When scones are at their best, they are delicate, buttery, and oh-so-flaky. However, there are mistakes you need to be wary of and avoid.
Using anything but cold ingredients: The secret to the flakiest scones is to start with cold ingredients — cold butter, cold eggs, and cold cream. Similar to making pie crust, using cold ingredients prevents the butter from melting before the scones are baked, leaving it instead to melt in the oven and create a super-flaky end result.
Keep your butter, eggs, and cream in the fridge until you are ready to make your scone dough. Heck, chill your bowl while you’re at it.
Only using all-purpose flour: While all-purpose flour is likely what you already have in your pantry, if you really want to ace your scone game, reach for a combo for the best results. Different flours have different levels of protein and, generally, the higher the protein, the denser the baked good. Most all-purpose flour has a protein content of about 10 to 12 percent — if you use a flour that has less, you will get a lighter scone.
For the lightest scones, opt for using pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour, or a mix of all-purpose and cake like we do in our recipe.
Overmixing the dough: Overworking the dough will lead to scones that are tough and chewy, rather than light and flaky. The key is to use a light hand and work the dough until it just comes together. Expect your dough to have lumps and bumps in it — once it just comes together, its ready to be used.
Not chilling the dough before baking: As previously mentioned, it is crucial to keep the dough cold so that the butter doesn’t melt before the scones are baked. Using cold ingredients helps, but your hands can warm up the dough when you’re working with it. For extra precaution, it helps to chill the dough again before it’s baked.
Follow this tip: Cut the scone dough into wedges, place them on a baking sheet, and keep them in the fridge while the oven preheats.
Baking them ahead of time: It is tempting to want to get ahead on your brunch spread the night before, but scones are one component you will want to bake off at the last minute. Scones really are best when they are fresh and warm from the oven.
Bake scones right before you plan to enjoy them. If you would like to get ahead, you can make and shape the dough into scones ahead of time and leave them in the fridge overnight. Or you can freeze them on a baking sheet, transfer the frozen unbaked scones to a zip-top bag, and bake them straight from frozen, adding a couple of minutes to the baking time.
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