2 weeks Ago By Katherine McPhillips
Many people buy scones at the supermarket as a treat, but they are easy to make at home. Although baking scones may seem intimidating, the recipe is very simple. They only take 10 minutes to prepare before being baked for another 15 minutes.
Lizzie Crowther, a cook and founder of Lizzie Likes , has shared that the secret to making scones come out the oven perfect is to not use milk but add buttermilk instead. She said: “This recipe uses buttermilk, which is the key to the fluffiness and lightness. When it reacts with the baking powder in the mixture, it allows the scones to rise properly and create the beautiful airy texture.
” It may seem strange, but the acidity in buttermilk reacts with baking powder to trap more air inside the dough, allowing it to rise better when the scones are baking in the oven. This will create a lighter texture, so you will get fluffier scones that are soft and crumbly to bite into. Buttermilk also contains sugars that will caramelise when baking, which helps make the top of the scones brown so you get a deeper golden finish that will enhance their flavour.
While you can use milk if you wish, it will not trigger the same levelling reaction as buttermilk, so your scones will not be as tall, golden or fluffy. Ingredients 225g of self-raising flour 40g of butter 40g of caster sugar One large egg One heaped teaspoon of baking powder 100 to 140ml of buttermilk Instructions To begin, preheat the oven to 200C and grease a baking tray with butter. Place the flour, baking powder, and butter in a mixing bowl.
Mix the ingredients together with your fingertips until they resemble breadcrumbs. Then, stir the sugar into the mixture. In a separate jug, mix the egg and buttermilk together.
Set aside one tablespoon of the buttermilk mixture to use as an eggwash later. Slowly add the buttermilk egg mixture to the dry ingredients until you have a moist dough. You will likely not need all the buttermilk; you only need enough to help shape the dough.
If the dough feels too wet, add more flour, but if it feels too dry, add more buttermilk. Dust a kitchen counter with flour and then place the dough onto it. Knead it with your hands for a few minutes until it feels much smoother.
Next, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is roughly one inch thick. Use a round biscuit cutter and cut out seven to eight scones. Place your scones on the prepared baking tray and brush with the eggwash saved from earlier.
Put the scones in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden. Once ready, remove them from the oven and let them cool slightly before serving..
