Date Drop Scones Recipe | What's Cooking America (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making good scones? ›

1. Flour. Know what flour you should use! We recommend using all-purpose flour.

Recipes for scones sometimes provide a make-ahead option that involves refrigerating the dough overnight so it can simply be shaped and then popped into the oven the next day. But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

We love using oil as it is light on animal fat and also very easy to use. Because we serve the scones with butter or whipped cream, it is okay not to use butter in the scone itself. However, if you prefer a scone made with butter, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the flour resembles a coarse type of grain.

How to make scones rise high? Once you've cut out your scone shapes, flip them over and place upside down on the baking tray. This will help them rise evenly and counteract any 'squashing' that happened when you cut out the dough. Perfect scones should rise to about 2 inches high.

Method. Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar, add the butter and rub quickly into the flour, creating a fine breadcrumb consistency.

They are typically extremely high in calories from the heavy butter and cream. And, although scones with fruit might seem healthier, most are even higher in calories and still high in saturated fat. Steer clear of scones.

It's usually one or the other. The clotted cream is spread liberally over each slice of scone and a little strawberry jam is placed on top. If you don't have clotted cream then you use butter instead. Though, you could use any type of jam, strawberry is probably the most authentic variety.

American scones use much more butter than British scones, and they usually have quite a bit more sugar. The extra butter is what makes them so much denser. This is not really a good or bad thing, as British scones pile on plenty of sugar (in the form of preserves/jam) and butter or clotted cream as toppings.

Why do you chill scone dough before baking? ›

"Once you've shaped your scones, chill them before baking," Youngman says. "You can use that time to preheat the oven so the kitchen doesn't heat up while you make the dough. The final chill relaxes the gluten which yields a tender texture.

Chill or freeze them. If you want to make scones ahead (but don't want them to become stale), we suggest prepping your scone dough ahead of time and then either chilling it in the fridge or freezing it, depending on when you plan to bake them.

The best scones have a crisp, slightly caramelized exterior and a tender, buttery, just-sweet interior. They can be dressed up with a glaze, studded with fruit or nuts, or gently spiced. Whichever route you go, we're here to help you achieve scone perfection. These are F&W food editor Kelsey Youngman's favorite tips.

Overworking the dough: when you overwork your dough, your scones can come out tough and chewy, rather than that desired light, crumbly texture. The trick is to use light pressure and only the work the dough until it just comes together.

As well as the raising agent in the flour, baking powder adds a bit of lift to scones. Baking powder is a convenient choice as it is a ready-mixed leavening agent, generally made of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar (usually some cornflour too).

Pack the scones closely on the baking tray so they will support each other as they rise rather than spreading. Make scones the day you need them – they taste far better warm.