Idiot-Proof Scone Recipe

If you enjoy a cup of afternoon tea I have the most delicious scone recipe you have ever tasted. One that is very easy to make. The scones can be made plain or you can add chocolate chips to the batter and colored sprinkles to the top before baking to make them compliment any occasion from Valentines Day, Easter to July 4th.

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Idiot-Proof Scone Recipe

One of my favorite treats to make are scones using a recipe that I found in Glamour magazine back in 1984. It was called Idiot-Proof Scones, which got my attention.

I am glad it did, because it is the best scone recipe ever!  If making them in the colder months of the year, they go great with a Hot Buttered Rum or tea.

See, I am not making it up – the recipe is really called, Idiot-Proof Scones.  I still have my original, splattered-on photocopy of the actual recipe from the magazine.  It is right up my alley in the kitchen – fast and uncomplicated.

My daughter’s and I have tweaked the recipe a bit over the years in the way of additions we put on top or into the mix.

Idiot-Proof Scone Recipe

Print Recipe

Idiot-Proof Scone Recipe

These easy to make scones can be made plain, but when you add sprinkles, chocolate chips or even cranberries, they taste even better.  They taste best eaten on the same day they are made, right out of the oven with a cup of hot tea or coffee makes for the perfect afternoon snack.

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: scones

Servings: 10

Author: In My Own Style

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 Tbs. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. 1 stick of cold unsalted butter, cut up
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup milk
• Optional: colored sanding sugar chocolate chips
• Heat oven to 425 F.

Instructions

• Makes 6 - 8 scones
• Heat oven to 425 F
• Put flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl; mix well. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture looks like fine granules. Add sugar; toss to mix. Add milk and stir with a fork until soft dough results.
• Form dough into a ball, put onto a lightly floured board and knead 10 to 12 times. Roll dough to about 14 x 5 1/2? and cut out 6-8 scones with a 2-1/2 cutter; re-roll and cut scraps.
• Bake 10 minutes or until lightly golden on top. Don’t over bake.
• Put a linen or cotton dish towel on a wire rack; cover loosely with the cloth and cool completely before serving.

How to Make Idiot-Proof Scones

1. Following the recipe, mix in the dry ingredients first, then follow with butter, sugar, and milk.  Mix with a fork until blended.

2. Knead the dough about 10 times.  You don’t want it smooth, just in a ball.

3. Roll the dough out into a rectangle.

4. I found the biscuit cutter at the thrift store. I like that is has a handle on it – makes it very easy to use.

5. This is the part we added to the recipe, it is totally optional.  Topping the scones with colorful sanding sugar.

I had bought sanding sugar in white, red, and pink to be prepared for Valentine’s Day.  If you read my post about my Pantry Organization, then you may remember I have a thing for sanding sugars and sprinkles and have one entire basket devoted just for them.

They make the scones a bit more festive. I just spoon the sanding sugar over them before baking.

Optional Ingredients to Add to the Scones

I love to add chocolate chips to the batter…. so good!

I sprinkle white sanding sugar on the top before baking.

Delish on a snow day or any day for that matter.

The most important thing you need to do is right after they come out of the oven…

…is to eat them as soon as they are cool!

They don’t taste as good the next day.

My family likes them with a spoonful of  jam and whipped cream.  YUM!

Enjoy!

What would you add to this scone recipe…berries…nuts…citrus peel?

If you love to bake, check out all my recipes. You will find them here: Recipes.