The most delicious homemade Scones couldn’t be easier to make, with a few basic ingredients. You can adapt them to add any mix-ins you like.
If you’re a fan of easy baked goods you must try our Cinnamon Roll Biscuits, Homemade English Muffins, Cranberry Orange Muffins, or Lemon Blueberry Bread!
Homemade Scones are a snapshot of my childhood
Homemade Scones are a snapshot of my childhoodWe can all thank Momma Bailey for this beautifully simple, and insanely good, scones recipe.
There’s no quicker way to get my kids out bed! Picture a flakey, tender biscuit, married with an old-fashioned glazed donut. YUM. And they’re fool-proof for any level of baker.
This scones recipe is a launching point for any flavored scones, like blueberry, chocolate chip, orange scones, and popular peach scones.
How to make Scones:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make Dough: Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate the frozen butter and add to dry mixture. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the butter. Combine yogurt, cream, egg, and vanilla until well blended. Add to dry mixture along with craisins (or other add-ins) then use a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients in until it starts to come together in large clumps.
Cut and Bake: Gently knead mixture by hand (in the mixing bowl) just a few times until it comes together in a ball. Try not to handle the dough too much (we want the butter to stay cold, and the scones to be tender and not tough). Dust a clean surface with a little flour then gently pat and shape into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 16-18 minutes.
Enjoy: Make glaze by combining powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp milk and stirring until smooth. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before drizzling the glaze on top. These are best served the day they are prepared.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The dough for scones can be made one day in advance, covered and refrigerated. When ready to bake, place cold scones on lined baking sheet and bake as instructed.
To Freeze Scones Dough: place cut scones in freezer to flash freeze for 1 hour, then place partially frozen scones in a freezer safe container for 2-3 months. Thaw completely overnight in the refrigerator before baking. To Freeze Baked Scones, cool completely then store in a freezer safe container for 2-3 months. Thaw completely, or warm 20 seconds in the microwave before eating.
Add-Ins and Variations:
- Mix-ins: Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries, chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, dried cranberries or raisins.
- Orange Scones: Replace vanilla with fresh orange juice and add 1 tsp of orange zest to the glaze.
- Peach Scones
- Vegan Scones: Substitute vegan butter, vegan yogurt, flax egg, and replace heavy whipping cream with coconut milk.
- Gluten-Free Scones: Substitute gluten free flour.
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Recipe
Classic Pastry Scones
Ingredients
Scones:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup frozen unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup favorite mix-ins like Craisins, fresh or frozen blueberries, chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, dried cranberries or raisins
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Grate in frozen butter to dry mixture. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the butter.
- Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, cream, egg, and vanilla until well blended.
- Combine: Add to the dry mixture along with craisins (or other add-ins) and use a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients in until it starts to come together in large clumps. Gently knead mixture by hand (in the mixing bowl) just a few times until it comes together in a ball. Try not to handle the dough too much.
- Shape and cut: Dust a clean surface with a little flour and drop dough on top. Gently pat and shape into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 16 – 18 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before drizzling the glaze on top. These are best served the day they are prepared.
- Glaze: Add powdered sugar to a mixing bowl with 1 Tbsp milk and stir until smooth. Add additional milk, if needed. Drizzle over scones.
Notes
Nutrition
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I first shared this recipe January 2014. Updated March 2020 and May 2024.
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Excellent and so easy!!! Of course the children chose chocolate chips… maybe blueberries next time. A big hit!!!!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. 🙂
I made this recipe gluten free with King Arthur’s 1 for 1 flour and a bit of plantain flour to give it a whole grain quality and it turned out well! Didn’t add any extra xantham gum or other starches and it still held together.
Your recipe and the comments sound wonderful! I’m hoping to make them with items I would have on hand. Can I double the Greek yogurt in place of the heavy whipping cream or is there a pantry item substitute that might work to substitute for the heavy cream? Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Do you think I could make a rhubarb scone? Would I need to add more sugar?
Yes, you can definitely make rhubarb scones! Since rhubarb is quite tart, adding a bit more sugar to the dough can help balance the flavors.
If I could give this recipe 10 stars I would. I made these this morning. They are the best scones I (and my family) have ever tasted. They were so light and fluffy. Family has requested I make a double batch tomorrow morning. Thank you for sharing this simply delicious recipe. And Happy Mother’s Day!
This scone recipe is absolutely wonderful! I used sour cream and whole milk in place of the Greek yogurt and heavy whipping cream! My husband loved it!
Quick and easy! I added a 1/2tsp of cinnamon and a mixture of dried fruits. Fabulous! I also dropped them by tbs on the cookie sheet (easier to eat on the go).
Made these Saturday morning and they were the bomb- added dried Montmorency cherries and these were delightful not a hard biscuit type but soft and luscious
Omgosh this recipe was the best!
Definitely will make again ty!
These were so good, I can’t wait to make them again! They were flaky and delicious! I added dried cranberries and a little orange juice and they were wonderful. Thank you!
Would all purpose wheat flour work too?
My teenaged son needed to make scones for a class project for the Victorian Era and I knew there would be a good one on Tastes Better From Scratch. I was right! These scones turned out amazing! We used Ocean Spray cherry juice-infused dried cranberries and chopped them up into small pieces. Everyone in our family thought they were incredibly delicious and he’s excited to share them with his class. I’ll definitely make these again and try blueberries or mini-chocolate chips or orange juice and zest. Yum!
OMIGOSH! I have tried a gazillion scone recipes over the years, all with little satisfaction.
I’ve finally found the PERFECT recipe. Thank you, Lauren! When these came out of the oven I just stood there looking at them, I couldn’t believe they came out of MY kitchen. I was like, “Did I make those?” Then I tasted one, was even more impressed. Truly the perfect scone recipe! I added mini choc chips, skipped the glaze. I will be making these again and again and AGAIN. 🥰
One word “Amazing”
I hosted a tea this weekend and used your scone recipe. My guests commented that they were the best scones they’ve ever had! Flaky on the outside, but soft on the inside…so delicious! I used organic whole dried cranberries.
These were so tasty and much more airy than I expected. Will keep this recipe and use it again.
You can’t mess these up! I was out of heavy cream so substituted 1/2 & 1/2, just diced cold butter since I didn’t have any time for freezing it (and had to use salted butter cause I didn’t have unsalted), and lastly my oven runs hot. And they still came out divine! My mix in was fresh blueberries and they were the best fruit scones I’ve had. There is no excuse not to try these.
This recipe was delicious! The scones were a perfect balance of a crunchy outer crust and slightly moist inside. These were lite in texture and not heavy like some scones can be. I added my mix in’s of dried cranberries, zest from one orange, orange juice and Vanilla bean paste. They were a hit!
Ok I just made these this morning. I used coconut sugar instead of regular sugar and these are the BEST scones I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for the recipe!!
These look really Yummy. I’m wondering if fresh raspberries would work. Or would they be too wet?
You could try it but I think freeze dried strawberries may turn out better.
Really good recipe. Easy to follow. I made blueberry and they were moist and lasted for days after baking!! These will be a staple in my home.
Made these, and it is excellent. I added 1/2 teas almond extract as well, along with dried cherries. (Later I tried 1/2 almond flour for some more protein and it was terrific, good texture.) I have made this my go to for scones. Thanks a bunch.
These are fantastic! They are a new favorite for everyone in my house. I used my handed down cast iron scone pan for these. I swapped the plain Greek yogurt for honey Greek since it’s a big container and my kids will scarf down whatever yogurt is left over. They won’t eat plain though. Cut the sugar to under 1/4 cup since the yogurt has sugar and the craisins are sweet as well. I just eyeballed the frosting, making about half of the recipe amount and it was more than plenty. Oh and I love the butter/grater trick. I hadn’t tried that before.
Can I use sour cream instead of Greek yogart
Yes, that should work!
I made the dough into an 8 inch circle but cook time was 24 minutes. My oven is calibrated correctly. Any thoughts? Any easier ideas for grating the frozen butter? I used the finest grate cut.
I use the biggest whole on my box grater and it’s really easy!
Best I can figure is be sure to ‘cut and separate’ into triangles. There must be space between pieces for adequate cooking.
Thank you for this recipe! The place we used to get scones closed during Covid and will not reopen at the location nearest us. I had been wanting to try making my own and this recipe was the perfect solution. There are easy substitutions online for ingredients you might not use often enough such as heavy whipping cream. I did not make the glaze but added some orange zest to the scones along with dried cranberries. Will definitely make this again.
You absolutely nailed it on this one. I’ve been making scones every weekend for about 6 months and this is my go-to recipe. I’m good at following a recipe but venturing off with changes makes me sweat, yikes! I would love to try a pumpkin spice scone. Have you tried this? If so, how did you adjust the recipe for the pumpkin puree?
Am a baker at a hotel and i like your scones with the step by step guide in making them it helps plse keepup the good works
A forgiving and versatile recipe. I made a double batch of these this morning. No yogurt or heavy cream on hand and I was not going to the store. Son for the yogurt, I subbed in roughly an equal amount of low fat Philly cream cheese, that I’m trying to use up, and for the heavy cream, about the same amount of sour cream with some water. I don’t measure when using subs so it’s “some.” If needed, I adjust liquids when mixing the dough using a spray bottle for better distribution. Turned out perfectly.
I have been wanting to make scones for a while now. It was helpful to watch the video. They came out so good! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
If I wanted to make lemon scones how much lemon juice would I use
Had these at my daughters home today, hands down , these are perfect scones .. SO soft , and flavour full .
She kept them plain and split them when baked , homemade raspberry jam on one side , and whipped cream in the other.
Amazing! Well done Christina !
My daughter made these –
1. Dried cherries with almond extract. Almond extract in glaze as well and then sliced almonds on the top.
2. Blueberry with lemon zest. Lemon juice and lemon zest in the the glaze.
AMAZING!
Thank you for sharing your recipe and tips. This was my first scone success and they came out so amazing. Jumping up and down!!! Can’t wait to try the other flavors. Have you ever done this with a savory twist?
Love these! Make them with cranberries and honeyed pecans!
These turned out amazing. I did not have Greek yogurt and used full fat plain yogurt and it was perfect.
I made two batches, one with home made cranberry jelly left over from Christmas holiday, and one with frozen blueberries and lemon zest. Both are awesome. I had to add significant extra cooking time, and after the initial bake, I lowered the temp 25 degrees and added time. I didn’t want to overcook the outside. I recommend using fresh berries not frozen because they are too wet when cooking. Still delicious flavor with the combination with lemon zest.
These scones are easy and fun to make. I made cranberry orange scones and they turned out amazing.
So easy and so delicious!
Thank you!
Easy to do and delicious!
I will prepare more trying the other variants!
Wow! These were amazing. I’ve never tried making this type of scone before. I wanted something different for breakfast and found your recipe. I’ve been perusing more of your recipes. I’m hooked. Thank you so much. And can I say I love that there are not twenty ads as I try to scroll through the post? Thanks again. I look forward to following you.
It was sooooo delicious like heaven.
The Best and Easiest scone recipe ever! I added chocolate chips and Heath bits. I also used sour cream instead of yogurt. Yum!
I added in 1 diced apple tossed with 1 tbsp flour and butterscotch chips….. Oh my delicious….
Froze batch of apple, dried tart cherries and choc chips…. See how they come out later…. Loved the recipe.
Yum! I made these for mother’s day brunch. I added the zest and juice of one orange to the batter, then combined orange juice, orange zest, and powdered sugar for the glaze. Very delicious, and very orange-y, just how I like it! They were flaky and delicious. Will make this again with endless variations.
I don’t usually comment or review things online but I have to talk about these scones. I made them a few weeks ago (the orange version) and they are AMAZING! I am not an advanced baker by any means, and they turned out so good! A few days later I made two more batches, one using lemon to replace the orange and another using lemon but adding some fresh berries (blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries) we had left over! They turned out with a blue/red swirl in them and both were so delicious. I have to say the orange was my favorite though. Thank you so much for this recipe!! I can’t wait to bake more of these!
I’m so happy you have enjoyed them so much! Thank you for taking the time to comment!
It’s delicious
These turn out so light and fluffy.
My husband, son and his girlfriend can’t wait until I bake them again.
Thank you for such an easy and yummy recipe
This recipe is a total winner!
How much butter, please? Thanks-
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter, it shows in the ingredient list