Buttermilk Scones

These buttermilk scones are stacked a mile high with beautiful, flaky and buttery layers. They taste lovely on their own or use this recipe as a base to spice things up with fruit, nuts, or your favourite spices

Baked by Alie Romano

Professional Baker and Recipe Developer

* Make sure to read the entire blog post. Every step matters, and I’ll provide helpful tips along the way!

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Scones, Youâ€™ll never need another scone recipe again! This is a basic recipe that you can use plain or spiced up with currents, nuts, citrus peel

These buttermilk scones will easily become your favourite afternoon treat. They are a traditional style of scone with layers that are stacked a mile high – beautiful, buttery and flaky layers! The simplicity of a scone is what makes them so perfect. They are effortless to make (once you get the hang of it), only need a few ingredients and they don’t require any small appliances. Plus they pair so lovely with your morning cup of tea!

Ingredients

Buttermilk is what provides a softer, lighter texture in baking. Since buttermilk has high acidity it breaks down the glutens in the flour giving you that lighter texture. It can also give a nice tangy flavour in your baking too. By far buttermilk is the secret ingredient in baking that so many overlooks.

Butter is the next most important ingredient in scones and you need to make sure you keep it nice and cold! When you cut butter into flour, make sure to not overwork the butter and keep larger pea-like size pieces. This is what will give you those beautiful flaky layers. If you overwork your butter or knead your dough too much, you’ll lose those layers. Have a soft hand when you bring your dough together.

The buttermilk scones taste lovely just as they are but you could use this recipe as a base to spice things up with fruit, nuts, or spices.

Scone Variations

Cheddar – add a cup of sharp shredded cheese to the dough and sprinkle extra cheese on top of each scone
Raisin or currant – add 3/4 cup raisins/currants to the dough
Berry – blueberry, blackberry, or raspberry – add one cup of fresh berries to the dough
Almond – add 1 teaspoon almond extract to the buttermilk and top scones with sliced almonds
Lavender – add 1 – 2 tablespoons of lavender buds to the dough and top scones with lavender and sugar

Scones are one of my favourite things to bake and to enjoy. I hope you love this recipe as much as I do.

Buttermilk Scones

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★★★★★

5 from 1 review

This will easily become your favourite buttermilk scone recipe. These scones are stacked a mile high with beautiful layers and are perfectly flaky and buttery. They taste lovely on their own or use this recipe as a base to spice things up with fruit, nuts, or spices, etc.

Author: Alie Romano
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 12 mins
Total Time: 27 mins
Yield: 10–12 1x
Category: Breakfast
Cuisine: Scottish

Ingredients

Units Scale

2 1/2 cups (320 g) all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 cup buttermilk (237 ml) (or sour milk)
1 egg

For the Top of the Scones

whipping cream
coarse sugar

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until coarse crumbs form.
In a small bowl whisk buttermilk with egg. Using a fork, stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until dough forms and is ragged.
Turn dough out onto a work surface; knead gently approx. 5-8 times, Don’t overwork your dough. Pat out to approx. 10 x 7 inch rectangle, around 1 1/2 inch – 2 inches thick.
Using a large round cookie cutter, cut out approx. 10-12 scones. Gently piece scraps together.
Place 1 inch apart on your prepared baking sheet.
Brush tops of scones with whipping cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden and the bottoms are browned.

Notes

Add fruit, nuts, lemon zest, chocolate or anything you like to spice up these scones.

Scones are best eaten the day of. They will last 2 days in a tin or freeze for up to a month. Reheat scones in the oven at 350ËšF for approx. 8 minutes.