Scone Master Recipe
from https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/

Scone Master Recipe - Blueberry

Using the master recipe below as a starting point, toss in your favorite add-ins like white chocolate chips, toasted pecans, sweetened or unsweetened coconut, dried cranberries, peanut butter chips, etc. If it’s a particularly wet add-in like chopped peaches, blot them with a paper towel before adding to the dough. Top with lemon curd, raspberry sauce, or any of the suggested toppings below. Above all, have fun finding your favorite flavor!

If adding fruit, use fresh or frozen. If frozen, do not thaw.

Feel free to increase the vanilla extract and/or add other flavor extracts such as lemon extract or coconut extract. Read through the recipe before beginning. You can skip the chilling for 15 minutes prior to baking, but I highly recommend it to prevent the scones from over-spreading.

Optional Toppings: Vanilla icing, salted caramel, lemon icing from this iced lemon pound cake, maple icing from these banana scones, brown butter icing, lemon curd, orange icing, raspberry icing, dusting of confectioners’ sugar.

3 Tricks for Perfect Scones

If you take away anything from this post, let these be it!

  1. Heavy Cream or Buttermilk: Avoid thinner milks which yield a flatter, less flavorful scone. Canned coconut milk makes a wonderful nondairy option!
  2. Frozen Grated Butter is the real key to success.: Refrigerated butter might melt in the dough as you work with it, but frozen butter will hold out until the oven. And the finer the pieces of cold butter, the less the scones spread and the quicker the butter mixes into the dry ingredients.
  3. Refrigerate Before Baking: Remember, cold dough is a successful dough. To avoid over-spreading, I recommend chilling the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator before baking.

Variations:

Other scone flavors:

- dried cherries and chopped semi-sweet chocolate
- dried apricots and crystallized ginger
- dried cranberries and salted pistachio nuts
- brown sugar-pecan scones - Substitute brown sugar for granulated sugar. Stir in chopped toasted pecans
- shredded Swiss cheese and chopped ham
- shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, chopped cooked bacon, chopped fresh chives

Scone Master Recipe

2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream or buttermilk (plus 2 Tbsp for brushing)
1 large egg
1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1–1.5 cups add-ins such as raisins, currants, chocolate chips, berries, nuts, fruit, etc
optional: coarse sugar for topping

Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter using a box grater. Add it to the flour mixture and combine with a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. See video above for a closer look at the texture. Place in the refrigerator or freezer as you mix the wet ingredients together.

Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, the egg, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the add-ins, then mix together until everything appears moistened.

Another recipe suggested: "Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to stir it together until it forms a shaggy dough. Coat your hands with flour and finish kneading the dough in as few strokes as possible. (Overworking the dough makes for a tough scone.) Use your hands to fold the dough on top of itself, creating more and more layers until it has come together and all the flour is incorporated. [This is a technique often used with Baking Powder Biscuits.] You can add a tablespoon or two of ice cold water if you think it’s necessary. I try to get the dough to come together in 5-8 folds."
- https://thefoodcharlatan.com/scones/

To make triangle scones: Pour onto the counter and, with floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add 1-2 more Tablespoons heavy cream. Press into an 8-inch disc [The thicker your circle of dough is, the taller your scones will be] and, with a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges. For smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 wedges. To make 10-12 drop scones: Keep mixing dough in the bowl until it comes together. Drop scones, about 1/4 cup of dough each, 3 inches apart on a lined baking sheet. To make mini (petite) scones, see recipe note.

Brush scones with remaining heavy cream and for extra crunch, sprinkle with coarse sugar. (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.)

Place scones on a plate or lined baking sheet (if your fridge has space!) and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Overnight Instructions: Prepare scones through step 4. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Continue with the recipe the following day.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat(s). If making mini or drop scones, use 2 baking sheets. After refrigerating, arrange scones 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).

Bake for 18-26 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Larger scones take closer to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes. Feel free to top with any of the toppings listed in the recipe Note below.

Over-spreading: Start with very cold scone dough. Expect some spread, but if the scones are over-spreading as they bake, remove from the oven and press back into its triangle shape (or whatever shape) using a rubber spatula.

Leftover scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.

8 larger scones, or 16 smaller scones