Afternoon Tea Scones served with clotted cream and jam, the finest British afternoon tea time treats. Buttery, crumbly, and so flavourful. What would a true British tea time be without these mouthwatering scones? Heavenly rich and fluffy, hard to resist not having one too many.
These scones are absolutely delicious; they are made from scratch in only 20 minutes, and the smell of freshly-baked goodies is pure heaven. If you need some yummy bites for any party or celebration, look no further, some classic English scones is all you need.
To say that English people love scones is definitely an understatement. They are ever so popular all year round, and make for an excellent choice if you fancy a posh British afternoon tea.
Or even a lovely breakfast or brunch. Butter them nicely, if you don’t have clotted cream, and there can’t be anything more indulgent. A proper treat, I’m telling you!
Now, the English scones are quite different from the American version. They are closer in texture and shape with the American biscuits, while the term biscuits means crackers in the UK. Confusing much? Well, let’s just focus on the British scones for now.
How TO make British scones from scratch
Nothing simpler. All we need is flour, baking powder, butter, milk, dried fruit of any kind, sugar, and some vanilla extract for extra flavour.
- sift the flour together with the baking powder, then add the cold butter and use your fingers to rub it with the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs
Most recipes call for unsalted butter, but for my scones I used normal salted butter and they were just perfect. Perhaps it’s best to give both a try and see which one you like to use best with this recipe.
- add the dried fruit, milk, vanilla extract and sugar, and knead gently into a dough.
Do not overmix though, we need the scones to be light and fluffy rather than dense. Just knead until the dough comes nicely together.
- use a rolling pin to roll the dough into about one cm or half an inch thickness
- use a round cookie cutter to cut out 12 scones
Now, depending on the size of your cookie cutter, you can get more or less scones, the shape is not that important. I would, however, use the same size so the scones can bake at the same time.
- bake in the preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit) for 12-15 minutes or until golden
- serve warm or cold
Are the English scones sweet or savoury?
The authentic English scones are sweet, and are best served as part of a traditional cream tea. Now, they don’t need a huge amount of refined sugar added, since they are usually served with jam anyway, but it’s up to one’s taste how sweet they can be.
I only added 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, and, for my tastebuds, they were perfect. Especially that the dried currants are naturally sweet as well. Increase the amount to 4 tablespoons if you’d rather have them sweeter.
But, by all means, you can make them savoury too: just leave the sugar and dried fruit out, and add any hard cheese of your choice, chives, ham or bacon, spring onions, and so much more.
For some more traditional British treats, how about some delicious Strawberry and Cream Shortcakes? They are equally delicious and as easy to make. A true British feast.
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Afternoon Tea Scones served with clotted cream and jam, the finest British tea time treats. Buttery, crumbly, and so flavourful. What would a true English tea time be without these mouthwatering scones? Heavenly rich and fluffy, hard to resist not having one too many. These scones are so easy to make from scratch with a few simple ingredients, and can be served at any party or celebration. Or the perfect brunch treat.
- 350 g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 100 ml full-fat milk
- 100 g butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- a handful of dried fruit
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- clotted cream
- jam
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Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. (390 Fahrenheit).
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Sift the flour in a large bowl, add the baking powder and mix.
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Cut the butter into small cubes and rub them into the flour using your hands so that it resembles breadcrumbs.
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Add the milk to the dried ingredients.
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Add the caster sugar, vanilla extract and dried fruit.
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Using your hands, knead it into a dough. I find that the dough is so easy to work with, that there is no need to transfer it to the work surface, just slightly knead it into a ball.
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Roll the dough into about a cm or half an inch thickness, then use a cookie cutter to cut out 12 rounds.
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Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper and bake the scones for 12-15 minutes until golden.
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Serve with jam and clotted cream or any other cream you like.
- Click on the US Customary link to see the measurements displayed in cups and ounces.
- The servings can be adjusted by clicking the number next to Servings.
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