The most delicious homemade Scones couldn’t be easier to make, with a few basic ingredients. You can adapt them to add any mix-ins you like.
If you’re a fan of easy baked goods you must try our Cinnamon Roll Biscuits, Homemade English Muffins, Cranberry Orange Muffins, or Lemon Blueberry Bread!
Homemade Scones are a snapshot of my childhood
Homemade Scones are a snapshot of my childhoodWe can all thank Momma Bailey for this beautifully simple, and insanely good, scones recipe.
There’s no quicker way to get my kids out bed! Picture a flakey, tender biscuit, married with an old-fashioned glazed donut. YUM. And they’re fool-proof for any level of baker.
This scones recipe is a launching point for any flavored scones, like blueberry, chocolate chip, orange scones, and popular peach scones.
How to make Scones:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make Dough: Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate the frozen butter and add to dry mixture. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the butter. Combine yogurt, cream, egg, and vanilla until well blended. Add to dry mixture along with craisins (or other add-ins) then use a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients in until it starts to come together in large clumps.
Cut and Bake: Gently knead mixture by hand (in the mixing bowl) just a few times until it comes together in a ball. Try not to handle the dough too much (we want the butter to stay cold, and the scones to be tender and not tough). Dust a clean surface with a little flour then gently pat and shape into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 16-18 minutes.
Enjoy: Make glaze by combining powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp milk and stirring until smooth. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before drizzling the glaze on top. These are best served the day they are prepared.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The dough for scones can be made one day in advance, covered and refrigerated. When ready to bake, place cold scones on lined baking sheet and bake as instructed.
To Freeze Scones Dough: place cut scones in freezer to flash freeze for 1 hour, then place partially frozen scones in a freezer safe container for 2-3 months. Thaw completely overnight in the refrigerator before baking. To Freeze Baked Scones, cool completely then store in a freezer safe container for 2-3 months. Thaw completely, or warm 20 seconds in the microwave before eating.
Add-Ins and Variations:
- Mix-ins: Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries, chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, dried cranberries or raisins.
- Orange Scones: Replace vanilla with fresh orange juice and add 1 tsp of orange zest to the glaze.
- Peach Scones
- Vegan Scones: Substitute vegan butter, vegan yogurt, flax egg, and replace heavy whipping cream with coconut milk.
- Gluten-Free Scones: Substitute gluten free flour.
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Recipe
Classic Pastry Scones
Ingredients
Scones:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup frozen unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup favorite mix-ins like Craisins, fresh or frozen blueberries, chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, dried cranberries or raisins
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Grate in frozen butter to dry mixture. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the butter.
- Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, cream, egg, and vanilla until well blended.
- Combine: Add to the dry mixture along with craisins (or other add-ins) and use a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients in until it starts to come together in large clumps. Gently knead mixture by hand (in the mixing bowl) just a few times until it comes together in a ball. Try not to handle the dough too much.
- Shape and cut: Dust a clean surface with a little flour and drop dough on top. Gently pat and shape into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 16 – 18 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before drizzling the glaze on top. These are best served the day they are prepared.
- Glaze: Add powdered sugar to a mixing bowl with 1 Tbsp milk and stir until smooth. Add additional milk, if needed. Drizzle over scones.
Notes
Nutrition
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I first shared this recipe January 2014. Updated March 2020 and May 2024.
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These were so good, I can’t wait to make them again! They were flaky and delicious! I added dried cranberries and a little orange juice and they were wonderful. Thank you!
Would all purpose wheat flour work too?
My teenaged son needed to make scones for a class project for the Victorian Era and I knew there would be a good one on Tastes Better From Scratch. I was right! These scones turned out amazing! We used Ocean Spray cherry juice-infused dried cranberries and chopped them up into small pieces. Everyone in our family thought they were incredibly delicious and he’s excited to share them with his class. I’ll definitely make these again and try blueberries or mini-chocolate chips or orange juice and zest. Yum!
OMIGOSH! I have tried a gazillion scone recipes over the years, all with little satisfaction.
I’ve finally found the PERFECT recipe. Thank you, Lauren! When these came out of the oven I just stood there looking at them, I couldn’t believe they came out of MY kitchen. I was like, “Did I make those?” Then I tasted one, was even more impressed. Truly the perfect scone recipe! I added mini choc chips, skipped the glaze. I will be making these again and again and AGAIN. 🥰
One word “Amazing”
I hosted a tea this weekend and used your scone recipe. My guests commented that they were the best scones they’ve ever had! Flaky on the outside, but soft on the inside…so delicious! I used organic whole dried cranberries.
These were so tasty and much more airy than I expected. Will keep this recipe and use it again.
You can’t mess these up! I was out of heavy cream so substituted 1/2 & 1/2, just diced cold butter since I didn’t have any time for freezing it (and had to use salted butter cause I didn’t have unsalted), and lastly my oven runs hot. And they still came out divine! My mix in was fresh blueberries and they were the best fruit scones I’ve had. There is no excuse not to try these.
This recipe was delicious! The scones were a perfect balance of a crunchy outer crust and slightly moist inside. These were lite in texture and not heavy like some scones can be. I added my mix in’s of dried cranberries, zest from one orange, orange juice and Vanilla bean paste. They were a hit!
Ok I just made these this morning. I used coconut sugar instead of regular sugar and these are the BEST scones I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for the recipe!!