Fruit Scones!
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Delicious, light, and buttery fruit scones that are perfect for afternoon tea – Serve with jam & clotted cream for a classic treat!
Tea and scones
I love afternoon tea, and I LOVE scones. I have always been slightly obsessed with them, especially when I go down to Cornwall on holiday as they just seem to be that much better.
You guys also seem to love a scone just as much as I do! For example, my lemon and blueberry scones, cheese scones, and my white chocolate and cranberry scones. They alway manage to get such a better reception than I anticipate and it surprises me every time!
Variations of a classic
My classic buttery scones have always been a popular recipe to go to, especially on weekends such as Father’s day and Mother’s day, and I have wanted to post another delicious recipe in a while. I did also post my white chocolate & cranberry scones which proved to be popular as they were ‘different’.
I have wanted to post my alternative to my classic buttery scones for a while as I have made them countless times, but they’re always gone before the photos could be taken
With this recipe, a couple of little things changed. I obviously added in the sultanas to make them fruit scones! I increased the milk just slightly, and the same with the butter, and it makes the perfect difference because of the addition of the fruit.
The risk of adding dried fruit is that it can dry out, but the extra little touch of butter & milk has prevented that. Admittedly, my scones never look perfect, but why should they? It proves they’re homemade
The perfect texture
For me, the perfect fruit scone is light, buttery, and just slightly crumbly when you break it open. It should feel soft in the centre without being doughy, and golden on the outside without being hard. That balance is everything.
The key is not to overwork the dough. Folding it gently and handling it as little as possible keeps the texture fluffy rather than tough. The more you knead, the denser they’ll become, and nobody wants a heavy scone.
Admittedly, my scones never look perfectly uniform. Some rise more than others, some lean slightly to one side, and I actually love that. It proves they’re homemade and baked with care rather than churned out in a factory.
Jam & clotted cream
I always always always serve my scones with clotted cream. Then, I either add in fresh strawberries for example, or jam, but clotted cream is a MUST. I use Rodda’s clotted cream because it’s just perfection, and suits a fresh scone ideally.
I tend to lean towards strawberry jam, but any flavour will work! Whether you put jam then cream, or cream then jam is the million dollar question… but hey! I do one of each to keep both sides of the battle happy! These are such a classic recipe, yet so easy and fun to bake for all the family.
Tips & tricks
- You could easily make this mix and use a smaller cutter so that the scones are more delicate which I often do. I then usually get 12 out of the mix then
- I use this scone cutter
- They do last in an airtight container for 2-3 days. I also freeze them for up to 3 months!
- You can use plain flour, and use 2tsps baking powder instead
- You can swap the milk and lemon juice for buttermilk. Skip the heating stage and just add it to the dough.
Fruit Scones
Ingredients
- 100 g unsalted butter (cold/cubed) (not baking spread)
- 1 tsp baking powder (optional)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 350 g self raising flour (plus extra for dusting)
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 185 ml whole milk (warm)
- 125 g sultanas
- 1 medium egg (beaten, to glaze)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 220ºc/200ºc fan/430F and place a lined baking tray in the oven to preheat.
- In a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar mixture until breadcrumbs are formed.
- Alternatively, tip the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and butter into a food processor and pulse until it resembles bread crumbs
- Add the lemon juice to the dry mixture with the vanilla
- Slowly add the warm milk. Mix in while you add in the liquid as you may not need all of it - you can do this with a spatula, or still in the food processor
- Fold/knead through the sultanas until even
- Dust the work surface with some flour and tip the dough onto it - fold the dough over a few times so it is smooth but do not over work it
- Flatten the dough out until it is about 5cm thick
- Dip a 5cm round cutter into the spare flour and cut out the scones
- Flatten out the dough again and cut the rest out until the dough is all used up - trying not to over work the dough
- Add the scones to the tray and brush the tops with the beaten egg so it's glazed.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Leave to cool slightly when baked, and enjoy!
Notes
- You could easily make this mix and use a smaller cutter so that the scones are more delicate which I often do. I then usually get 12 out of the mix then
- I use this scone cutter
- They do last in an airtight container for 2-3 days. I also freeze them for up to 3 months.
- You can use plain flour, and use 2tsps baking powder instead
- You can swap the milk and lemon juice for buttermilk. Skip the heating stage and just add it to the dough.
Jsut made scones for the first time I made 1 less then the recipe states so have them extra 5 mins in the oven they are still abit doughy in the middle however? Any advice
They sound underbaked – it likely needed a little longer if they were larger! x
How can i make the breadcrumbs if i dont have a food processor, i have a salted stand mixer can i use that? or just my fingers ?
I’d just use your fingertips in a bowl!
Hi. I’m not keen on the after taste of baking powder, can you taste it in this recipe please?
Mine have taken longer than 10mins and are still flat? I used all the correct ingredients
Hi, what does the lemon juice do and can it be left out at all? Thanks!
It creates a buttermilk and helps the scones rise so it should be kept in x
Need to bake one hundred scones can I crumb flower and butter the night before put in fridge and add all other ingredients next morning
Made these fruit scones twice now and they are the best recipe I have tried , thank you.
So glad you like them!
Wow these are the best scones I have ever made
I’ve just made these using the 5cm cutter and they came out really small. Do you have a link to the one you use? They look bigger in your pictures?
I had the same issue, I just used a bigger cutter. I made 6, instead of 8
Nowhere near baked after 10 mins I’m afraid
Hi all can you put a recipe up for cheese scones too xx
There is one on my blog already!
Hello, I made the scones and they look devine! I froze them once cooled. How long should I reheat them in the oven for and do I cook them from frozen. Thanks.
Hiya! 5-8 mins in the oven at 160ºc should be fine, hope this helps! x
Thank you Jane!!!
Great recipe- 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 I followed it exactly as described and the scones came out absolutely delicious and with perfect consistency!
Hi Jane,
Thank you for a great recipe. I’m living in Germany and out of self raising flour. Can I use plain flour?
Hiya! You can make your own! For every 150g plain flour, use 2 level tsp baking powder whisked in before using. Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane, anytime I try to make scones they end up really flat. I was hoping this time would be different but they were very edible but flat. What am I doing wrong?
Hiya! Do they spread at all during baking? Maybe try to roll the dough out less, and try to push straight down with your cutter to avoid tearing the dough! x
I have made these today with my 6 year old for an afternoon tea picnic at his school tomorrow. They are so quick and easy to make, even without a food processor, and so delicious! I’ve made scones in the past but they were a bit dry and claggy. This is now my go to recipe for scones. We got 16 small circles and 4 odd shape triangles out of the mix and even those are not dry or overworked at all even with being rolled up again and again. I did put sultanas and cherries in them though as my boy loves glacé cherries! Thank you Jane.
Just made your scone recipe amazing so lovely and soft . My hubby says i need to stop baking as your recipes are so addictive & hes putting on weight lol . Thank you Jane so much as you have made get back to baking again . i have made many of your cakes & cheesecakes they have always turned out well. my hubby loves the biscoff ice cream so didn’t last long in our house
Hi.
Do you have a recipe /advice for cherry scones? Please?
And,
Do you have a scone recipe using buttermilk please?
Thank you.
Hiya! Use this recipe with cherries instead of the different fruit! Hope this helps! x