Place pan of shaped scones into the freezer for up to 30 minutes before baking. This short rest relaxes the gluten, making scones more tender; and cold chills the fat, increasing flakiness.
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.
All-purpose plus pastry flour also works, but don't omit the pastry flour. "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.
Refrigerate your dough overnight for more symmetrical and attractive pastries. 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.
Make scone dough up to three days ahead. Shape into 3/4"-thick disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until ready to cut and bake. To freeze unbaked scone dough, shape into individual drop scones or disks (cut into wedges but not separated).
Once you bring the dough out of the cooler, keep it covered to prevent drying and let it temper at room temperature for upwards of 2½ hours or until the dough ball temperature reaches 50°F. Then you can take it to the make table for baking, and its propensity to bubble will be greatly reduced or even eliminated.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; cut in butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk milk and egg in a small bowl; gradually stir into flour mixture until moistened.
Experts have backed up Dorothy's method, agreeing that the “cutting” technique is the best way to keep scones “tender”. The reason why stirring scones with a knife works so well is because you are cutting butter into the flour to coat or shorten the gluten strands with fat.
Plain flour is the one that's mostly used in scone recipes, but you can always swap it for almond flour if you're allergic to wheat or cake flour for a more chewy consistency. You might also prefer to use self-raising flour, which doesn't require you to add baking powder to your mix.
Preparing the dough ahead of time is an option. One good thing to do is to prepare the dough and cut it into the appropriate shapes that you wish to use. Once you've done this, you can store the dough in the fridge overnight. Then you can bake the scones in the morning when you're ready.
Flat scones that spread when baked are usually caused by the dough being too soft or an oven that's too hot.
Use the top of your fingers for this. Insert a skewer or toothpick into the scone. If it comes out clean, the scone is ready. If it comes out with dough on it, the scones need a little more cooking time.
Ceramic and plastic should both be fine as long as they can be properly sealed to keep air from escaping. If you store your scones in a container without a lid, they'll dry out and get stale. Alternative: If you don't have a container with a lid, you can wrap plastic wrap over a lidless container.
This, according to Devononians, was the original cream tea and was served cream first and then jam, and still is today—the right way, if you ask me. Devonians say the cream is like butter and forms the base of the scone “sandwich.”
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it out with your hand, or use a rolling pin, to a thickness of 1-2 cm (1/2 – ¾ inch). Use a 5 cm (2 inch) fluted cutter to stamp out the dough by pushing the cutter straight down into the dough (as opposed to twisting the cutter) then lift it straight out.
Do not over knead! Over kneading is the death of a good scone, the delicate creatures that they are. You want to handle your dough gently and as little as possible, otherwise your dough will become tough and won't be as fluffy.
The theory about using the two oven racks is this: the top rack helps to brown and puff them; the middle rack time helps make sure they are nicely cooked all the way through. If you were to grease the cookie sheet instead of flouring it, that might encourage them to spread out rather than rise.
Pre-heat oven to 350-375 degrees (350* for convection, 375* for standard). Place frozen scones directly on parchment-lined, un-greased baking sheet - evenly spaced. Tip: Use cooking spray or foil on baking sheet if you don't have parchment paper. For best results, bake scones on the the middle shelf.
In addition, unsalted butter contains less moisture, which will activate the gluten in your recipe less. You should also plan to use cold eggs and cold cream for your recipe. This will ensure that your scone dough stays chilled, thus maximizing its puff in the oven.
The maximum amount of time dough can sit out on the counter is four hours for yeast-made bread, six for sourdough. Temperature, the characteristics of the sugars in the flour, the amount of yeast and the humidity of the room alter the length of the rise.
When you're going to use the refrigerated dough, take it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before you're planning to bake pizza, to let it come to room temperature. You can now use it just like any room temperature fermented pizza dough.