Classic Scones (Easy Recipe without Self-Raising Flour)
- Chelsea Ho
- Jul 2, 2020
- 2 min read
Scour the internet and you'll find hundreds and thousands of scone recipes. Amongst them, I tried finding recipes using just plain, all-purpose, regular flour (because it was the only type of flour I had), but every recipe that turned up required self-raising flour.
This recipe was an experiment I made out of desperation.
If you search what self-raising flour is, it's just flour with baking powder and salt already added. So I experimented with varying amounts of baking powder, salt, and sugar (to balance the saltiness of the former two ingredients).
After three attempts and one utterly revolting batch of scones, I got scones that were wonderfully biscuity and toasty on the outside, but soft and moist on the inside.
So here's my final scone recipe, using only plain flour as an alternative to the commonly required self-raising flour:
INGREDIENTS:
Makes 4-5 scones, 35 minutes
2 cups of plain flour
1 and 1/4 cups of milk
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of sugar
50g of unsalted butter
1 and 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius.
Place the flour into a large bowl. Cut the butter into smaller pieces and add them to the flour.
Using your hands, gently massage the butter into the flour to incorporate them. Do this until the flour reaches a breadcrumb-like consistency and all the pieces of butter have been incorporated.
Add the sugar, salt and baking powder to the mixture. Mix to combine.
Make a well in the centre of the bowl with the dry ingredients, and pour in just 1 cup of milk. Gently, and with as little kneading as possible, use your hands to combine the flour and milk into a sticky dough.
If there is any flour left at the bottom of the bowl, pour in one tablespoon of milk at a time to combine them into the dough. Be careful to not let the dough become too watery; you want it to be able to hold its shape. Reserve about 3 tablespoons of milk for glazing later.
Once the dough forms, pat it flat into a 1.5 inch thick dough with your hands.
Cut the dough into circles about 5-6cm in diameter. (I didn't have a cookie cutter, so I used a small ramekin, placed it on top of the dough and traced the outline with a butter knife)
Repeat steps 7-8 with any remaining dough.
Place the dough circles on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
With a teaspoon, scoop a bit of milk and spread it onto the top of every scone to glaze them.
Bake them in the oven for 10-14 minutes. To check if they are done, tap the scones with the back of a spoon. You should hear a low thud, and they should feel quite sturdy. If not, return them to the oven for another 2-3 minutes and check again.
ASSEMBLY
Let your scones rest for at least 15 minutes, but serve them warm with jam and clotted cream.
Chelsea Ho
The Ordinary Gourmet
Follow us on Instagram @chelseahyy
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