Photo by (c) kcline photography
This morning I woke up at 7am to make and bake cream scones for a brunch I didn’t even get to go to. I’ll save you the reason why I had to cancel going to brunch and instead give you the recipe to make these “melt in your mouth” light and fluffy cream scones. Perhaps the reason they are so good is because of the high fat content from the ample heavy cream in the recipe. I suppose when you bake anything made of butter and heavy cream it would be hard not to melt in your mouth. I guess I should mention I also made strawberry balsamic vinegar jam last night just for these scones. I’ll be posting I’ve posted a recipe for the jam soon here. Back to the scones though. This recipe is an adapted version from “The New Best Recipe: All-New EditionCookbook” by Cooks Illustrated Magazine. I’ve made them exactly like CI, and they were really good. This version is even better! (I realize these are fightin’ words!) I found an adapted recipe here and slightly adapted them even more. I found the texture to be like a light and slightly sweetened biscuit. With home made jam and a pat of butter these scones are sure to impress anyone, but most of all yourself. Enjoy!
Cream Scones Recipe
Servings: 16 small scones
*I made these using a mini-food processor and only processed the dry ingredients and butter half at a time. Otherwise you will have a mess.
Ingredients:
2 cups (9 ounces) All Purpose Flour *I HIGHLY encourage you to weigh the ingredients with a kitchen scale. It really does make a difference. *If you are looking to make these scones gluten-free, please see Jeanne’s Gluten-free version of this recipe.
1 Tbsp baking powder
4 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tsp. of vanilla
2 Tbl. of sugar for sprinkling on top
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and butter in a food processor. Pulsate everything in 3-second intervals until everything resembles course meal. If doing this by hand, use 2 knives, a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles course meal.
Transfer everything to a large bowl. Stir in heavy cream, egg, and vanilla mixing the dough by hand until it forms into a uniformed and slightly moistened dough. *You can also use your Kitchenaid with the dough hook on the slowest speed for a few minutes.
On a floured surface, grab enough dough to fit into your hand about the size of a baseball and gently roll it in a ball.
Flatten the ball and until your disk is approx. 3/4″ in height. Press down the outside of the dough circle so the center is slightly taller. Evenly sprinkle sugar on top of each circle.
Cut each circle in quarters. You should have enough dough to make 4 circles and 16 scones.
Bake on a ungreased cookie sheet, or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown. Remove scones from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Serve with butter and jam. Enjoy!
*Use this recipe to make Strawberry Shortcakes!
The Kook @ The Kitchen Kook says
I love this recipe! It’s my favorite!! I’m so used to rock-hard chewy, tough, dry, BLAND scones, but finally, these changed my life!! Finally, a scone that’s buttery, tender, soft, and delicate. Mmm. Literally the best thing that I’ve made.
I added some cinnamon chips and cinnamon sugar in mine!
http://thekitchenkook.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-best-most-perfect-scone-recipe-ever.html
Layla says
I’ve been using this recipe for over a year and it’s been wonderful.
I’ve been trying to years to replicate the scones I had in small cafe in Syndey, Australia. These are the exact recipe!
Also the recipe is very forgiving.
I’ve had to use bread flour instead of all purpose and it worked okay. They were crustier than normal and I wouldn’t do it all the time, but in a pinch it was okay.
I’ve used whole milk and doubled the butter to compensate and they’ve turned out as great as normal.
I’ve accidentally doubled the butter (but not doubled anything else) and they were very tender and super luscious and wonderful.
This is a fantastic recipe.
Chris tapping says
Well, what can I say.. I was looking for a recipe with a difference, just started cooking again…. So, about to give them a bash, if they turnout half as good as the photos I’ll be your biggest fan….. Must admit, my favourite sweet, jam, strawberry and cream scones… What could be better?
Chris
Ann says
Can I do the entire batch in my full-size food processor?
Sue says
I prefer to omit the step of flouring and rolling.. I just drop small amounts of dough onto baking sheet. Just run a knife through them to split when your ready to top them with Devon cream and lemon curd 🙂
Kristy says
I made these for breakfast this morning. They were fantastic! They were very crumbly, though. Any idea what I might have done wrong?
Mrs. C. says
I’ve been making these regularly since discovering the recipe two months ago. They are amazing and indeed the Best! I’ve tried them with various substitutions and they are definitely best using full heavy cream and real unsalted butter. I keep all freeze-able ingredients in the freezer (including the butter, pre-cut into 1 Tablespoon pats) and just throw together half a recipe in my junior sized food processor in less than 10 minutes. My son will devour them in moments. They are now a prized item in my repertoire. Thank you so very very much!
Becki says
Just made these tonight. They’re so delicious! Best scones I’ve ever had. I love how they’re flaky and chewy and crispy and buttery and sweet all at once. Thanks for sharing!
Anders says
Hi,
I really want to try your recipe. Sounds very delicious.
I live in Scandinavia and all the cups and spoons in your recipe are a bit confusing. A metric conversion (grams) would help me out a lot. 🙂
Thanks
Anders
Lisa says
Treasure of a recipe. The best scone I’ve ever made & think I’ve ever tasted. Thank you for sharing this jewel with all of us. Mine turned out so light and flakey, like no other I’ve ever had. I did the mini food processor method and afterwards, I put the blended flour/butter mixture back in the freezer for about 7-10 mins before adding the wet ingredients. One of my tricks I use when I make pie crusts for that extra flakiness. The only deviation was that I; a) added a teaspoon of grated lemon rind. b) added a little extra vanilla & c) dusted the tops with extra fine granulated sugar before baking. I made a variation of your yummy balsamic sauce/jam with strawberriees, blueberries and a peach (next time I’ll put the blueberrries in the scone & not in the sauce), but it still turned out.
The possibilities are endless with this exquisite recipe. This one rocked my world which says a lot since I’m a picky baker with a picky pallet. They even taste as good the next day!!!
Kim says
I just said this in a comment I left in response to someone’s question above, but I had to come here and say it again: I am addicted to this recipe. It makes such a wonderful base for experiments. My husband is now in love with jalapeno cheddar scones, and it gives me yet another reason to buy all the fresh fruit at Farmer’s Market I want. 🙂 Thank you!
Kim says
I’ve become full-on addicted to this scone recipe and have enjoyed making mass amounts with add-ins (jalapeno cheddar, chocolate chunk, berry jam, etc). They freeze REALLY well and makes it so I can just spend a day making lots and lots of scones to enjoy in the future.
First I flash freeze them for about 5-10 minutes and then put them in a Ziploc freezer bag. They keep indefinitely and I just add 5 extra minutes to the bake time. So much better that way… A freshly baked scone every time!
alic says
So glad you like it Kim. This scone recipe makes an incredible base, doesn’t it?
Bryn says
Great recipe! Worked the first time I tried, despite my being a bit hopeless at baking, were lovely with coffee.
Stacey says
Thank you! And I love that you linked to an adapted GF version too. The baked scones freeze beautifully. I put a couple in sandwich baggies and then put them into a gallon sized freezer bag. So all you have to do is grab a bag and leave for work. Should be defrosted by the time you get to work. The balsamic jam is lovely too! I’m going to attempt to add strawberries and white chocolate chips in my next batch.
Kelli @ The Corner Kitchen says
I finally made these the other day…..theyw ere everything I hoped they’d be & then some. So delicious!
Sarah says
For those of us who live alone and probably shouldn’t really eat an entire batch of scones, do you have any idea how well the un-baked scones would freeze?
alice says
Hi Cecilia,
Yes.. cake flour works. You’ll probably end up with a very tender scone!
Cecilia says
hi! do you think i could substitize cake flour for all purpose?
cake is all i have on hand at the moment 🙁
your scones look delicious by the way 🙂
wenders says
Made these this morning and the family loved it. Served it with sweetened whipped cream and mascerated strawberries. Subsituted the one egg with ground flax/water because one of my kiddos is allergic, and it still turned out delicious! Sprinkled tops with turbinado sugar, so pretty! Had two leftover and my kiddo devoured it this evening and it was still moist! Awesome recipe, thank you!
the blissful baker says
i made these scones for breakfast this morning, they were delicious! great way to start the day 🙂
Janis Gruben says
Just wanted to let you know I loved this post, made me think.
THE BAG LAiDY says
I have never made a scone I love … until now. Thanks so much for the recipe! It’s a great base for any flavor scone, and I am loving the batch I just snatched out of the oven 🙂
xiuxiu says
I tried this recipe this morning. And boy o boy….it’s really good. It really melts in your mouth. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Cindy says
So what’s the deal with unsalted butter??? Can you really taste the difference?