Are some people genetically unable to bake scones? It's the only answer

[MossWalk]

I make a nice sponge and a good apple pie.

I have tried BBC Goodfoods, Mary Berry, Delia....

Today I tried the Kerrygold recipe and they look like bread rolls.

WHERE am I going wrong?!

This thread is great, thanks! I'm definitely devoid of any scone baking talent despite being able to produce lovely cakes and breads. After reading all these tips I'll give it another go.

These are my scones. They are xmas tree shaped as I couldn’t be bothered to look for the right cutter. I made them with tea-milk and extra baking powder as I couldn’t get any self-raising flour in the shops.

I had good success at the weekend with this recipe:
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/teatimescones_77839/amp
I didn't add all the egg and milk mixture, and the dough was on the stickier side when I took it out the bowl, but I did add a fair amount of flour to my worktop. I kneaded it a little, then rolled out pretty thick, to around 2cm. I brushed the tops with the egg and milk mixture, as directed.

They came out really well. The only thing I can't manage is making decent looking scones with the rerolled scraps, they just gets cracks in them where the scraps have 'joined' (although still taste fine). Any tips on that? I don't want to throw away the edges.

Try this, it works every time;
2 mugs of flour, mixed with 4 tbsp sugar, then in a mug mix up an egg, 4tbsp oil and fill the rest up with milk then slowly add to the flour and sugar until you get a dough, then cut them out and bake at 180 for about 15 mins.
I promise you, they will be perfect.

If the mix is too sticky just add a small amount of flour to it

And it's self raising flour

@Fenlandmountainrescue OMG, Christmas Tree scones! Fabulous

I agree about not over working. I made scones once in a hurry. The mixture seemed too wet and not really well mixed but I shaped it into a squarish lump, no rolling at all and cut it into squares. They were the best scones I ever made. So light and fluffy.

I find most recipes include too much liquid. I add liquid a bit at a time until the mixture has the right doughy consistency, which is often only half to two-thirds of the recipe’s recommendation.

I’m trying to think of how to describe the right consistency - the mixture should hold together enough to pat into a circle without cracking badly or crumbling. If it’s at all sticky you’ve gone too far - you can add extra flour to get something vaguely scone-like, but the texture won’t be right.

DS(13) is the Sconemeister in our house. He made fantastic scones in a school cookery lesson, thereby landing himself with the job permanently. He did a great job on VE day.

When cutting don't "twist" the cutter

That (thanks, Graphista) is the downfall of many a potentially good scone. Saw this being done by the actor playing Cook in some period drama or other and made a great fuss about it all being WRONG. Realised everyone else was looking at me sort of sideways. But I know I was right!

A good sultana scone, spread with well-salted butter, is a simple thing of great beauty.

My grandmother made the most wonderful scones, she didn't weigh ingredients, just did it by eye. She grated frozen butter into the mix instead of rubbing the butter in, and used a splash of milk to bring the dough together.

I must have watched her make them hundreds of times. Can I make them? Absolutely not.

I can't make pastry either

I did them the other day with warm milk and a squeeze of lemon. I barely handled the mixture even though I was desperate to squidge out the breaks in the surface when I got to the cutting out stage but I stopped myself. They turned out lovely.

I've read the whole thread and I'm determined to try again. I will update!

Thanks everyone.

I am pretty shite at scones but I HAVE realised one thing in my quest to make good ones. THEY ARE BLOODY THICK BEFORE THEY GO IN THE OVEN. The recipe I used to use said roll out to 2cm thick - it’s not enough!!! Make them at least an inch thick before the little feckers even get near the oven door. Then they rise into little towers! (Or occasionally flop over but you’ll just have to eat those, oh dear.)

I use this recipe and they're great every time. If I want fruit i just put it in, without measuring.
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-scones-jam-clotted-cream

Same tips as above - absolute bare minimum handling, keep the dough thick. Also pull them up on the sides where the cutter has compressed the dough.

Mars bar crispy cakes OP, just use mars bars instead of chocolate, I sound all nonchalont but mine will go crumbly and refuse to stick together but DH’s are fab.

He can’t do pancakes like me though, we all gave our talents 😀

Mine clearly isnt typing though 😆

I'm quite a good cook but it irks me that I can't make Welsh cakes. Ffs I'm Welsh!

If you don’t mind how they look then you get much lighter scones by not rolling them out at all. Take about a dessert spoon of the mixture - mixed with a fork or knife til barely combined - very roughly and quickly shape in your hands and dollop onto baking tray. They come out looking a bit more rock cake than scone but they are much lighter for not having been rolled or handled and they taste like the best proper scones. It depends what’s important to you, personally I’d take substance over style every time!

You might not need all the milk the recipe tells you. Add a bit at a time so it doesn't go too sticky.

Pastry, bread, cakes all fine. Can’t make a scone. And I really bloody love a scone!

I make good scones. A bit scruffy looking maybe, but very light and well risen. My top tips are :

• absolute minimal handling. I use a food processor so no hot hands and I stop mixing the nanosecond the mixture comes together. I don't roll or use cutters. I just pat the clump of mixture into a very fat sausage shape and slice it into fat discs with a knife. Very lightly re-shape them into rounds using palms of my hands.
• A very hot oven. Preheated. 220'/200'fan.
• Work fast. Don't fanny about too much with shaping and get them in the oven as quickly as possible.

I use a Nigella recipe which I've tweaked over the years. I think her method, which talks about kneading, is all kinds of wrong so I ignore that.

250g plain flour
2 pinches salt
1tsp bicarb
2tsp cream of tartar
25g cold butter
15g Trex
150ml milk left to curdle a few minutes with a small splosh of vinegar or squirt of lemon juice

Whizz dry ingredients and fats in food processor until like damp sand. Add milk, you may not need all of it. The mixture should be very soft but not sticky. Turn out and shape as above. This makes 6 large or 8 medium scones.

My favourite thing to add is glacé cherries .

I don't think it can be genetics as all of my female relatives on both sides of the family make good scones. Can I? No.