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This is my scone 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!
The Best Scone Recipe Ever
I have been baking these scones for as long as I can remember. I think, sometimes, that 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 so he could savor my butter tarts every Christmas. Now, don’t go getting all excited, I mean butter tarts, there are no sneaky innuendos or double meanings implied there. My family’s recipe for butter tarts. Yup. Savor them he does. Or is the word inhale?
And then that evolved to my mincemeat tarts. And then my shortbread. Now the past few years, its my scones.
I guess baking is cheaper than a divorce in any case, right?
Do Scones Have Eggs?
This recipe does and I think that’s what really sets it apart from all others. I use sour cream AND an egg to make the ultimate rich scones. Really, just read all of the raving reviews below from readers that have made these – I don’t call anything the best unless I REALLY 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. This recipe is one of the oldest on my website and has been updated many times over the years with new photos and even a new how-to video- but never a new recipe!
Simple, Easy Scones Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 cups of flour
- 1 cup of white sugar
- 1 cup of blueberries or raisins, or whatever fruit you want.
- 1 cup of margarine or butter
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- Kick the tires & light the fires to 350 degrees.
Step by Step How to Make Good Scones
Get all of your ingredients ready to use! It’s easier when you have everything ready to go, or “mise en place” as chefs say, which translates to “everything in it’s place.”
More pretty.
Take your bowl with your cup of sour cream, and mix in the baking soda. It makes it poof up. That’s my well-educated explanation of the chemical reaction that happens. It poofs up.
It…poofs…up.
Ok, throw those 4 cups of flour into a big mixing bowl. I brought out my Big Steel Baddy for this job. He can handle it.
Add your cup of sugar.
Add in your baking powder.
And your salt.
And whisk them all together, or sift. If anyone out there owns a sifter you can go ahead and feel free to use it. Don’t be intimidated by my whisk, and the fact that it can kick your sifters hiney, then come back and fluff my ingredients right up, then come back for a second helping of kicking hiney on your sifter. Just saying.
Ok, butter time. And even though there are some scone purists who may clutch their pearls and fan themselves rapidly with their cookbooks, I have used margarine in this recipe, and it tastes great as well. Choose your poison.
Now, this is one kitchen do-hickey I cannot live without, my pastry blender. Can you believe that I used two knives scissor style for years? And for the gold cookie award, does anyone want to guess who gave me this for Christmas one year? Leave your answer in my comments, I am sure you can guess correctly.
Cut the butter in until your arms ache, and it looks like this. If your arms aren’t aching, it ain’t cut in enough!
Hello world. Meet egg. I love this picture because it shows how I am loathe to wash more dishes than I have to. See the little salt sprinkles on the front edge? I just re-used the closest dirty bowl to me.
Beat the egg slightly.
Take your poofy sour cream and your egg and add them in.
Mix it well, and then add your fruit. With fresh fruit, you have to be oh so careful not to squish it in too much. Raisins are amazing in this recipe as well, they make a sweeter scone than the blueberries do. Raisins, you can pound the heck outta the suckers and you won’t even make a dent. Blueberries are a delicate fruit to use, but worth it in the end.
Be gentle.
Divide into three equal circles, patting each into a circle that is one inch thick (width ranges from 6-7 inches).
See? If you look at the front, even I squished the berries. After I had the gall to lecture you. Serves me right. Later I will show you what it looks like all baked up, don’t even sweat it if you squish some.
Cut each circle into 6 pieces.
Lay your beautiful little pie-like pieces onto your very well greased baking sheets. Blueberries like to stick.
Pop them into your preheated 350 degree oven and bake until the bottoms are nice and brown, and the tops are slightly browned.
So here is a squished one, see how it just shoots little blue veins through the dough? No big deal, in fact, fairly attractive looking.
These are great plain, better with margarine or butter, and fantastic with jam.
More Scone Recipes
Here are a few more tried, tested and true recipes here on The Kitchen Magpie!
- Glazed Meyer Lemon Scones
- Christmas Cherry Scones
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Scones
- Pumpkin Spice Scones
Best Scones Ever Recipe 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.
- Make sure to read my Step by Step How to Make Perfect Scones. It will totally help you with cutting the scones up!
Happy baking!
Love,
Karlynn
Scone Recipe: The Best Scones Ever
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Course
- Breakfast Meals
- Cuisine
- British
- Servings
- 18
- Calories
- 287
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 cups of flour
- 1 cup of white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of blueberries or raisins or whatever fruit you want.
Instructions
- Kick the tires & light the fires to 350 degrees.
- Take your bowl with your cup of sour cream, and mix in the baking soda.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar,baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- 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.
- 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 milk until it’s combined. The secret to a good scone is a drier dough, not gluey.
- When the dough is combined, mix in the fruit. I fold in delicate berries by hand.
- 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.
- Bake on a well greased or parchment lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes, until the scones are browned nicely on the bottom and slightly on the top. Watch them carefully!
- Serve and enjoy!
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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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
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
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
will27 HA! You’re cute! Thanks for the kind words!
TheRoadToCrazy says
These seriously are amazing!! Just wanted to let you know that I posted a variation of your recipe and a link to this post on my blog. Thanks for sharing!!! https://theroadtocrazy.blogspot.com/2014/10/31-days-of-halloween-2014-day-2-apple.html
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.