First and foremost, brilliant scones are about having the confidence to do as little as possible. The less you knead the mix, the less the gluten will tighten up – which means your scones will stay loose and crumbly, rather than tight and springy. Make sure you sieve the flour and baking powder into your bowl.
Perhaps there wasn't enough liquid, or it could be that the dough was overworked and / or the scones were overbaked. If you're measuring the liquid in a jug, make sure you check the amount at eye level. The dough should be handled gently and feel moist. If there are any crumbs in the bowl it will need a spot more milk.
The texture of scone dough should be quite wet and sticky as this loose texture really helps to produce the lightest, fluffiest texture once baked. The drier your dough is, the less ability the dough has to rise in the oven and the denser your scones will be.
Perfect scones are a little crumbly and best enjoyed fresh from the oven. Amy Lawrence, an accomplished afternoon tea cookbook author and the founder of An Afternoon to Remember shares her tips on how to make scones that are flavorful, moist and beautiful.
Overworking the dough will lead to scones that are tough and chewy, rather than light and flaky. The key is to use a light hand and work the dough until it just comes together.
Plain scones – made easy!
Self raising flour and cold butter – blitz 8 seconds. Add milk – blitz 8 seconds until ball forms. Turn dough out, knead lightly 10 times (no more), lightly roll across the top to smooth surface.
With chilled dough, you'll have pockets of butter in the dough (this is a good thing!) that create a super-flaky, oh-so-delicious end result. For extra precaution, it helps to chill the dough again before it's baked.
Use a flat-bladed knife or a palette knife and cut it (or pull it) through your ingredients when you add the wet ingredients so they are just barely incorporated. Don't overwork the dough. Tip it out of the bowl and very lightly pat out on a floured surface with the heel of your hand. About 3cm thick is good.
Scones can be made either with self-raising flour or with plain flour and baking powder. Sweet scones and cheese scones have an egg added to enrich them. Both will rise but whatever scone you make its important that they are handled lightly and not rolled too thinly.
Smooth Dough – The dough will start out looking like a shaggy, lumpy mass and will gradually smooth out as you knead. By the time you finish, it should be completely smooth and slightly tacky to the touch.
Mix with a flat-bladed knife until mixture forms a soft dough, adding more milk if required. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently until smooth (don't knead dough too much or scones will be tough).
Soft, elastic dough should hold a finger imprint too, but it should take slightly longer for the imprint to fade. Soft dough is easier to stretch, and feels softer than stiff dough but still keeps its shape. Sticky dough feels wet; it's easy to pull into taffy-like strands with your fingers.
Your dough is too crumbly.
If your pie dough breaks and crumbles when you try to roll it out, it's probably too dry. This is a relatively easy fix. Just sprinkle some cold water over the dough with your fingers and work it in—gently! —until the dough comes together.
Too much flour and not enough water can cause crumbly bread – people often do this if the dough is too sticky and they add more flour rather than kneading through it. Other culprits can be overproving or not kneading enough – the things you need to do to get a good structure.
Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead very lightly 8 or 10 times (gathering it together more than kneading). Place the dough on a floured surface, sprinkle lightly with flour and gently roll out or pat into a sheet 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 2-inch rounds. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment.
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.
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.
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: You can use self-raising if you want to but there's really no need. The buttermilk and bicarb combined with plain flour give the scones a beautiful lift.
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.
It can be so tempting to keep opening the oven door to check on your scones, however each time you open the door you loose the heat that is kept inside and increase the cooking time. Try to leave your scones alone until the end of the cooking process and then quickly check them before removing.
Scones with fruit and wheat-free scones may take longer than others Increase baking times in 3 minute increments to test. Higher elevation will need less cooking time. To check if they are ready, press down on the top to check if firm to touch, they are READY.
If the dough doesn't spring back when pressed with a finger, or tears when you pull it, it needs more kneading. If it springs back immediately when lightly pressed, and doesn't tear when you pull it, it's been kneaded enough and is ready to rise.