I Tried Ina Garten’s Chocolate Pecan Scone Recipe, and They Are a Sweet and Salty Revelation (2024)

FAQs

Why does cold butter give a better risen scone? ›

Butter must be COLD from the very start to when the dough enters the oven. The cold butter melts upon entering the oven and the water content in butter evaporates in steam. As the steam escapes, it bursts up and creates that beautiful tall, flaky, fluffy texture.

British scones are often lightly sweetened, but may also be savoury. They frequently include raisins, currants, cheese or dates.

Among the myriad baked goods in the breakfast pastry canon, scones are uniquely delicious in their humble simplicity. The best scones have a crisp, slightly caramelized exterior and a tender, buttery, just-sweet interior. They can be dressed up with a glaze, studded with fruit or nuts, or gently spiced.

If the butter melts completely it will become more bread-like than scone-like. Avoid using a food processor to mix scones: A food processor will work, but it often overworks the scone dough.

Always keep your ingredients and bowl as cold as possible, this ensures a light result. Work quickly and use your hands as little as possible as the heat from your hands can quickly warm the ingredients and make the end result “heavy”. Arrange the scones close together, this will ensure a good rise and even baking.

We recommend using all-purpose flour. There is some debate as to what flour one should use to go around achieving the perfect scone. This is because within different flours comes different levels of protein.

However we would emphasise that the Buttermilk Scones should be made with unsalted butter (shortening doesn't usually contain salt). If you use regular salted butter then the amount of salt added to the scone mixture will need to be reduced otherwise the scones will become to salty to eat.

British scones are usually lightly sweetned and contain fruit like currants or berries. Scottish scones are often closer to a biscuit and are made with buttermilk, though some Scottish grandmothers will swear you should only use sour milk.

Heavy Cream or Buttermilk: For the best tasting pastries, stick with a thick liquid such as heavy cream or buttermilk. I usually use heavy cream, but if you want a slightly tangy flavor, use buttermilk.

What is the best temperature for baking scones? ›

Bake scones in a 425°F oven for 18 to 23 minutes, until they're a very light golden brown. Don't over-bake; dark scones will be dry. Break one open to check for doneness: the interior shouldn't appear doughy or wet, but should feel nicely moist.

Recipes for scones sometimes provide a make-ahead option that involves refrigerating the dough overnight so it can simply be shaped and then popped into the oven the next day. But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

My scones have a dense, heavy texture and poor volume

You may have used too little raising agent or over handled the dough before it was baked. The oven may have been too cool.

That slightly bitter, kinda “tinny” flavor you often experience when biting into a muffin, biscuit or scone is the result of using a baking powder in high quantities — as is needed for these quick-rise treats — with aluminum in it.

Not chilling the dough before baking: to really ace your scones, it helps to chill your dough again before it's baked. Using cold ingredients does help, but your hands will warm up the dough when you're working with it and the extra step of chilling will help you get the best result.

To ensure taller scones, start with a thicker dough disc and place the scones on a tray with sides, allowing them to slightly touch one another. This arrangement encourages the scones to push against the pan and each other, promoting height.

Cold butter is the key to flaky, tender pie crusts, biscuits and scones. In the oven, the cold pieces of butter melt and create gaps that result in the layers essential to certain baked goods.

Overall, butter scones are sturdier than cream scones. Best for: Splitting and topping with jam, butter, or cream. They can hold up to heavy or large mix-ins like chocolate chunks, roughly chopped nuts, or large dried fruit.

If you're looking for flakiness, cold butter is the way to go. You want the butter to be as solid as possible before working with it in the dough, so that it will keep its shape in layers rather than seeping into the dough and tenderizing it.