What am I doing wrong with scones?

[WinkyisbackontheButterBeer]

I love a good scone. With butter, jam, cream or just on their own but I cannot, for the life of me, make a decent one.
I am a decent baker. My sponge cakes are always good, as are my biscuits. My brownies are a thing of beauty. But alas, the simple fruit scone is beyond me.

They are always to heavy, too hard and crumbly and could possibly be useful for holding down small children in high winds.
So please, clever people of mumsnet, tell me how to make a decent scone.

[BenWillbondsPants]

I use a mix of buttermilk with a little milk and find that since I've been using a pastry cutter they come out much better. They taste great now!

[KarenThompson69]

Pronouncing them wrong

[Gottoloveabagel]

Oh yes never save scones they really need to be eaten on the day they are made. They might be able to be saved by warming but it's never the same!

[Taichipandas]

The best recipe for (very light) scones I have come across contains creme of tartar.

[Reallybadidea]

They look great! BUT scones are significantly better the day they are baked. They dry out very quickly - if you usually eat a day or two after baking that might explain why you've not been happy with them.

[Gottoloveabagel]

Buttermilk has really improved my scones!

[WinkyisbackontheButterBeer]

I don’t mean the weekend. I mean tomorrow. For some reason it is Friday in my head.

[WinkyisbackontheButterBeer]

Well, they certainly look better than usual but we are saving them for the weekend.

I used the good food recipe with the lemon juice but added fruit and put a tea towel over them while they cooled. The dough felt much lighter than usual.
Hopefully will taste good too.

Thank you all.

[SallyOMalley]

I use the same recipe as lights camera action. I'm no baker, but I can turn out mean scone! This recipe creates towering scones!

[blodynmawr]

I second the Paul Hollywood recipe posted by Stationeryqueen. I literally stir it all together and minimise the amount of handling/kneading to give a light texture.
Made a batch on Monday. They keep well and they are still fine today - warmed in oven for 5 min.

[RNBrie]

I use delia's recipe too. Handle the dough as little as possible, roll the dough much thicker than you expect and don't twist the cutter.

[WinkyisbackontheButterBeer]

Right. Thank you all. I am feeling inspired. Lots to think about there.
It sounds like I am overworking the dough and have indeed been using a rolling pin and cooling uncovered.
I am going to have a look at the recipes and have a crack at some on Wednesday.
Thank you all so much.

Oh, and jam then cream. Obviously!

[242Mummy]

I hardly touch the dough! Use the pastry cutter blade of your Magimix or equivalent piece of kitchen equipment and blitz till it comes together - don't rub in.

Pop onto work surface, push gently together, approx 1.5" thick then cut out. Always works for me!

[greenfrog21]

Have you tried Delia's recipes? I don't bake a huge amount and would by no means call myself a natural cook, but made Delia's plain scones and cheese scones last week for DD2's 1st birthday and they were both delicious. She has a fruit scone recipe too I think, which I've not tried.

[CatalogueUniverse]

I was taught to use a knife to bring the dough together helps with the over working.

[LightsCameraAction]

This is the recipe I use - lemon juice to replicate buttermilk, very little handling, pat rather than roll and place on a hot roasting tin. Always delicious.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4622/classic-scones-with-jam-and-clotted-cream

[Julykthat]

This is a fail safe recipe:
8oz self raising flour
3oz soft butter
1.5oz caster sugar
1 egg beaten with buttermilk (but ordinary milk will do fine) to 5 floz

Rub butter into flour. Stir in caster sugar and any flavours you want (cinnamon, Cocoa, ginger) or fruit (raisins, chocolate chips, etc) then stir in egg/buttermilk mix until you have a fairly firm, not too wet mix. Cut into the shape you want at the height you want, brush with extra beaten egg and sprinkle with demarara sugar and bake at 225°c for 15 -20mins or until golden.

The important bit is to cut them high and bake them hot!

[BoreOfWhabylon]

Wolfmy Cream Scone Woman was Australian!

[IrenetheQuaint]

Marking place as I am in the OP's position!

[Reallybadidea]

Oh and I use a mixture of yogurt and milk instead of buttermilk/adding lemon juice.

[Raera]

A few drops of lemon juice into the milk and then micro zap for about 20 seconds

[RaggeddeeAnn]

Hard to know what you are doing wrong. Perhaps you are rolling the dough? You just want to handle it gently and lightly hand mould each scone in a cutter. Don’t press it too hard. Perhaps you let them cool uncovered as this would result in hard crust? Just cover them with clean damp tea towel to cool. Too crumbly? May be putting in too much fruit so that the dough can’t hold together?
Also may be flour? I prefer strong white bread flour to plain flour for scones & breads.

[BoreOfWhabylon]

I once kew someone who would whip up perfect scones at the drop of a hat. She used cream instead of milk/butter etc.

I've never tried it but apparently it's a Thing

www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/8819796/Cream-scones-recipe.html

[Wolfcubisthefemalenominal]

Master chef Australia lemon and date scone recipe - uses cream. You don’t need to add the lemon or dates

Don’t roll out, just bring is to the roughly right shape with your hands and cut out

Push the cutter straight down and lift it straight off. Don’t twist.

Don’t let the milk or egg wash run down the sides of the scone

[Holymosquito]

As above, a wet dough and rough and ready, if it takes longer than 5 minutes to throw together you’re doing it wrong! try to cut as many out of the first batch as possible - as you bring the dough back together for the next cut it gets tougher. Never knead the dough just a quick mix is fine.