Mom’s Best Master Scone Recipe

Start mornings quickly and efficiently with mom’s best master scone recipe, and customize them to your family’s favorite flavor.

My one confession: I oversleep. I would say I’m not a morning person, simply because I find immense joy in staying in my bed every minute I can. I do love mornings though, and breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. But due to my immense love for zzz’s, breakfast is chronically late. Late doesn’t exactly work for toddlers. So, I’ve been trying new strategies to be breakfast ready! Scones are not new to us, but their speed of bake has been. I love that they can be baked from frozen, and whip up in a food processor in 10 minutes. Because the base is simple, I can make bulk amounts for the freezer, which has gotten out of a pickle more than once when hosting. 

We do try and make breakfast protein heavy, so I’ve started to use all-purpose einkorn flour for it’s higher protein levels and low gluten structure. The flavor is amazing! Scones pair great with a large glass of raw milk, a bowl of yogurt and berries, scrambled eggs or bacon. They are totally customizable to the morning or event. I can see us throwing these together for a spontaneous tea party mid-afternoon with a good stack of books…

Can You Use Sourdough Starter or Discard?

Yes! You can substitute starter or discard for half of the required flour, and lower the milk by about ¼ c. This is another reason to start the night or day before so they can ferment in the fridge as they chill! The scones will rise from the baking powder, so the discard does not have to be fully active. 

Why Should You Not Over Mix the Dough?

Over mixing or over kneading dough that is cut with butter will create a dense and chewy baked good. This goes for things like pie crust as well! Working the dough too much will build up the gluten structure, like bread.

Scone Tips & Tricks

• Bake from frozen! This makes mornings move smoothly. Prepping the night before means breakfast is ready in less than 20 mins. 
• Keep the milk, butter and eggs cold for a flaky-er scone. 
• You can divide the dough into two discs for 16 mini scones or one large disc of 8 scones. 

Ways to Include Kids in Scone Making

Thankfully, scones are fairly forgiving! This means, there’s more freedom to let little hands help. For scones, I do let my kids dump (pre-measured) ingredients into the food processor. When it is time to mince the butter, I let them push the buttons. We have practiced machine safety throughout our kitchen experiences, and also the importance of immediate obedience. If mom says “stop”, you stop right away. It means she’s keeping me safe, or from things becoming a mess. It also means mom can trust me for bigger things as I build that trust through obedience. I’m always so grateful for the little lessons that can be learned side by side with little consequence.

It is also my personal experience that a large food processor has been a safe machine to use around my kids. The appliance doesn’t operate if the lid isn’t fully engaged and we always make sure the pusher is in when we cook. We use the 13 cup processor by Kitchen Aid for smoothies, salsas, applesauce and more. Truth be told, we have had to replace the bowl due to toddler accident, and Kitchen Aid replaced it. It was one of the easiest customer service experiences I’ve ever had; 10/10.

When it comes time to chill, I will let them help me squish the dough into rounds covered in cling wrap, and even be the one who delivers them to the fridge. They, of course, can help place the chilled scones on a baking tray when ready to bake. I have the older be the server of the baked scones, making sure dad gets his warm delivery. And like the Little Red Hen, they’ll want to help in the eating.

Whole Food Ingredients for Scones: 

Flour: you can substitute half the required flour for whole grain flour, or completely substitute the flour for all-purpose einkorn. We love the added flavor and warm yellow color!

Sugar: you can substitute the sugar for honey or maple syrup with the addition of a little flour.

Butter: use grass-fed butter options like Kirland’s (from Costco) or Kerrygold. 

Baking Powder: some common baking powders now contain aluminum (as marked on the canister), but you can make your own baking powder by combining 2 parts cream of tartar with 1 part baking soda. 

Salt: whenever we can, we like to use a high quality salt like Redmond’s. Bags in bulk can be purchased at a lower price at places like Azure Standard. 

Milk & cream: you can substitute the milk and cream for milk alternatives if needed, as well as use raw milk when available. 

Scone Flavors: 

• Blueberry Lemon: juice of two lemons & 1 cup of blueberries (frozen or fresh(
• Chocolate Cranberry: 1 cup of cranberries (whole, frozen) and ½ cup of dark chocolate chips
• Cinnamon Sugar: 2 tsp cinnamon mixed into batter, ½ cup of sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon spread on top before bake
• Ham Cheddar: ½ cup shredded cheddar and ½ cup of chopped ham
• Pecan Peach: 1 chopped peach and ½ cup chopped pecans

Ingredients for Scone base

2 ¾ c flour

¼ c sugar

1 stick of butter, cold

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ c milk

½ c cream

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Into a food processor, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Blitz quickly.
2. Add the stick of cold butter, sliced into tablespoons and blend until finely diced. 
3. Add the milk, cream and vanilla and blend slowly until it begins to come together. 
4. Place mixture in a bowl and add flavor ingredients (fruit, nuts, spices, etc.)
5. Combine, divide into two and dump onto a long strip of cling film. 
6. Cover the scone dough and form discs (circles, about ½ inch thick)
7. Place in the fridge to chill, but in a pinch, you can bake fresh.
   1. At this point, you can precut the discs into their slices and freeze!
8. When ready to bake, remove the scones from the plastic wrap (chilled or frozen), place them on a baking tray and bake for 12-14 mins at 400F. 
9. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for one week.

Read More:

For blueberry muffins, “Mom’s Best Blueberry Muffins”

For banana bread, “Mom’s Best Banana Bread”

For 5 great bread recipes, “Mom’s Big Bread Round-up”