Classic British scone recipe. Buttery in flavour, with a soft and fluffy texture. Top generously with jam of your choice, and clotted cream for the very best scone experience.
This is a recipe update from April 2016. The recipe and photographs updated in April 2024.
I really love eating scones, and lately I’ve been enjoying baking scones too. I love a freshly baked scone, still slightly warm from the oven, spread with butter and jam, or topped with clotted cream and jam.
Scones originate right here in the United Kingdom. We Brits are proud of this bake that’s popular all over the world, with many countries having their own variations.
In the UK, we traditionally make sultana/plain scones and cheese scones.
I’m revisiting an older blog recipe; the original recipe contained vanilla, but with this one we’ve left it out, and actually, it tastes more traditional and even nicer without any vanilla extract. If you love vanilla, then you can always add a teaspoon to this scone mix.
Classic British Scones are left plain or have sultanas added. I enjoy both plain and sultana scones, but as one of the taste testers I’m making these for prefers plain scones, I’m therefore baking mine without sultanas today. If you want to include sultanas, add roughly a couple of small handfuls.
These scones are super simple to mix up; they have just a few more ingredients compared to my Lemonade Scones (3 Ingredient Recipe), but they’re incredibly tasty, with more of a buttery flavour and texture than the 3-Ingredient Recipe.
The mix makes around a dozen scones; how many you manage to make depends on the size of your cutter. I went for a 5cm fluted cutter; this made the perfect-sized scones, leaving us all longing for more.
Once the scones are risen and lightly golden, leave them to cool before serving. Serving is when you really bring your batch of scones to life. I highly recommend some strawberry jam and Cornish clotted cream. There’s no better taste experience than this spread atop a homemade scone!
I’m holidaying in Cornwall this year, so I’m excited for a cream tea or two, clotted cream ice cream, and other delicious Cornish foods. I can’t wait to devour freshly baked scones filled with masses of clotted cream and the sweetest jam! The countdown is on!
But in the meantime, I’ll quite happily take these!
Classic British Scones
Ingredients
- 350 g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 85 g butter (salted or unsalted) cold and cut into cubes
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- Generous pinch of salt
- 175 ml milk you might need to add more
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C / 200°C Fan / 425°F / Gas Mark 7. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a fine breadcrumb consistency.
- Now mix through the sugar, along with a generous pinch of salt. Slowly add the milk, continuing to mix until a soft dough (that's holds together well) comes together. You might need to add more milk to bring the scone dough together.
- Lightly flour a work surface, press the scone dough out to approx. 4cm in thickness. Using a 5cm cutter (I went for a fluted cutter), gently stamp out 12 pieces from the dough - you will need to reshape and re-roll.
- Brush the tops of the scones with a little extra milk, then bake for 12-15 minutes, or until risen, and lightly golden on top. Leave to cool on the baking tray for about 15 minutes, then serve with butter, jam, and cream of your choice.
- The scones will keep for up to 2 days, stored in an airtight container/covered plate at room temperature. They're at their best on the day of baking.
More British recipes to bake next!
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