Scones are a tricky beast. Honestly, I had never loved making or eating them until I learned this method. It truly is the best scone recipe I’ve ever come across. It delivers just the right texture and you can easily customize it to be sweet or savoury. This is one from my back pocket. I really hope you enjoy them!

My scone story

You know how sometimes the paths of our lives meander somewhat before we realize what we’re actually doing is just another way of deviating from what we really want and therefore should be doing?

Well in my case, a few years back, I decided I wanted to start a scone company. I didn’t particularly love scones or feel that there was a huge gap in the scone market, I was just really good at making them. Plus, they had a decent profit margin, and according to the health and safety department I was legally allowed to make and sell them from my little apartment. This allowed me to keep a nice low overhead on my venture.

I called my company “Butter and Jam.” I bought a folding table, built a basic website, launched an Instagram account and a Facebook page, and I even threw down a couple hundred bucks to have a friend build me a bike trailer (AKA “The Sconemobile”) so I could bring my goods to market without the need to buy a car. (Ask me to tell you more about that story, it wasn’t exactly a smooth ride.)

I spent the spring and summer selling hundreds of my little creations at a local market, as well as supplying a couple of coffee shops. It was fun! I love to bake, after all, and there’s something very soothing about waking up early and cranking on the oven first thing in the morning and working my little home factory.

One summer was enough

It didn’t take me long to figure out that this wasn’t really my end game. I even admitted to people at the time that what I really wanted was to start a baked potato company, and that I was using the scone company to earn money first. Since then, I’ve realized that I don’t really want a baked potato company either. All I’ve ever really wanted is my own cooking show.

I think I’m more on track now, and that this blog is helping me move closer to that goal in a big way.

Update: I’ve been busy! Subscribe to my YouTube channel to see what I’ve been up to.

Back to the scones.

So the thing about scones, is, they aren’t the kind of thing I want to eat every day. Some of them are really bad! There are a lot of dry hockey pucks out there in the glass cases of coffee shops and diners. But, with a bit of know-how, a solid recipe, and a good cup of tea (or coffee, or whisky), a scone can be an absolutely perfect treat. These happen to be some of the lightest fluffiest scones out there. This recipe is by weight, because I’m evangelical about weighing ingredients for baking. If you haven’t bought a scale yet, you can use my quick guide to convert this recipe to cups. Or, just pop out and buy a scale!

Some people brush egg wash and sprinkle sugar on the tops of sweet scones, but I tend to leave them floury. If I do put anything on top, it will be a bit of extra cheese for those savoury ones.

A few words on gluten-free scones:

Long story short, I don’t recommend going gluten free for this kinda thing. The best gluten-free baked goods of the world are the ones that DON’T rely too heavily on flour. Flourless chocolate cake like this one, or cheesecakes are great examples. A floury food like a scone needs flour.

But, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life!

I hope my best scone recipe works well for you! It has certainly served me well and I’m so happy to share the recipe–and my story, with you.