Light and tender Homemade Buttermilk Scones made from scratch in just 20 minutes ! Afternoon tea wouldn’t be complete without a batch of warm scones fresh from the oven.
An easy, foolproof recipe for light and fluffy buttermilk scones with step by step instructions to make perfect scones every time.
Buttermilk Scones are quick and easy to make so they’re the perfect choice when time is short and you need almost instant results because you fancy a sweet treat but the cake cupboard is bare.
Make a batch of scones and pop them in the oven – 12 minutes later you’ve got warm scones ready to eat. Simply split open and spread with butter. Delicious any time of day, we’ve even been known to have them for breakfast.
For an extra special treat, try them in a traditional cream tea with rich and decadent clotted cream I’ll leave it up to you whether to put the jam or the cream on first.
Baking tips for light and fluffy scones
If you want to avoid the disappointment of dense, flat or dry scones, here are my top tips:
- BUTTERMILK and light handling are the key to success with scones. Buttermilk reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to create carbon dioxide that causes the mixture to rise. It also helps break down the gluten strands resulting in soft and tender scones.
- There’s no need to use a mixer, your hands and a bowl are all that’s required. You don’t even need a rolling pin, just a gentle pressing of the dough with your hands does the job.
- Use butter at ROOM TEMPERATURE. It’s much easier and quicker to rub room temperature butter into the flour. The quicker you blend the ingredients and the less your scone dough is handled, the better.
- SOFT AND STICKY is best when it comes to the consistency of your dough. A dry dough won’t be able to rise as well as a wet dough, resulting in those dense scones you want to avoid.
- DON’T twist the pastry cutter, you want your scones to stand nice and tall. Twisting the pastry cutter risks giving a lopsided scone which won’t rise so well.
- DON’T space your scones too far apart on the baking tray. Firstly, placing them side by side on the baking tray, about 2.5cm / 1 inch apart gives a higher rise and straighter sides. Secondly, placing like this helps prevent the scones from drying out as they retain moisture more readily.
- DON’T OVER BAKE. Scones are baked at quite a high temperature and don’t need long in a hot oven. Bake until a golden brown on top but still quite light in colour on the sides. You want moist scones and over baked dark scones are dry. If you not sure whether your scones are cooked, take one off the baking tray and break it open. The centre should feel moist but not ‘doughy’ or wet.
Can you use normal milk instead of buttermilk ?
Absolutely ! To substitute buttermilk, simply use the same quantity of regular milk with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar. This gives it an acidity similar to that of buttermilk which is essential for working with the bicarbonate of soda to give you light and fluffy scones.
Add the lemon juice or vinegar to your milk, give it a stir and then leave for five minutes. The milk will have become thicker and clumpy and is ready to use in your scone mixture.
Alternatively, you can use a 50 / 50 mixture of yoghurt and milk as a buttermilk substitute.
Can you freeze buttermilk ?
Yes, you can ! Buttermilk freezes really well for use in baking and will last in the freezer for up to three months. Although the recommendation on the container is not to freeze, it is safe to freeze. Like other dairy products it won’t maintain its qualities for drinking but it does retain its acid content which is what you need for scones.
My scone recipe calls for only six tablespoons of buttermilk so freezing the rest is the perfect option.
Make sure you freeze the buttermilk within the best before date. I freeze mine in an ice cube tray with a one tablespoonful (15 ml) portion to each cube. Once frozen, keep in a ziplock bag labelled with the date. It’s ready to be defrosted and used for the next time you bake.
How to serve Homemade Buttermilk Scones
Serve fresh from the oven. Split in them in half and simply spread with butter and jam.
Enjoy as part of a cream tea or afternoon tea.
How long do they keep ?
Scones are best eaten as fresh as possible but you can keep them for a couple of days in an airtight container. Refresh for a few minutes in a hot oven before serving.
Can I freeze them ?
Yes, you can !
Pop your scones into a freezer bag and they will keep for up to three months in the freezer.
Refresh in a hot oven before serving.
If you like Homemade Buttermilk Scones ……you might also like:
A traditional fruit loaf – Guernsey Gâche
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Homemade Buttermilk Scones
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Pastry / Cookie Cutter
- Pastry brush
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
Scone Dough
- 450 grams self raising flour or plain flour / all purpose flour plus 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of Soda
- A pinch salt
- 175 grams butter diced and at room temperature
- 4 tbsp caster sugar
- 6 tbsp buttermilk can be substituted with half milk and half yoghurt
- 1 large egg beaten
- milk or egg wash
- 100 grams sultanas Optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F / 220°C / 200°C Fan / Gas Mark 7
- Sift the flour, bicarb and salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Using your fingertips, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add sugar and stir with a spatula.
- Add sultanas if using and stir again.
- Form a well in the centre of the mix with your spatula.
- In a small bowl beat the egg and buttermilk (or yoghurt and milk) and pour into the centre of your scone mixture.
- Quickly pull the mix together – I tend to start mixing with the spatula and then go in with my hands to form the mixture into a ball.
- The scone dough should be slightly sticky and soft. Add a little extra buttermilk if you find the dough a little dry.
- Keep mixing to the absolute minimum.
- Turn your dough onto a floured board.
- Pat out your dough gently, maintaining a thick dough of 3 cm (1 ⅓ inch)
- Cut out your scones using a circular pastry/cookie cutter. Push down your cutter quickly using the palm of your hand and don’t twist the cutter.
- For large scones use a 70 mm (2 ¾ ins) cutter or 58 mm (2 ¼ ins) for smaller scones.
- Bring the trimmings back together and cut the rest of your scones. Don’t over work or you will end up with tough scones.
- Place your scones onto a greased baking tray.
- Brush the tops of your scones with milk or egg wash.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (large) or 12 minutes (standard) until golden brown.
- Cool on a wire rack.
- Serve with jam and cream or butter.
Video
Notes
Pin Homemade Buttermilk Scones for later:
I’m linking to:
- Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Jacqui over at Recipes Made Easy.
- Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie over at Fiesta Friday and co hosted this week by Petra at Food Eat Love.
Momma G
Thursday 5th of May 2022
This is hands down the best scone recipe I have ever tried. The scones rise in the oven beautifully, and they are absolutely delicious. Even for a beginner scone maker, you will be delighted. Fit for the Queen!
Sarah James
Monday 9th of May 2022
Hello Momma G, Thanks for such a wonderful comment. So pleased to hear your scones ticked all the right boxes for you, it's still a genuine buzz for me to hear my recipes are being used.
Happy baking, Sarah.
Sara
Monday 25th of April 2022
I agree with Carole, had to use approx 250ml of buttermilk to get a sticky dough.( 6 tbs was not anywhere near enough, mixture didn't even come together.) Also was a little confused with baking powder listed as an ingredient when using self raising flour. Other than that they tasted great.
Sarah James
Monday 9th of May 2022
Hello Sara, Thanks for your feedback. I'm pleased to hear your scones tasted great, albeit after sorting out your buttermilk. Both you and Carole mentioned the quantity of buttermilk but I have to admit I'm a little bit stumped. I've always used six tablespoons of buttermilk and that's been in the recipe since I published it. As I mentioned to Carole, she unnerved me a little so I actually went off and made a batch of scones before replying to her comment. Similarly, just this morning before typing this, I asked my sister how much buttermilk she uses (she serves up a lovely scone) and she confirmed she follows my six tablespoons recipe. I can feel an in depth investigation into the properties of buttermilk being added to my to do list - where's my Harold McGee ?
In terms of baking powder, this is an ingredient because scones are better with more raising agent than is generally found in self-raising flour. The quantity of raising agent in self-raising flour is to cover a range of applications, working well in some recipes (a sponge for example) but not quite as well for other recipes.
Thanks again for getting in touch, Sarah.
Sandra
Sunday 17th of April 2022
Tried these this afternoon and they came our perfectly! I halved the recipe and used approx 4 tbsp buttermilk and half an egg, and the dough was just right. The scones were great - light, fluffy and tender. Will definitely make these again
Carole Cole
Friday 14th of May 2021
I have just made these scones. They taste wonderful - however, there is no way that one egg and 6 tbs buttermilk would bring 450g flour etc into a soft sticky dough! I had to use nearly 3 times that much - 250ml approx - to make the dough the right texture.
Sarah James
Saturday 15th of May 2021
Hello Carole, thanks for getting in touch. I love to get feedback on my recipes and I'm so pleased your scones tasted wonderful. I was surprised to hear how much buttermilk you needed to use for your scone dough. A few readers have shared their scone bakes on Instagram and Pinterest and haven't mentioned the need for more buttermilk. Although scones are usually a regular bake for me, we've been in the middle of a kitchen refurbishment and it's been a while since I made scones. I decided this morning to make a quick batch just to double check my recipe and put my mind at rest. I used 6 tablespoons (90 ml) of buttermilk and 1 egg to bring my scone dough together. I wonder what size egg you used ? I used a large egg but that wouldn't be enough to explain a discrepancy of almost three times the buttermilk. I suppose there is a margin when it comes to a 'soft and sticky' dough so I've taken photos today of the dough steps. I'll post these photos on my blog to help show more of what the dough looks like. My husband was very pleased you got in touch as he's missed his scone treats and is happily tucking into a scone with butter and jam as I write.
Sharon Fountain
Wednesday 3rd of March 2021
What temp for oven please? Been thru recipe and blog several times can't find it anywhere ,,🤬
Sarah James
Wednesday 3rd of March 2021
Hello Sharon, thanks for spotting that. I started using a new recipe card and the oven details didn't get moved over. I'm so pleased you got in touch, updating the recipe now with the oven temperature which is 220 C, 200 C fan, 425 F, gas mark 7.