Almond Blueberry Scones Recipe - Peas and Crayons (2024)

FAQs

Why do you put baking soda in scones? ›

Baking soda reacts with acidic ingredients, creating lift when the acid is introduced.

Don't overbake! If you bake scones too long, they'll dry out, so keep an eye on them through the oven window. (Don't open the oven to look — it'll let out the heat.) “Bake your scones until they are just golden brown,” Bethany recommends.

For best browning, brush rounds (or drop scones) with milk or cream before baking. For added crunch and flavor, top with sugar (granulated, turbinado, or sparkling) or cinnamon-sugar.

How to do it: Scoop the soft dough with a large spoon or, better yet, a 1/4-cup Scone and Muffin Scoop, which encourages scones that are similar in size and shape. Drop each mound of dough onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving several inches between them. Bake as directed.

The secret is using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. It's lower in protein and makes for ultra-tender scones. If you don't have any on hand, you can easily make your own using all-purpose flour and cornstarch (see the FAQs below).

Keep scones cold before putting them in the oven: For best results, chill the mixture in the fridge before baking, this will help to stiffen up the butter again, which will stop your scones from slumping as soon as they hit the oven's heat.

Recipes for scones sometimes provide a make-ahead option that involves refrigerating the dough overnight so it can simply be shaped and then popped into the oven the next day. But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

The knife is a method to mix in a rough manner. If mixed thoroughly with a spoon or dough hook until smooth and well mixed, the dough will be worked too much, the components in the flour will combine too well etc and the result will be tough heavy scones, not lighter and a bit crumbly.

Much like cinnamon rolls, arranging your scones side by side, just touching one another, helps in making the scones rise evenly, and higher. Since the heat causes the scones to rise, if they are placed side by side, the scones will be forced to rise upwards, not outwards.

Should you sift flour for scones? ›

Preheat oven to 200°C. Sift 3 cups self-raising flour into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub 80g butter, chilled and cubed into self-raising flour until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

The egg gives the scones a golden and shiny finish once they are baked. It is however possible to omit the egg and use 1-2 tablespoons of extra milk as a glaze for the scones instead. They will not quite have the same colour and shine but they will still be delicious to eat.

Why Are My Scones Flat? Expired leavening agents. Your baking powder and/or baking soda could be expired. Most scone and biscuit recipes call for quite a large amount of leavening, and if either are expired, your scones simply won't rise to beautiful heights.

It is far better that the scone mixture is on the wet side, sticking to your fingers, as the scones will rise better. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it out with your hand, or use a rolling pin, to a thickness of 1-2 cm (1/2 – ¾ inch).

If you used plain flour they might be a bit biscuity! They'll still taste good but might be thin. I accidentally used plain flour and just 1tsp of baking powder last week. Thin and more biscuity but still good with cream and jam!

Too much baking soda will result in a soapy taste with a coarse, open crumb.

The two come in combination as bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is an alkaline and needs the addition of an acid, such as cream of tartar, to create the carbon dioxide that causes the scones to rise. The amount of cream of tartar - 4 1/2 teaspoons - is correct.

A mixture of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar, or baking powder (which is a ready paired mixture of the two) are used as the raising agent in scones.