Chef John's Scones

175 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 152
  • 4 Rating Star 20
  • 3 Rating Star 2
  • 2 Rating Star 1
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This recipe is very slightly adapted from one by someone called Friendlyfood on Allrecipes, who claims it was adapted from a version made at the Savoy Hotel in London. I have to say, I am very impressed. It was light, tender, moist and very delicious.
+ 27
+ 26
prep:
20 mins
cook:
15 mins
total:
35 mins
Servings:
8
Max Servings:
8
Nutrition Info
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

  • Whisk flour, white sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter with a knife or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

  • Stir together 1/2 cup milk, sour cream, and currants in a small bowl; stir into flour mixture with a fork until just moistened and holding together.

  • Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into rectangle.

  • Fold the rectangle in thirds. Turn dough a half turn, gather any crumbs, flatten back into a rectangle, and repeat. Cut into eight pieces and place each scone on a silicone baking mat.

  • Whisk egg and 1 tablespoon milk together in a small bowl; brush mixture on top of each scone.

  • Bake scones in the preheated oven until risen and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove and transfer to cooling rack.

Tips

Editor's Notes:

For a special treat, try these topped with Chef John's Clotted Cream and jam.

Chef John's Fresh Strawberry Jam

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:
237.38 calories; 4.63 g protein; 33.35 g carbohydrates; 1.15 g dietary-fiber; 11.22 g sugars; 9.87 g fat; 5.93 g saturated-fat; 44.08 mg cholesterol; 331.95 IU vitamin-a-iu; 2.64 mg niacin-equivalents; 0.05 mg vitamin-b6; 0.38 mg vitamin-c; 55.14 mcg folate; 177.95 mg calcium; 1.83 mg iron; 12.61 mg magnesium; 128.95 mg potassium; 300.68 mg sodium; 0.24 mg thiamin; 88.86 calories-from-fat; 55 percent-of-calories-from-carbs; 36 percent-of-calories-from-fat; 7 percent-of-calories-from-protein; 22 percent-of-calories-from-sat-fat

Reviews (135)

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Most helpful positive review

Anonymous
04/23/2012
Wonderful scone recipe - I froze the butter and then grated it into the dry ingredients. I added a little more sugar as I love a sweet scone. I used half and half instead of milk and after the egg wash topped them off with turbinado sugar for that extra added crunch. This is a great base for add-ins like dried cranberries and white or dark chocolate chips. These come out of the oven beautiful... almost look too good to eat!
Helpful
(154)

Most helpful critical review

Anonymous
04/17/2015
It was a crumbly mess and it would not come together.
Helpful
(4)
175 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 152
  • 4 Rating Star 20
  • 3 Rating Star 2
  • 2 Rating Star 1
Anonymous
04/23/2012
Wonderful scone recipe - I froze the butter and then grated it into the dry ingredients. I added a little more sugar as I love a sweet scone. I used half and half instead of milk and after the egg wash topped them off with turbinado sugar for that extra added crunch. This is a great base for add-ins like dried cranberries and white or dark chocolate chips. These come out of the oven beautiful... almost look too good to eat!
Helpful
(154)
Anonymous
04/11/2012
Light fluffy and delish. I added dried cherries instead of currants used splenda instead of sugar and used almond milk in place of milk and the recipe turned out great. Super delicious; I could not just have one. I will definitely save this recipe and use again. Thanks Chef John for posting this.
Helpful
(80)
Anonymous
04/12/2012
Absolutely delicious. Moist tender and a perfect scone. Like the other reviewer I used splenda and dusted half tof the scones with raw sugar. YUMMY!
Helpful
(43)
Anonymous
05/16/2012
These scones were very good. I enjoyed the video and Chef John's sense of humor. I made them as outlined in the recipe. I much prefer to read reviews that are made as outlined. When you change things without having made the original first you're not really giving an accurate review. As far as I know there is no true way to make scones. Not unless you invented them. I've been making scones for my husband for over 40 years and we enjoy the many different takes on scones. We do like currants in the scones and we usually eat them after dinner for dessert instead of in the morning. This is a very good recipe which I will make again and added it to my huge collection of scone recipes. Thank you Chef John!
Helpful
(39)
Anonymous
04/15/2012
These are on the other side of fantastic! I added candied ginger lemon zest and vanilla. The possibilities are endless!
Helpful
(25)
Anonymous
04/15/2012
Very good! I used my homemade fat free yogurt instead of sour cream and dark chocolate chips since I had no dried fruit. My 4 year old helped me and she also loved these!
Helpful
(19)
Anonymous
05/16/2012
This would be a 5-star recipe if the measurements were accurate. I was hoping for some reader comments but had to figure it out myself. I ended up increasing the amount of flour to about 2 cups and I would have added just a little bit more sugar (not too much since scones shouldn't be overly sweet and it would overpower the natural sweetness of the orange/cranberries I used). With those adjustments though it's a great recipe! Very authentic and delicious! The center is moist but it's got a nice crusty outside. Like other reviewers said it's so versatile! I might try lemon or candied ginger next time.
Helpful
(17)
Anonymous
04/13/2012
Delicious! I used skim milk and light sour cream. I forgot to brush the egg and milk on top but I did sprinkle some sugar on top before baking. I didn't have any currants so I used some strawberry tidbits I had laying around. Very simple and very good!
Helpful
(15)
Anonymous
05/18/2012
Ive made quite a few scones I really like this recipe is was simple. I did zest it up by zesting lemon in it and next time Ill use cranberries and orange zest.....yum.
Helpful
(15)
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