Scones - who doesn't love them. You are going to nail these. The ingredients list is small as is the equipment list - therefore not much washing up. You will be eating these yummy delights within 30 minutes. You have about 15 -16 scones to enjoy with your fam. If you want to make these gluten free, just swap out the flour for gluten free self raising flour.
If you don't need these detailed instructions and are ready to cook
then scroll down to the bottom of the page for just the recipe.
1) Firstly - Clear the decks and feed the pet – you can’t begin until you have your house in order. What I mean by that is I have found I always make mistakes when I get distracted or work in a mess. Ok so maybe this easy recipe for scones won’t be a game changer but as you start to build on your cooking skills, getting your house in order is so important to successful and happy baking.
· feed the pets
· make a cuppa
· empty the dishwasher (or load it if you couldn’t be bothered the night before)
· if you have little ones, change their nappy and feed them
· check your mobile and emails if you need to
· make room on your kitchen bench – I learnt the hard way by losing a cake over the edge :( all because I refused to move the fruit bowl
· wipe down the kitchen bench
· place current dishcloth and tea towel in laundry and grab a fresh set
· wash your hands
2) Now - Grab all your ingredients and place them on the kitchen bench –
· self-raising flour
· salt
· and cooking oil spray such as canola
· some milk - about 1/5 cup and a pastry brush if you have one
. regular cream
. some water
. a medium sized mixing bowl
. a sieve
. a wooden spoon
. a cup for measuring out your flour - not a big coffee mug size, more tea cup size
. a measuring jug for your water if you have one
. some paper towel
. something round in your kitchen to cut out your scones. It needs to have a diameter of approximately 6.5cm (2 1/2") and needs to have quite thin edges to slice through the dough. I use a small drinking glass.
. a baking tray
and to put on your scones
· double thick or dollop cream (leave in fridge until needed)
. strawberry or raspberry jam
3) Turn your oven on to 220 celsius fan forced or 428 fahrenheit
4) Spray your baking tray with oil spray
5) So let's now prepare your mixture
Place your sieve over the top of your mixing bowl and with your cup measure out 4 cups of your self raising flour each time placing a cup of flour into the sieve. Leave any flour that you have spilt on your kitchen bench as that will come in handy for when you knead your dough. So that's 4 cups of SR Flour. Then grab your salt and pour some salt into the palm of your hand. You want a good pinch of salt, approximately 1/4 teaspoon. Now place that into the sieve. Shake through the flour and salt into your bowl. Now pop your sieve in the sink.
With your cream open it up and pour 300mls of it into the flour and salt mixture. Here in Aus luckily cream comes in 300ml pots, but if not just approximate 300mls.
Water - If you have a measuring jug - measure out 300mls and pour that into the mixture or if you don't have a jug, use the cup that you used to measure out the flour and fill it to the top and pour that in. Now you are going to need to fill the cup again 1/5th full and pour that in to your mixture. 300mls total. Place your cup and measuring jug in the sink.
With your wooden spoon give the mixture a stir - it's going to be sticky and hard to stir. Just do it long enough to blend the ingredients together.
Sprinkle your bench surface with some SR Flour and also in your hand. Now with your hands remove the mixture onto the bench - the ingredients aren't all going to be blended together so that what you are going to do now. Just sort of fold over bits of the mixture onto other bits until you see that most of the flour as spread through the cream and water. Use more flour on your bench and hands as you need it. It's important not to use too much flour though - just enough to stop it sticking to the bench and your hands. You are definitely still going to have it on your fingers and bench top though but you need enough flour so that you can knead your mixture into a dough. This should only take a couple of minutes. You don't want to over knead it or be too heavy handed.
So once your mixture is combined gently push down over the surface of the mixture to have it approximately 2.5cm/1" thick. It doesn't need to be that accurate - in fact I like it better scones are different size heights. Take your cutter ( a glass) and punch out your scones. Re knead your remaining dough and go again until most of your dough has been used. Now place your uncooked scones on your oven tray. You can place them quite closely together as they don't spread that much but boy do they rise - so make sure you have your temperature set correctly as that burst of heat puffs your scones up.
Give your scones a light glazing of milk using your pastry brush or if you don't have one use the back of a teaspoon to spread the milk over the scones.
6) Place your scones in the oven to bake for 12 mins.
You will also have time to now
- pop away your ingredients
- wash the existing dishes that are in the sink.
- have a sip of your cuppa.
7) Remove your scones from the oven and let cool down a bit.
. Serve with jam and cream.
10) Eat and Enjoy - Well done – you CAN cook…
NOTES
Simple Ingredient Changes to Suit Your Dietary Requirements
Gluten free – replace the self-raising flour with gluten free self raising flour.
Storage Requirements
Bench - best kept on your kitchen bench and eaten immediately while fresh and warm. Then pop in a sealed container for the next few days.
Refrigerate - in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Can be gently reheated in microwave before eating.
Freezer – freeze uncooked portions - wrap them in glad wrap individually, then when you want one simply pop it in your oven and cook at the required temperature and for the required time.
SCONES RECIPE
Prep time- 13 mins Cooking time – 12 mins Makes - 15-16
Ingredients
· 4 cups self-raising flour
· ¼ teaspoon salt
· 1 1/4 cups (300mls) cream
· 1 1/4 cups (300mls) water
· milk for glazing
· cooking oil spray
· jam and cream to serve
Method
. Preheat oven to 220C / 428F
. Sift flour and salt into a medium bowl. Gradually stir in cream and water until combined, then tip out mixture onto a floured surface and lightly knead to a soft dough.
. Pat out dough to be 2.5cm / 1" thick.
.Cut into rounds of 6.5cm / 2 1/2".
. Place scones onto lightly sprayed oven tray, lightly brush tops with milk.
. Bake in oven for 12mins or until scones are lightly browned.
· Serve with jam and cream..