
Making the perfect scone really isn’t that difficult, because all you’re really looking for is that risen look, as though someone has tried, but failed, to pull apart the top and bottom of the scone. If the unknown entity has succeeded in its endeavour, then I’m afraid you have spectacularly failed in yours. To be honest, if followed correctly this recipe should give you the perfect traditional scones straight off the bat. Don’t be deterred if it doesn’t – things don’t always go quite according to plan.
Ideally these should be served with both jam and clotted cream. However, as my arteries didn’t feel like being clogged quite yet I dodged this and had a little butter instead. It doesn’t work quite as well, but with the home made jam is equally delicious. So, please give summer the goodbye with these delicious scones.

Intend to serve these beautiful British scones with a spot of jam? Check out my recipes for Rhubarb and Ginger Jam, Damson Jelly and Strawberry Jam…
Traditional Scones
Makes 9-10
Ingredients:
• 225g self-raising flour
• A pinch of salt
• 75g butter, please use real butter
• 40g golden caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk
• Milk for brushing
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Sift the salt and flour into a large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter until the consistency is that of fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar.
2. Beat together the milk and egg in a separate bowl. Add it to the dry mixture and stir. Bring it together by hand, into a soft, but not sticky, ball of dough.
3. Gently roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until roughly an inch thick. Cut the scones out with a 5cm baking ring.
4. Place the scones onto a floured baking tray, brush with milk, and bake for 10-12 minutes.


Cost:
These traditional scones should cost no more than 70p to make, which means each scone costs 7p – what an absolute bargain. I’m sure scones sell for around £1.50 in most coffee shops – what a rip off.
96 replies on “Traditional Scones”
Nothing better than homemade, old-fashioned scones with strawberry jam and a cup of tea!
I completely agree, except for the fact I hate tea. They are delicious.
I’m super impressed by your food, Mr. Frugal! If I could eat real butter and gluten, I would have invited myself right over (or forced myself through the door, whatever) and scarfed them down. Maybe I would save one or 2 for you. The jury is out on that one, however…You have a new fan here. Well done.
Oh awesome. I’m really glad you like my blog! I’m sure they would work to some degree by using gluten free ingredients… to be honest I don’t really know…
i especially like the tiny scone
Oh yeh, he tasted delicious. Very cute tasting.
Completely agree that Delia is the queen of British Cooking – in fact she is probably one of go-to chefs when I’m looking for tips and ideas! It has been a long time since I have had Scones…and as I’m not afraid of clogging my arteries just yet…i think I will have to make them this weekend 🙂
I’m not sure about British cooking, more British baking… Do make them, they are so delicious and light. The artery clogging was to do with clotted cream, these aren’t too bad… hmmm.
beautiful scones.. they do look light and fluffy too! c
Thanks! They are very light 😀 Makes me feel slightly less guilty.
Beautiful scones! They look so soft. But they look a little like American biscuits! I have to agree with you that the ones sold in shop are overpriced.
Thanks. I assure you they are 100% British scones :D.
This is a recipe I’ll do for sure!! yummy!
Yummy indeed!
A definite to make this week! YUM!
They are seriously delicious, please do.
I love how beautifully these have puffed up, and almost split along the middle all on their own. I love making scones–they are so worth it (and not just, as you point out, because they are such a bargain to make on your own).
I believe that’s the perfect scone look. They really are worth making – so cheap and so delicious.
Here in the South of the U.S. we’d use buttermilk (and maybe lard) and call them biscuits. Whatever you call them, yours look great! And looking forward to more about the damson jam.
We can use buttermilk here also, but it makes little real difference. Americanisms are weird, biscuits are generally hard – these are more like cakes I guess. Scone is their original and traditional name 😀
Hey, wait a minute: in the United States, “biscuits” are a quick bread, defined by a round shape, flaky exterior and soft interior. They are generally not sweet, made without sugar, but you can eat butter and sweet things on them. What Brits call “biscuits,” we call “cookies,” although cookies can range in texture from thin and crisp to soft to chewy. Scones usually have some sugar in the dough, like yours, right? I’ve eaten many variations of scones. Yours (and Delia’s) look great.
American scones always looks different, they never have enough rise, they are more like little cakes.
These look so delicious!! I absolutely adore scones, they are so filling and literally the perfect comfort food, fabulous with a cup of hot tea and some good jam. I’ve never made my own, but I’m very tempted to give your recipe a shot!
Halie
Thanks Halie. I dislike tea, but they really are one of the greatest comfort foods. I’m having to try really hard to only eat 1 a day. Give it a go, they are incredibly easy. I think these were my first actually.
Wow! I love scones and I love English afternoon tea. I’m sure people would be really impressed to find I’d made them myself 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
No problem 😀
these look fantastic!! i made some cupcakes this weekend, let me know what you think? http://laughteriscatching.com/2011/08/27/to-your-posts-let-the-bake-off-begin/
Thanks so much! I shall
I’m dying to make homemade scones! I fear that I would mess them up and have not yet gotten enough courage to try. But these look delicious, especially topped with that fabulous jam!
They are so easy! Just try it, you won’t regret it. If you do mess up, it didn’t cost you much 😛
These look lovely and make me desperately want a scone with some fresh jam!
You know what to do… make them. 😀
These look great! I made scones for the first time a few weeks ago and posted the recipe on my blog- they were so delicious and I’ve been looking for a new recipe to try- thanks!
Please do, they work extremely well. I’ll check yours out 😀
Yum! I have yet to try making scones, but yours look perfect 🙂
Oh give them a go! They were my first… so…
Just lovely! I wish we had real clotted cream here in the US. Very envious!
Clotted cream is literally amazing… I feel sorry for you.
Yum….these look delish! beautiful photos too!
Thanks so much 😀
looks so good! thanks for sharing, Delia, queen of traditional british baking, thanks for sharing, never heard of her this side of the pond
She really is. Look her up, she does some really awesome recipes.
Your scones are perfect! I love the step by step images :-).
I am here for the first time, via Cho’s blog, lovely space.
Ciao
Alessandra
Just popping into say hello, I love scones and often have one for breakfast. I have bookmarked you I like the idea of frugal food.
Awesome! Thanks 😀
I just LOVE reading your posts. Not only for the recipes, but I love the way you write! I love when you say “utterly” and “bloody” (okay, I know that’s probably normal British talk but I find it very endearing). Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much! I hope you carry on reading 😀
Mmm! Trust the Brits for wonderful scone recipes! Keep the posts coming 🙂
Well… what can I say? 😀
scones and jam- god you cant help but drool seeing this!! <3
I know, they were seriously delicious.
I’ve been staying in a hostel for the past few weeks, and therefore haven’t attempted any baking yet…but these look amazing and I might just have give them a go!
Please do! They are so simple.
Haha, my brother just made scones today too! 😀 He tends to use cream instead of milk. He’s trying out chocolate scones today, mmm!
I love them, never tried them with cream – milk is perfectly sufficient.
There are so many recipes for scones in the world of blogs at the moment, but yours look pretty awesome! Maybe people are trying to cling on to the last remnants of summer and sunny cream teas… I have to have mine with a big dollop of cream, but the butter in your pic looks pretty good too 🙂
Like I say, the ideal is clotted cream – but it costs a lot and is extremely bad for you, it is my favourite though. In my opinion butter is the second best thing to clotted cream. Scones are amazing!
These look wonderful. Yes, we call them biscuits here in the South but whatever they are called they are so good. This is also National Biscuit Month!.
Thanks! I didn’t know national biscuit month existed.
I love scones, and have not had one in a very long time.. THESE LOOK dELIcIOUs! I am very tempted to make this recipe this weekend. It’s hard to make all of these when it is just me and my husband. I will eat them all! xoxo
You could halve the mixture. They are simply delicious, please give them a go -if you do let me know how they went.
[…] Despite the imminent lack of cheap summer fruits due to the change in season, I’m rather looking forward to autumn and winter as most of my favourite recipes are generally eaten at this time of year. Surely there is nothing quite as good as a rich and slowly cooked meal on increasingly dark and cold days? Meanwhile, please enjoy this last taste of summer, the perfect way of using up those final damsons – particularly when served with my delicious Traditional Scones. […]
Scones are always such a nice treat. I go through phases of making batches of them. Yours look lovely.
Have a happy day.
🙂 Mandy
They are lovely – thanks 😀
So you’re from the UK? In the US we would call these biscuits, and our scones are more sweet, dense, and cake-like. But whatever you call them, those sure do look tasty!
Oh yes, and they ARE scones, I don;t understand why they are called biscuits in American – they originated in Britain and scones they shall stay 😀 No offence 😛
Scones they shall stay! this looks different to the american version that i normally make — with cream/ buttermilk? but i might try make these — are these very moist? 🙂
Phew. Do try, they are a little moist, very light and fluffy.
These scones look delicious. They turned out beautifully!
Thanks, Colleen. 😀
mmm, these look lovely. can’t wait to try them out–thanks for insisting on real butter, it makes such a difference.
It really, really does!
Wow, these look really great! Have you ever made savory scones? With cheese and garlic? I am looking for a recipe for those too. I had one once and I just cannot let it go.
No, but I intend to. I shall do those soon, keep checkin back 😀
I’m amused by the scone vs. biscuit discussion above. 🙂 I’ve made both and they differ in texture, but taste equally good with butter and jam. (The only English “biscuit” I’ve had were McVitie’s and they seemed more like a cookie to me, lol!)
Which McVitie’s? They are definitely biscuits 😛
Tried your recipe today but replaced the sugar with about 60g of Cheese, a sprinkle of garlic granules and a shake or two of dried herbs.
Needed to a little more milk (about 1 1/2 tbls) as the mix was a bit dry with the added cheese.
There are only two of us here but they are all gone…delicious and light, went down very well spread with just a little butter and served with a bowl of tomato soup 😀
Oh awesome. Great ingenuity. I’m going to do my own version of your adapted recipe soon – so look out for that. Perhaps your adapted recipe will end up better :P.
As a lover of bread, these look delicious. I’ve been canning peach lavender jam this summer.. I think the two together could be a beautiful thing. 🙂
Thanks so much. Peach and lavender jam sounds delicious! I think they were work extremely well!
I Love Scones. These looks so good. Yum.
Thanks so much!
Yummm scones and jam. I love scones with homemade cream. 🙂
Me too, they are so yummy.
I’ve been looking for a good scone recipe for a while; I’ll give this a try! Thanks for sharing!
Ah yes, please do, it’s delicious!
Where, or how does one find Delia?
Google.
These look so amazing! I may have to give these a try. I am a great cook but a terrible baker!
Thanks! They are very very easy.
I just made these using a mix of half-spelt/half-white (because I didn’t have enough spelt flour) and roughly cut them into squares (because I’m a poorly equipped student in halls, hence no round cutter). They were scrumptious plain – my happy hall mates agree. Thanks!
Fantastic – glad they went down well.
[…] not try this jam slathered over some traditional British scones with a dollop of clotted cream? Or perhaps as a filling for a Victoria […]
i love these!
[…] are a weakness of mine. A plain, British-style scone spread with difficult to justify quantities of clotted cream and strawberry jam is a vice […]
[…] and kale cobbler is the consistency of the scone batter. Forget everything you know about the traditional British scone; these scones are far wetter. They should be just firm enough to remain autonomous from one […]