Scones are as quintessentially British as the Queen, Coronation Street, tutting and the Hollywood Handshake. Whether you slather yours in clotted cream, or dollop strawberry jam on first, this baked treat is divisive, delicious, and damn easy to make.

But a few tips before you get started:-

Always cube your butter. This makes it much easier to rub into the flour to create that desired breadcrumb-like mixture. Your butter MUST be cold, too. If not, then you run the risk of turning that flour mixture into a doughy paste instead.

Use buttermilk instead of normal milk. This adds a lovely tanginess to the scones, which if done wrong can be quite dry otherwise.



Don't overwork the dough. In scientific terms, overworking your door will over-develop the gluten. In amateur baking terms, this will make your scone heavy and gross to eat.

Work quickly. Once your dough is made, you want to get them stamped out and into the oven as quickly as possible. This is because the raising process begins once the ingredients are combined, and you ideally want this to happen in the oven.

Get the right thickness. The optimum size of your stamped out dough is 1" in thickness. This is equivalent to the length of your top knuckle to the tip of your thumb.

Love scones? Check out more of our afternoon tea recipes.