Watch and learn how to bake scones with this simple recipe

1 dozen Scones…so quick you need the oven preheated and the kettle on!

Varieties:
Add 100g sultanas or cranberries and zest 1 orange
or frozen blueberries and zest of lemon
or frozen raspberries and chopped white chocolate
or peeled chopped brambly apple tossed in sugar
or remove sugar from recipe and add 100g cheese + 1 teasp mustard + optional chili flakes
or replace 100g of white flour with wholemeal

Easter scones – Pipe a white chocolate cross on raspberry and white chocolate scones – maybe the red raspberries could remind us of the blood of Jesus and the white chocolate cross… Jesus’s resurrection after his death on the cross.   

500g  Soda bread flour  or 500g Self-Raising flour or 500g Plain flour + 3teasp Baking powder
Pinch of salt
175 ml buttermilk use with Soda bread flour or ordinary milk with Self-Raising and Plain flour
4 tablespoons any vegetable oil
1 egg
100g sugar

1. Oven preheated to very high temp 220C, 425 F or Gas 8.

2.  Mix the flour, salt and any additions together in bowl.

3. Mix together milk, oil, egg and sugar in a jug.

2. Quickly mix the liquid ingredients in jug, with fork or one hand, to make a thick dough. Turn onto a board dusted with either  flour or demerara and cinnamon mix or coconut or seeds and pat out 1 inch thick,   to the size of a small dinner plate. Cut scones with floured cutter or sharp knife.

3. Place close together on baking tray dusted with flour. Bake 15 mins. Depending on your oven turn the tray round in the oven to ensure an even colour.

Tips for the best scones ever!

1. Preheat oven to very high temperature 220C, 425 F or Gas 8 before you mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

2. Soda bread flour + buttermilk seem to make the best scones but more often we have normal milk and Self Raising flour which make good scones. Replacing 100g of white flour with wholemeal gives the scone more structure. Add 3teaspoons of Baking Powder to 500g Plain flour if you use Plain flour + normal milk.

3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together for the absolute minimum time to bring it to a dough.

4. Pat the dough out to  the size of a small dinner plate approx., keeping it thick , about 1 inch or 2.5 cms. It’s better to get 12 lovely well risen scones instead of 16 ‘pancakes!’

5. Do not twist the cutter otherwise scones may be lob-sided.

6. Turn the tray round in the oven half way through baking to ensure an even colour.

7. The oil in this recipe seems to keep these scones fresh for more than one day but they freeze very well and can be defrosted in 20 seconds on full power  in microwave for 1 scone. Cheese scones are fabulous toasted.

7. Boil the kettle and brew the tea when you put the scones into the oven!