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This is my beloved recipe for the best scones ever – buttery, crispy on the outside, but velvety on the inside perfection! These scones are simple to make and will have you baking them weekly for your weekend breakfasts. Slather these with clotted cream for the perfect combination!
Why I Think You’ll Love These Scones!
- This recipe yields eighteen perfectly delicious, crispy, buttery scones.
- These scones are SO good that the recipe is in my second cookbook!
- Once you try these scones, you won’t make any other type again.
This Really is the Ultimate Scones Recipe
I have been baking these scones for as long as I can remember. Sometimes, I think my husband married me for my baking—not all of it, but some. He has admitted, in a sugar-induced haze, that he married me to savor my butter tarts every Christmas. Now, don’t get all excited. I mean, butter tarts. There are no sneaky innuendos or double meanings implied there.
Ingredient Notes
I use sour cream and an egg to make the ultimate rich scones. Just read all of the rave reviews below from readers who have made these—I don’t call anything the best unless I think it is!
Sour cream is what sets the best scones apart from all others. It yields a tender crumb inside, while the butter in the recipe makes the outside crispy and snappy—the perfect scone, in my opinion.
How to Divide and Cut Scone Dough into Even Pieces
This method will work with any scone recipe, simply portion out the dough into two disks (12 scone yield recipes) or 3 disks (larger 18 scone yield like this recipe.) Form a log of dough that is even in thickness.
Cut the dough into three equal portions. Form each disk into a circle one inch thick, gently shaping and patting it into a circle (width ranges from 6 to 7 inches).
Cut each circle into six pieces to yield eighteen scones.
How to Arrange the Scones on the Baking Sheet
Lay the little pie-like pieces onto the baking sheets. Blueberries and other fresh fruit like to stick, so grease your baking sheets if you are using these. I use a good non-stick sheet, but my raisin scones don’t stick to it. Make sure there is space between the scones, as shown.
Karlynn’s Tips & Tricks
- Use cold butter ( even frozen) and grate it into the scones if you have a grater. Don’t fear; however, if you want to make these and you don’t have time to freeze the butter, cold from the fridge works great as well!
- Try not to overwork the dough if you can. The heat from your hands will soften the butter. If you think you overwork the dough, refrigerate the scone triangles before you bake them to get the butter hard again.
More Delicious Scone Recipes
Happy baking! Let me know in the comments below if you have tried these and what you think!
Love,
Karlynn
The Best Scones Recipe
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Course
- Breakfast Meals
- Cuisine
- British
- Servings
- 18 scones
- Calories
- 288
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter cold or frozen is best
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup raisins blueberries, or other fruit pieces work
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F. Get out an extra large baking sheet or two baking sheets that fit into your oven. Lightly grease the baking sheets.
- In a large glass measuring cup, mix the sour cream and baking soda. Let it bubble.
- In a very large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Grate the cold butter into the dry mixture. Or you can also cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives in a criss-cross fashion, until the butter is broken into pea-sized morsels in the flour.
- Beat the egg and mix in into the sour cream in the measuring cup.
- Add the sour cream mixture into the dry mixture, working it in.
- The dough can be a bit dry, but if you use your hands to combine it, it will be perfect. If needed, add a tablespoon or two of milk until the dough JUST comes together, you want a dry dough, not a gluey one!
- When the dough is combined, mix in the fruit.
- Divide into three equal circles, patting each into a circle that is one inch thick (width ranges from 6-7 inches). Cut each circle into six equal triangles. Place the cut scones on the baking sheet with space between
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the scones are browned nicely on the bottom and slightly on the top. Watch them carefully! Remove and let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet , then remove and cool completely on a baking rack.
- Store in a closed container at room tempertature for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Tips & Tricks
- Use cold butter ( even frozen) and grate it into the scones if you have a grater. Don’t fear however if you want to make these and you didn’t have time to freeze the butter, cold from the fridge works great as well!
- Try not to overwork the dough if you can. The heat from your hands will soften the butter. IF you think you did over work the dough, you can refrigerate the scone triangles before you bake them to get the butter hard again.
- You can substitute in currants for a very traditional scone!
- Make sure to read my Step by Step How to Make Perfect Scones. It will totally help you with cutting the scones up!
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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HWest says
I have made these several times and have always had the best results even when swapping out the berries for dried fruits. I was hoping to make some savoury scones and wondered if this base recipe could be adapted by just omitting the sugar? Or would it need some other changes too?
PenelopeFisher says
I just made these and although they may not look most beautiful, they are absolutely delish! Instead of adding the berries by stirring them in I just patted the dough with cooking sprayed hands (Pam) into a square, placed the blueberries on top and folded the dough over the blueberries to make a rectangle, then cut into triangles. Although the dough was dry, the scones came out moist and flavorful, the reason they weren’t perfect looking is because I had to keep using my hands to shape them.
Jesskitch says
Can I use buttermilk instead of sour cream?
Bev says
These were Unbelievable….coupled with jam from the local farmers market, they will be a perfect year end teacher gift! Thank you so much!
eztephen says
Making me drool on my smartphone.
Leah says
Great recipe. Used this recipe to make blueberry scones for brunch and they were a huge hit. I substituted the white sugar for raw sugar. I prefer the raw sugar because it gave the scones a bit more texture. The only thing I would change is to coat the fresh blueberries in a little bit of flour so they don’t make the dough too wet. I can’t wait to make these again.
Guest says
What happened to mine? My batch was powdery dry and wouldn’t combine into anything like a dough, so, just before adding blueberries, I added 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup milk to get it moist enough to stick together, and then added the blueberries, and somehow they came out great.
Cook says
These are really dry.
thekitchenmagpie says
@Cook I suspect you might have overbaked them..while scones are inherently a dried out baked good, they should be a little bit moist in the center!
Dobster says
I’d like to think of myself as a fairly proficient baker but everyone has an achilles heel and scones (and rock cakes) are mine. Were mine I should say, I tried this recipe optimistically (no baking soda, and using frozen blueberries so no squishing) and was blown away by the results! ! Hands down amazing! Can’t wait to try experimenting with other flavours. The main problem now is struggling not to eat them all before the boyfriend gets back from work! !
Thank you so much, from me and my soon to be obese self and boyfriend! ! 🙂 KT
thekitchenmagpie says
@Dobster HAHA! Awesome! They are something I can only make once in a while because the batch will GO just like that. Breakfast, lunch and dinner & POOF! Gone!
BriannaGiovannini says
What a great recipe! I’ve made them twice so far and both times turned out fantastic. I separated the dough into two parts instead of three and made the scones a bit bigger…then just baked them for 25 minutes instead of 20…worked like a charm. Thanks for sharing!
Madeline Peterson says
TY
Lorraine Ymh says
m2
Lisa McCoy says
Yum
Sherry Brown says
Well maybe I can fix that Corinne 🙂
Corinne Moore says
I have to agree with ya there, how come i dont have this recipe anyway lol
Sherry Brown says
This in my opinion is the best ever blueberry filled scones out there!
Karami Urbanoski says
I just made these last week with Saskatoon’s – My favorite for a quick breakfast on the go. Yumm!
Rhonda Hogan says
Hello Kathryn I’m also a scones addict. We should form a support group \U0001f603\U0001f603
sarahewetzel says
I think I crushed every single blueberry and cut in half the ones that almost made it when cutting the triangles.
LonnieLangFacchina says
This is the best scones recipe I’ve ever made. Hands down. Delicious… light, sweet, nice texture. Thanks!
ElyseFrancesEnger says
Edmontonian here! Just got the stuff for making this super-divine scone. Just waiting for mom to get home.
Melissa L says
If I didn’t want to make 18 could I cut the ingredients in half? Could I still use 1 whole egg? Lastly ! You said you can put berries in them but can I add chocolate chips? :):)
daisyduke32 says
Oh my, these were so good & so easy. I put cranberries & lemon zest in it & my husband said “these are Starbucks quality” my friends said better than Starbucks. So I had to come back & thank you
Kelly and Em says
This is a great recipe – we have made them with craisins – adding a little orange zest – and with blueberry craisins, (I guess they are dried blueberries) and lemon zest – using dried fruit is a little more forgiving than fresh berries – but we have used those as well – thanks for sharing - we love these scones!
FaithBrooks says
i have used other recipes for scones but have never tasted as great as these. i make them often. so easy and my family loves them. my daughter says they are better than those from the bakery. have used cherry and walnuts as well as blue berry and pecans. am planning tea party with my “girls” and will serve these scones using pineapple and pecans. will try the clotted cream as well.
TejaR says
Do you think I could use plain greek yogurt isntead of sour cream??
thekitchenmagpie says
_u*********@li******.com
" profile_url="https://www.livefyre.com/profile/70735310/" ns="true">TejaR Absolutely! I’ve made yogurt scones before as well.
Bubba says
Omg. My neighbor brought me some of these as a thank you for finding her lost dog and keeping him safe until I could locate the owner. These were the best scones I had ever eaten. I had to call her and ask her for the recipe and she sent me to this site. My wife and I are hooked. We like them in the evening with a cup of coffee. Thank you Thank you Thank you for sharing.
thekitchenmagpie says
@Bubba I am so glad that you enjoyed them!! Thanks for stopping in!
Amber says
Thank you for the recipe! I have made these for Christmas last year and for Thanksgiving this year. They are always a hit. I always make one batch with a cup of chocolate chips instead of fruit (my son ate 6 yesterday!). This year I put a cup of dried cranberries and some orange zest in the dough and when they cooled, topped with a glaze of orange juice and powdered sugar. SOOOO good!!! Just wanted to share. And thank you again!
thekitchenmagpie says
@Amber You are so welcome! I am glad that you love them!
will27 says
Great recipe! I used cranberries and a little orange zest, they were excellent. After seeing your pic, I think your hubby may have married you for something other than your baking skills – just saying. 🙂
thekitchenmagpie says
_u*********@li******.com
" profile_url="https://www.livefyre.com/profile/68953518/" ns="true">will27 HA! You’re cute! Thanks for the kind words!
emilypb says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it for an office brunch and was thoroughly pleased- the scones got rave reviews from coworkers! So funny- the question I’ve heard most often is “how did you get them into triangle shapes??”
I was afraid I should have let my butter soften a bit more before i began incorporating it, especially since I couldn’t track down my pastry cutter, but 2 knives and the eventual hand-mixing of the dough seemed to work perfectly well. Mine was a very sticky dough as I began hand-mixing, but came together nicely. I did use fresh blueberries, and ended up jamming some extras into the ‘triangles’ after I’d cut them, so that there would still be some whole, pretty berries on top. I used coconut oil to grease my baking pans, and had no problems with sticking.
Next time I think I’ll lower the baking temp just a bit and cook mine longer, but I wouldn’t change a thing about the flavor.