Classic scones recipe (with clotted cream & jam)

In honour of the 75th anniversary of VE day, I’m sharing this classic scones recipe. No matter whether you rhyme scone with “gone” or “tone”, or spread your cream or jam on first; scones have a quintessentially British feel. They’re easy to make, delicious to eat and the perfect afternoon treat.

Ingredients

12 oz / 350g self raising flour (plus extra for dusting)
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
3oz / 85g butter
3 tbsp caster sugar
175ml warm milk (plus extra to glaze)
1 tsp vanilla essence

Serve with

Clotted cream and jam
Fresh strawberries (optional)

Method

Firstly, preheat the oven to 200 degrees / 390 Fahrenheit and line two large baking trays with baking parchment and place them into the warming oven. Next, in a medium sized bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking powder.

Then, add the butter and rub the mixture between your thumbs and fingertips until it is fully combined, forming evenly sized crumbs. Next, stir in the sugar.

Add vanilla essence to the lightly warmed milk before creating a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour the warm liquid into the bowl and combine by stirring with a knife.

Just before it’s all combined, pour out onto a lightly floured surface and pat the dough together, gathering any remaining crumbs.

Next, pat the dough with your hands until it’s 3cm – 4cm thick. Using a round cutter, press straight down into the dough and lift to reveal the freshly cut circle. (Don’t twist the cutter as it will result in unevenly risen scones).

Continue this process, patting the excess dough back into shape until it’s all cut into discs. Pat any remaining scraps into a ball if they cannot form a scone shape.

Carefully, taking the hot baking pans out of the oven, place the dough discs on top of the baking paper, leaving a couple of centimetres distance around each one. Brush a little milk over the top of the discs and place into the oven for 8-12 minutes. They should have a nice rise, be lightly golden and give a hollow sound when tapping on their base. Once baked, place the scones onto a rack to cool.

To serve

Slice the scone horizontally before generously spreading with jam and clotted cream on both halves (in whichever order you prefer) and enjoy with a good cup of tea.

To make this classic scones recipe dairy free and vegan, use dairy free butter or margarine, a dairy free alternative milk and omit the clotted cream serving.

Hope you have a fab bank holiday weekend and enjoy the sunshine. For more recipe inspo, head to the baking section of this blog or follow @theardentbakery on Insta to watch how I make these baked goods and more.

Els x