Scones

1lb SR flour
1 rounded tsp baking pdr
Pinch of salt
4 oz butter or margarine
2 oz sugar
2-3 oz dried fruit
10 fl oz milk or buttermilk.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl.
Rub fat into flour until it looks lik breadcrumbs.
Stir in sugar and fruit
Add all the milk in one go and stir to combine.
Roll out to about 3/4” thick and cut into rounds.
Cook in a pre-heated oven (Gas mk 8 / 230c / 450f) for 8-10 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

This recipe never fails for me. I make my own yoghurt and often use the whey strained from it instead of milk or buttermilk.

Here you go, I'm good at scones.
Preheat oven to 200°c.

8 oz self raising flour
2 oz butter
2 oz caster sugar
1 egg (optional)
2 oz currants or raisins
Milk

Rub butter into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add sugar and fruit and stir to mix. Add egg if using, and sufficient milk to make a stiffish dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead gently and roll out to about two and a half centimetres. Cut into rounds with a scone cutter. Put scones onto an oven tray and bake at 200°c until golden brown. (About 10 - 15 minutes).

I wish your DH and granddaughter success.

I’m useless at scones, they could cobblestone the streets! I’m going to try both your recipes.
Thank you.

I bake a lot, but have never used buttermilk in scones. Does it make any difference to the finished result?

The recipe I use is
12ozs SR flour
1.25ml salt
2ozs caster sugar
3ozs butter
125ml milk
4tbsps natural yoghurt
2 ozs sultanas

Preheat oven to 200C and lightly grease a baking sheet.
Mix flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and rub in butter until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Mix the milk and yoghurt and stir into the mixture; work together until a soft dough is formed.
Turn onto a floured board and knead lightly to get a smooth surface. Flatten out to an even thickness of about 2cm. Using a 2” cutter cut out 12 to 14 scones and place on a baking tray
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.

The addition of the yoghurt helps the rise.
To make savoury scones leave out the sugar and replace with 2ozs of grated cheddar cheese and 2.5 ml of dried mustard.

New Zealand Scones

250g / 9oz self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
50g / 2oz dried fruit
1 tbsp sugar
142ml carton double cream
142ml fizzy lemonade (NOT diet lemonade - use the cream carton as a measure)

Preheat oven to 210C (190C fan oven)
Grease and flour a baking sheet. Mix all ingredients together, the mixture will be quite soft so add a little flour if needed to make it into a dough. Roll out on a floured board to 2cm thickness and cut into rounds.

Transfer to baking sheet and cook for 15 mins until brown.

Really easy recipe, no rubbing in1

I don't put salt in my scones as I use salted butter. Also, I meant to add, brush the tops of the scones with a little milk before baking.

I bake a lot, but have never used buttermilk in scones. Does it make any difference to the finished result?
It tends to make the scones a bit lighter and fluffier, something to do with the acid working with the flour and breaking it up more. You can use yoghurt or a mix of yoghurt and milk for a similar effect. Also, as I mentioned before, I often use the whey that I strain from my homemade yoghurt, which is acidic.

My gran used milk that was just on the turn. Her scones were delicious.

Your gran knew what she was doing hildaj

Thanks, Bathsheba I have used milk that was on the turn, but only because I hate to waste anything and I remembered my mum doing it.

Thanks for your recipes I will show them to oh he can decide which to use he may even try more than one thanks for good wishes hildajenniJ

I think modern (pasteurised or filtered) milk that is on the turn is different. In the Olden Days, fresh milk just went quietly sour in a few days, but heat-treated milk goes bad and has an unpleasant taste. That's my understanding, anyway.
A mix of natural yoghurt and water or milk will substitute for buttermilk, giving that slight acidity.

Oh yes, you could be right grannyticktock, hadn't thought of that.

You are right grannyticktock when treated milk turns it tastes awful after just a short while even in scones. Yoghurt is good but if I don't have any I have turned fresh milk myself by adding a tablespoon of white or cider vinegar to the milk and letting it turn lumpy and it makes the scones very light.

The less you handle the dough the lighter the scones will be.

Good tips, thanks everyone.
I have a Mary Berry lemon cake recipe, which uses yogurt and the cake is as light as a feather.
I can see now how yogurt would work in scones.

I use the same amounts as hildaj but use just milk and no egg. Handle the mixture as little as possible and pat out mix to about an inch thick rather than rolling it. I sometimes make one large circle and mark it into eight triangles before baking (when too lazy to cut rounds lol) which then break into individual pieces as needed.

I started young natural yogurt instead of milk when I purchased the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook and they are much better and lighter than the ones I have been making for years and years.

How many scones does your recipe make Bathsheba? ( I mean roughly - I realise it would depend on the size of the cutter) Also, can you use wholemeal flour? Thanks

I usually get about 18-20 Sallyann. Some go in the freezer for later because scones are really best eaten within 24 hours. Having said that, any left after a couple of days can be easily rejuvenated by a few minutes in a hot oven

Oh and wholemeal flour? Well yes you can, but they won't be quite as light as ones made with white flour. Tastier though!

Thanks Bathsheba - I used to do quite a bit of baking but then got out of the habit, when children left home. I think I might make some scones this week though!

Just looked at the main page of Gransnet and there’s a recipe for “3 ingredients scones” - flour, cream and lemonade!!

Thank you, Greyduster. I have just made a batch of scones using your recipe and they have turned out well. I hadn’t used yoghurt before.