Scone Recipe: The Best Scones Ever (2024)

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This is my scone recipe for the best scones ever – buttery, crispy on the outside but velvety on the inside perfection!These scones are simple to make and will have you baking them weekly for your weekend breakfasts.

Slather these with clotted cream for the perfect combination!

The Best Scone Recipe Ever

I have been baking these scones for as long as I can remember. I think, sometimes, that my husband married me for my baking. Not all of it, but some. He has admitted, in a sugar-induced haze, that he married me so he could savor my butter tarts every Christmas. Now, don’t go getting all excited, I mean butter tarts, there are no sneaky innuendos or double meanings implied there. My family’s recipe for butter tarts. Yup. Savor them he does. Or is the word inhale?

And then that evolved to my mincemeat tarts. And then my shortbread. Now the past few years, its my scones.

I guess baking is cheaper than a divorce in any case, right?

Do Scones Have Eggs?

This recipe does and I think that’s what really sets it apart from all others. I use sour cream AND an egg to make the ultimate rich scones. Really, just read all of the raving reviews below from readers that have made these – I don’t call anything the best unless I REALLY think it is!

Sour cream is what sets the best scones apart from all others, it yields a tender crumb inside while the butter in the recipe makes the outside crispy and snappy, the perfect scone in my opinion. This recipe is one of the oldest on my website and has been updated many times over the years with new photos and even a new how-to video- but never a new recipe!

Recipe Video

Simple, Easy Scones Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of blueberries or raisins, or whatever fruit you want.
• 1 cup of margarine or butter
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Kick the tires & light the fires to 350 degrees.

Step by Step How to Make Good Scones

Get all of your ingredients ready to use! It’s easier when you have everything ready to go, or “mise en place” as chefs say, which translates to “everything in it’s place.”

More pretty.

Take your bowl with your cup of sour cream, and mix in the baking soda. It makes it poof up. That’s my well-educated explanation of the chemical reaction that happens. It poofs up.

It…poofs…up.

Ok, throw those 4 cups of flour into a big mixing bowl. I brought out my Big Steel Baddy for this job. He can handle it.

Add your cup of sugar.

Add in your baking powder.

And your salt.

And whisk them all together, or sift. If anyone out there owns a sifter you can go ahead and feel free to use it. Don’t be intimidated by my whisk, and the fact that it can kick your sifters hiney, then come back and fluff my ingredients right up, then come back for a second helping of kicking hiney on your sifter. Just saying.

Ok, butter time. And even though there are some scone purists who may clutch their pearls and fan themselves rapidly with their cookbooks, I have used margarine in this recipe, and it tastes great as well. Choose your poison.

Now, this is one kitchen do-hickey I cannot live without, my pastry blender. Can you believe that I used two knives scissor style for years? And for the gold cookie award, does anyone want to guess who gave me this for Christmas one year? Leave your answer in my comments, I am sure you can guess correctly.

Cut the butter in until your arms ache, and it looks like this. If your arms aren’t aching, it ain’t cut in enough!

Hello world. Meet egg. I love this picture because it shows how I am loathe to wash more dishes than I have to. See the little salt sprinkles on the front edge? I just re-used the closest dirty bowl to me.

Beat the egg slightly.

Take your poofy sour cream and your egg and add them in.

Mix it well, and then add your fruit. With fresh fruit, you have to be oh so careful not to squish it in too much. Raisins are amazing in this recipe as well, they make a sweeter scone than the blueberries do. Raisins, you can pound the heck outta the suckers and you won’t even make a dent. Blueberries are a delicate fruit to use, but worth it in the end.

Be gentle.

Divide into three equal circles, patting each into a circle that is one inch thick (width ranges from 6-7 inches).

See? If you look at the front, even I squished the berries. After I had the gall to lecture you. Serves me right. Later I will show you what it looks like all baked up, don’t even sweat it if you squish some.

Cut each circle into 6 pieces.

Lay your beautiful little pie-like pieces onto your very well greased baking sheets. Blueberries like to stick.

Pop them into your preheated 350 degree oven and bake until the bottoms are nice and brown, and the tops are slightly browned.

So here is a squished one, see how it just shoots little blue veins through the dough? No big deal, in fact, fairly attractive looking.

These are great plain, better with margarine or butter, and fantastic with jam.

More Scone Recipes

Here are a few more tried, tested and true recipes here on The Kitchen Magpie!

1. Glazed Meyer Lemon Scones
2. Christmas Cherry Scones
3. Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Scones
4. Pumpkin Spice Scones

Best Scones Ever Recipe Tips & Tricks

• Use cold butter ( even frozen) and grate it into the scones if you have a grater. Don’t fear however if you want to make these and you didn’t have time to freeze the butter, cold from the fridge works great as well!
• Try not to overwork the dough if you can. The heat from your hands will soften the butter. IF you think you did over work the dough, you can refrigerate the scone triangles before you bake them to get the butter hard again.
• Make sure to read my Step by Step How to Make Perfect Scones. It will totally help you with cutting the scones up!

Happy baking!

Love,

Karlynn

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