Easy & Fluffy Homemade British Scones with Raisins

I absolutely love a good scone, and in my opinion they are one of the finest things you can have for breakfast, a weekend brunch, or honestly any morning where you feel like treating yourself a little and why not, right? You can enjoy them plain and simple, or go full British about it with some butter, clotted cream, honey, a fruit jelly, a homemade jam or preserve, a sweet spread, a bit of chocolate, or even something on the savory side like a fresh cream cheese or a good pâté. The point is, scones are wonderfully versatile and they never, ever let you down.

In case you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting a scone before, they are a type of light and fluffy baked bread-biscuit hybrid, originally from Scotland, that sit somewhere beautifully between a biscuit and a dinner roll. They are a classic fixture of British breakfast tables and afternoon tea, served alongside a hot cup of tea or coffee and whatever sweet topping your heart desires.

Traditionally they tend to show up more during the colder months, since there is something incredibly cozy about pulling a tray of warm scones fresh out of the oven on a chilly morning, but honestly these are a year-round kind of treat.

And speaking of occasions, okay, hear me out on this one! I personally think scones have a very strong case for being an Easter item too. Something about their warmth, their simplicity, and the way they look piled up on a table just screams Easter brunch to me. An Easter morning breakfast with fresh scones, a pot of jam, a little clotted cream if you can find it, and a good cup of tea? That is practically a celebration in itself, hehehe. Beyond the plain version (which you can make by simply leaving the raisins out), there are plenty of fun variations you can explore, maybe a more savoury cheese and herbs, orange zest, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, mixed nuts, basically, as long as you are not adding extra moisture to the dough, you can toss almost anything in and still get a beautiful scone out of it. But for now, let’s get into the classic recipe!

Easy & Fluffy Homemade British Scones with Raisins

Servings: 8
Time: 45mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Classic recipe of British-style raisin scones, perfect for any morning, afternoon tea, or to brighten the day of even the grumpiest person at the table, hehehe.

Ingredients

Flour – 200g
Baking Powder – 8g
Butter – 30g (Room Temperature)
Milk – 125ml (Room Temperature)
Raisins – 50g
Sugar – 30g
Salt – A pinch
Butter – For Serving
Honey – For Serving
Jam – For Serving
Clotted Cream – For Serving

Directions

Start by preheating the oven to 180ºC (355°F) and prepare a baking tray lined with non-stick paper.

Then pour all the ingredients into a bowl, stir them just enough to obtain a dough that will be a little sticky, which is normal.

Use a spoon to place pieces of dough on the baking tray, leaving a little space between them. This should make about 8 scones. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until the edges start to brown.

Remove from the oven when golden brown and cooked through. Serve with any sweet topping you like. In my case, a little butter, jam, honey, and clotted cream. Bon appétit and Happy Easter!

Notes & Tips: Do not overmix the dough. This is probably the most important tip of all, the more you work the dough, the tougher and denser your scones will turn out. Mix only until everything just comes together and then stop. A slightly shaggy, sticky dough is exactly what you want.

In this case room temperature ingredients matter. Both the butter and the milk should be at room temperature before you start. Cold butter will not incorporate as easily and can affect the texture of the final scone, the same goes for liquid butter.

You can use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose flour with baking powder, I’m in the camp of having everything separate (i always get plain flour without any baking powder, i always get non-salted butter, etc) so i can control better, but, this is the kind of recipe that is very forgiving and those small “baker’s” tricks wont make much difference ;D

Also feel free to make variations. Want to mix things up? Try adding chocolate chips, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, or some orange or lemon zest. You can also go savory with grated cheddar and a pinch of dried thyme. Just make sure whatever you add does not bring extra liquid into the dough.

Clotted cream is the classic British choice. If you can find it at a specialty grocery store or British import shop, absolutely use it, it is the traditional and most delicious topping for scones and it makes the whole experience feel very proper and lovely. Butter and jam are a very close second though hehehe!

Eat them fresh. Scones will hold up just fine for a full day, but honestly they are at their absolute best still warm from the oven. If you have leftovers, you can reheat them briefly in the oven at a low temperature and they will perk right back up.

For a Easter brunch, try serving them on a big plate alongside a small bowl of jam, a dish of clotted cream or butter, and a pot of hot tea. Simple, beautiful, and absolutely delicious and something I’ve done before! ;D

This recipe for Easy & Fluffy Homemade British Scones with Raisins was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Scones Britânicos com Passas foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.