 1½ tbsp caster sugar; ¼ tsp fine salt; 30 g butter; 1¼ cups (310ml) buttermilk, approximately; Impressive scones (makes 8); 3¾ cups (555g) self-raising flour; ½ tsp baking powder; 1½ tbsp caster sugar; ¼ tsp fine salt; 50 g butter; 1¾ cups (430ml) buttermilk, approximately; To serve; jam and whipped cream

The trick to beautiful light scones is to handle the dough as little as possible. To ensure scones rise evenly with straight sides, cut out the scones using a sharp metal cutter; remove the cutter in an upward, rather than a twisting motion.

Variation: date scones

Make either dainty or impressive scones, adding 1 tsp ground cinnamon and using 2 tbsp brown sugar instead of caster sugar, and adding ⅓ cup finely chopped dried pitted dates with the buttermilk.

This recipe is from our book, *Baking*, published in April 2023. It’s available where all good books are sold. RRP $39.99.

Looking for a simpler scone recipe, perhaps to make with the kids or grandkids? This basic scone recipe is one of our most popular and requires only three ingredients. Not including the jam and cream!

Scones are a great canvas for variations. Check out this scone recipe collection for 40+ recipes, including blueberry and white chocalate scones.

Ingredients

Dainty scones (makes 16)

2½ cups (375g) self-raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

1½ tbsp caster sugar

¼ tsp fine salt

30 g butter

1¼ cups (310ml) buttermilk, approximately

Impressive scones (makes 8)

3¾ cups (555g) self-raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

1½ tbsp caster sugar

¼ tsp fine salt

50 g butter

1¾ cups (430ml) buttermilk, approximately

To serve

jam and whipped cream

Method

1.Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan-forced. For dainty scones, grease a 20cm square cake pan. For impressive scones, grease a large oven tray.

2.Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl; rub in butter. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture; add buttermilk. Using a knife, cut buttermilk through flour mixture to form a soft, sticky dough (add a little more buttermilk only if needed). Gently knead dough on a floured surface until smooth.

3.For **dainty scones**, roll or pat dough out to approximately 2cm thick. Cut 5cm rounds from dough; place side-by-side in cake pan. Gently knead scraps of dough together; repeat pressing and cutting, place in pan. Brush tops with a little extra buttermilk. For impressive scones, roll or pat dough out to approximately 3cm thick.

4.For **impressive scones**, roll or pat dough out to approximately 3cm thick. Cut 7cm rounds from dough; place side-by-side on the oven tray. Gently knead scraps of dough together; repeat pressing and cutting, then place on tray. Brush tops with a little extra buttermilk.

5.Bake **dainty scones** for 18 minutes and **impressive scones** for 22 minutes or until golden and scones sound hollow when tapped with your fingers. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with jam and whipped cream.

Scones are best made close to serving time. They can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
Note

Women's Weekly Food

Trusted by home cooks for 90 years, The Australian Women’s Weekly’s Test Kitchen and cookbooks hold a singular place in shaping home cooking within the Australian culinary landscape. Today, the AWW Test Kitchen in Sydney is a thriving hub for food content, connected to two bustling photographic studios where a talented team of Australia’s best recipe developers, art directors, editors and photographers create our world class food content. Our recipes are thoroughly tested and tasted and given the Test Kitchen tick of approval, guaranteeing you’ll get great results in your home kitchen.

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