To ask why I can't make scones and please give me a recipe?

[Polkadotpjs]

I have tried and failed around 6 times to make scones, each time becoming so disheartened that I've not tried again. BUT I have been craving a scone with jam and cream since February, not knowing I couldn't just pop out for one within weeks.
I can bake. I can cook. So why can't I make scones? Has anyone got a brilliant recipe (my mum told me she has a new one with Lemonade and cream??!! WTAF?
I need a big scone with dry edges not shiny
High rise, so I can break it apart , one half with butter and jam and the other with cream. Then maybe another half shared with a child. . For clarity I include images of bad scone and good scone below. Bad scone (left) is thin and shiny. Well done if you read this self indulgent nonsense. But I would love a good scone recipe Please. And any must do/ must not do tips. Like flora not butter or vice verse. Cold hands or other such shiz

I make them without a recipe. Quarter fat to flour. Chuck in 2oz (old school) castor sugar, or no sugar if doing cheese scones. Whizz in food processor. Drizzle milk on till it sticks together in a big lump of dough. Roll out a tiny bit, steady on the pressure. Pastry cutter into rounds. Re-squish... cut a few more. Dab milk on top of each one Bake 180c till brown and risen.

ballymaloe.ie/blog-item/ballymaloe-white-scones

Best scones ever

I use this one

www.rivercottage.net/recipes/classic-scones

I also use the bbcgoodfood one linked above. Warm the milk and add the lemon juice, really makes a difference, also yes to pat the dough not roll. Perfect scones every time.

Mmm just fancy a scone now (too late for me to eat though). Not sure what I prefer cheese or sweet one. I used to make them and the tips given are right, cold hands, don't mess with the mixture too much and make them quite thick. I've forgotten my recipe, but if it's cheese use extra mature.

Now that's harsh to keep a recipe😁. PM? I'll take it to the grave?

Bero! My grandmother, mum and I all make this recipe. It's perfect. But the trick is to handle the dough as little as possible. Do not manhandle, roll or pat at it loads. Literally just guide it into a round before cutting out.

To be honest, I'm not sure I'd describe the left side scones as bad I'd happily eat a flat shiny scone

Really really want one now...
Not sure I've enough flour for the secret recipe ones. Boo! Could half but halving 3 eggs makes my head hurt unless I weigh them?

Mary Berry's recipe is good, but there are lots of other recipes that also work well.

The best tips I found (also both from Mary Berry!) are to (1) handle the dough as little as possible, and (2) to keep it quite wet. Add extra milk if the mixture seems a bit dry.

As said before; thicker than you think, don't twist and don't let the egg wash drip down the side.

Agree with all tips above. Use strong white flour if you can get it, buttermilk instead of milk, minimal handling, thickly rolled, try to avoid re-rolling (or give the DC the re-rolled ones and keep the first cut for yourself 🤫) and when applying egg wash limit it to the top of the scones and try to avoid letting it drip as the drips will pull down the scone and stop it rising as beautifully as it should.

I use Rachel Allen’s recipe.
www.google.ie/amp/s/www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/8978/light-sweet-scones.amp

I don't roll mine out just pat into a rectangle about an inch and a half thick and cut into squares or rectangles saves handling the dough too much. As PP says hot oven.
I do:
1lb SF flour
2tsp Baking powder
4oz butter
4oz caster sugar
One medium egg
Enough milk or milk and yoghurt mixture to mix to stiff dough.
Too much egg seems to make them spread out too much and be too soft.
I don't bother glazing
The extra baking powder does make you a bit gassy if you eat too many though!

Polka use 2 eggs but keep a teeny bit aside for eggwash!

Forget your English scones and use an Irish recipe. We do good scones this side of the Irish Sea.

450g plain flour
1tsp bicarb
50g cold butter
75g caster sugar
250ml buttermilk

• Sieve flour and bicarb together
• Grate butter into bowl and then rub into flour using fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. (This will not take long at all)
• Add sugar and any additional flavourings (dried fruit, chocolate, lemon zest etc)
• Pour buttermilk into dry ingredients and using a table knife work it together quickly to form a soft dough.
• Lightly flour your work surface and press dough out to approx 2cm thickness. (No need to use a rolling pin)
• Either cut with a pastry cutter (taking care not to twist the cutter as this will hinder the rise) or cut into equal sized pieces with a dough scraper or large sharp knife.
• egg wash the top of the scones then bake in oven at 200C for approx 20min. (Less time if you cut the scones smaller)

(If your buttermilk more closely resembles yoghurt than slightly-thicker-than-normal milk then you may need a little more than 250ml but start with 250ml and add a little extra at a time until you have just enough to form a soft but not sticky dough.)

Exactly what @Ginfordinner said. If you don’t have any buttermilk, then use a mix of milk and natural yoghurt or sour some milk with a squirt of lemon juice.

Do not roll the dough!
Do not twist the cutter!

You can leave the egg out of you want but i think they are lighter with a bit of egg.

I use the BBC classic scones recipe too. I don't knead or roll it, just pat it into shape. It works every time (and, believe me, I'm not a natural baker!)

It's probably your hands not the recipie. So try touching the fat as little as possible either knife, food processor, or freeze and grate. If you have poor circulation you can basically do what you want and it comes out fine.

Although I'd suggest pain colour and baking powder over self raising for the fluffiness.

If you don’t want shiny, don’t egg wash the top. If you do egg wash, don’t get it on the sides, that eill stop them rising properly.

Gosh, everyone else's recipes are small quantities compared to mine but i have three large sons and tend to bake like a farmers wife or there's none left after two minutes!

If I make 15, they will be eaten but shouldn't be...my fear currently is that without checking I don't think I have ingredients for that recipe. I'd happily chomp through 3 then have a rest, then more. Yum

Rachel Allen recipe linked above is also very good but definitely more faffy - I do use it, but not all the time.

Avoca recipes also excellent. Their plain scones are to die for.

The recipe I relayed above however is my most common recipe - made several times a week in this house. Plain // raspberry white chocolate // cranberry white chocolate // lemon white chocolate // cranberry & chilean flame raisins // mars bar // crunchie // apple & cinnamon // pear & almond // pineapple & coconut // sundried tomato & cheese.