45 minutes
Delicious, tender scones with a buttery texture and sweet currants. Perfect for breakfast or tea time.
Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
cups
tablespoons
tablespoons
teaspoons
Unsalted Butter, chilled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
tablespoons
Currants
cups
cups
1. Preheat Oven
Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees and positioning the oven rack in the middle. This ensures that the scones will bake evenly.
2. Mix Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. If you have a food processor, you can pulse these dry ingredients a few times to mix them well.
3. Cut in Butter
Next, add the chilled butter pieces to the bowl. Using a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips, quickly cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal with a few larger lumps. These lumps of butter will create pockets that melt during baking, giving the scones their tender, flaky texture.
4. Add Currants
Now, stir in the currants until they are evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture. If you’re using a food processor, a single pulse should do the trick.
5. Combine with Cream
Pour the heavy cream into the bowl and gently stir with a rubber spatula or a fork until the dough just starts to come together. This should take about 30 seconds.
6. Knead Dough
Transfer the dough and any remaining dry bits onto your countertop. Knead the dough just a few times until it forms a rough, slightly sticky ball.
7. Shape and Cut Dough
Shape the dough into a circle and cut it into 8 equal wedges. This pre-cutting step ensures that the scones will cook evenly.
8. Bake Scones
Place the wedges on an ungreased baking sheet, making sure they have a bit of space between them. Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the tops are a light golden brown.
9. Cool and Serve
Once baked, transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy your scones warm or at room temperature.
Add chocolate chips to the dough and a chocolate drizzle on top.
Add fresh or frozen blueberries and lemon zest to the dough, and perhaps a lemon glaze on top.
Mix in dried cranberries and orange zest, and finish with an orange glaze.
Incorporate chopped pecans and swirl in caramel sauce before baking.
Add pumpkin puree (reduce the cream to compensate for the additional moisture), and a mix of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Keep your butter and cream cold until the very moment they are used. This ensures that the butter remains in small, solid pieces which will melt in the oven, creating steam pockets that contribute to a flaky texture.
Preheat your oven and make sure it has reached the correct baking temperature before your scones go in. An oven thermometer can help ensure accuracy for the perfect bake.
When you mix the dough, be as gentle as possible. Overworking the dough will develop the gluten and result in tough scones. Mix until just combined for a tender crumb.
Oven temperatures can vary and so can baking times. Start checking your scones a few minutes before the recipe suggests; they should be golden brown and firm to the touch when done.
Use a sharp cutter and press straight down without twisting. Twisting the cutter can seal the edges of the dough and impede the rise. If you don’t have a cutter, a sharp knife will do, just make sure to cut straight down.
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