Looking for soft, buttery, flaky scones to serve at your next tea party? This basic Buttermilk Scones recipe is everything you need and more. I’ll share with you all my tips and tricks for the most tender, delicious scones in any flavor!
Fresh from the oven, the outside of these scones is crispy while the inside is soft and fluffy. These melt-in-your-mouth plain buttermilk scones are perfect the way they are, but it is super easy to spruce them up with mix-ins and any flavor your heart desires.
I love to serve these scones slightly warm with a cup of coffee for breakfast or with afternoon tea. If you must have something extra, a simple pat of butter and jam will do. Or get fancy with some:
How to make Scones
These basic Buttermilk Scones are made with lots of buttermilk of course, and some very cold butter for that delicious buttery taste and tender texture.
- Start by working the cubed butter to the dry ingredient mixture with the tips of your fingers until about pea and bean size. Make sure to use cold butter.
- Beat together buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Leave behind 1 – 2 tablespoon to use as egg wash later.
- Fold with a spatula until a shaggy dough forms.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it out into a rectangle, fold it over itself a few times. Finally, pat it into a circle about 1” thick.
- Cut into 8 triangles and transfer to a lined baking sheet. Brush with the reserved egg wash, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar just before baking.
Customizing your own buttermilk scones recipe
This is the best scone recipe for customization. You can easily add flavors using citrus zest or different flavor extracts and spices. You can fold in dried fruits, fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, pretty much anything you can think of!
- If you’re using any kind of citrus zest, mix the zest with sugar to release the essential oil before you mix all of the dry ingredients together.
- If you’re using ground spices, stir them into the dry ingredients before adding the cubed butter.
- If you’re using a different kind of extract, reduce the amount of vanilla called for in the recipe to ¼ – ½ teaspoon but don’t omit it altogether. Then add the additional extract in with the wet ingredients.
- If you’re using any kind of filling like dried fruits, fresh fruits, nuts, or chocolate chips, toss them into the flour mixture after you have finished working the butter in and just before adding the wet ingredients.
- If you’re using delicate fresh fruits like berries, you’ll want to skip the “fold the dough over itself” step to avoid squishing the berries. Just shape the dough into a disk right away.
Baker’s Tips
- Similar to making any type of pastry dough, you want to make sure the butter pieces are still visible within the dough. When the scones are baked at high temperature, the butter will melt leaving behind pockets, creating that flaky texture.
- While working with this buttermilk scone dough and any variation of it, use only as much extra flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Adding too much extra flour can dry out the scones. A slightly wet dough will yield softer scones once baked.
- Folding the dough over itself is a crucial step to create distinct layers and making the scones “flaky” when baked, with the exception when using berries for filling.
- These scones do spread because the dough is softer, refrigerating or freezing the dough before baking could help curb the spreading and allow them to rise higher.
- I like to use an insulated baking sheet for scones to keep the bottom of the scones from getting too brown. A regular baking sheet will work, but the bottom of the scones may get extra crispy.
- This recipe makes 8 fairly large scones, cut them smaller if you wish to make a batch of 12 mini scones. Bake the mini scones for about 15 minutes.
Storing and reheating
These scones will keep at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped individually in plastic for 3 – 5 days. They do not need to be refrigerated but will last longer in the fridge.
They are best when still slightly warm straight from the oven, but you can serve them at room temperature the next day, or warm them up in the microwave for 15 – 20 seconds. I like to wrap them in a damp paper towel when microwaving so they don’t dry out.
Unique scones recipe you’ll love
- Almond Scones (with homemade almond paste)
- Cinnamon Scones (coffee cake scones)
- (Starbucks) Cranberry Orange Scones
- Orange Scones with dried apricots
- Apple Pie Scones
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, send me a photo, rate it and don’t forget to tag me @wildwildwhisk on Instagram. I’d love to see what’s cooking up in your kitchen. Cheers!
Buttermilk Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cup all-purpose flour, 270 g
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 63 g
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 oz unsalted butter, cold & cubed, 113 g
- ⅔ cup buttermilk, 160 g
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Turbinado sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder into a large mixing bowl, add kosher salt and sugar, whisk to combine.
- Add cold cubed butter to the flour mixture, work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until all the butter pieces are about pea and lima bean size.
- Add egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract to a small bowl, whisk to combine. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid mixture, reserving 1 - 2 tablespoon to use as egg wash later. Fold with a spatula or wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board or countertop, and pat the dough out into a rectangle about 1/2” thick. Fold the dough over itself and pat it out again, do this about 3 - 4 times. Then shape the dough into a circle about 1” thick. Cut into 8 portions.
- Place the scones on the parchment-lined baking sheet, brush the top and sides with reserved egg wash, and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet 5 - 10 minutes before transferring the scones to the wire rack to cool completely. Best served warm.
Video
Notes
- Customize this recipe using citrus zest, different flavor extracts and spices, as well as adding filling such as dried fruits, fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, ect.
- Folding the dough over itself is a crucial step to create distinct layers and making the scones “flaky” when baked, with the exception when adding fresh berries for filling.
- This scone dough will spread, if you want it to be taller or spread less, you could freeze the dough after cutting it into 8 before baking or pat it out taller than 1”.
- This recipe makes 8 large scones, you can divide it into 12 smaller scones if you wish. Note that smaller scones will bake faster so you’ll need to adjust the baking time appropriately, about 15 minutes.
- I like to use an insulated baking sheet for scones to keep the bottom of the scones from getting too brown. A regular baking sheet will work, but the bottom of the scones may get extra crispy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
This post was originally published on 9/10/2018. The post has been updated and republished on 6/5/2020 with the latest improvements, extra tips, and a video to help you in the kitchen.
These were great, so easy and yummy! I added some cinnamon in the dough and on top. I have had a lot of bad experiences with online recipes but I think you’ve just gained my trust 🙂
Thank you so much Emma! I’m so happy to hear you like this recipe, I hope you try others and please let me know if you have any questions at all. I’m here to help and hopefully continue to keep your trust.
Delicious, fluffy, scones! First time using your recipe and they turned out better than I expected.😀
Thanks Barbara! I’m so happy to hear they exceeded expectations, yay!
Just made these this morning. They came out great and took no time at all. Next batch I’ll be adding some blueberries.
Excellent Arlene, I do have a blueberry scone recipe if you want to check it out for tips 🙂
The lightest fluffiest scones I’ve ever tasted or made! Absolutely delicious, even without the turbinado sprinkled on top. EXCELLENT recipe!! Going to try it next with different add-ins. Thank you Trang!
Thank you Audrey! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy these. The possibilities are unlimited with add-ins 🙂
WORST scone recipe ever. We have used lots of different recipes and this, by far, was the worst. I am not sure if the ratio of ingredients is incorrect but these spread out rather than puff up. They stuck to the parchment paper, too much butter for sure. I would cut the butter by one third for starters. The texture was horrible. Won’t be using this recipe EVER again.
Hi Karen, I’m sorry the recipe didn’t turn out for you. I’ve made these for many years and a lot of readers have made them successful. It sounds like perhaps something went wrong when you made this recipe, I’d be happy to help you troubleshoot if you ever decide to try it again. Thank you for giving it a try.
haha a Karen complaining like that, how quaint…
Dough is visibly very soft thay i need to add more flour..
Final result Golden baked tender buttery goodness and i choose to serve with decent slice of butter and generous dolop of softly whipped cream. Heaven.
I made your scones yesterday. My daughter said they were the best ones she had ever eaten. And that says a lot, considering she has tried a large variety throughout the years. I hope to serve my next batch with fresh strawberries and clotted cream. This will be my first attempt at making homemade clotted cream. So if you have a recipe you’re willing share, it will be the first choice. Thank you for what you do. Looking forward to the next recipe I use from your collection.
Thank you Grace! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the scones. I don’t have a recipe for clotted cream unfortunately… Be sure to let me know what you try next 🙂
“Gemma makes clotted cream for the first time” is the best video I watched. It’s short, sweet, and to the point! If you Google how to make it and then click on videos. I had to scroll down a bit to find it. She has long brown hair and wearing a blue dress. I hope you find this helpful and good luck!
I made these today amd they were wonderful!! I added some frozen diced strawberries (from strawberry season last summer) and they were delicious. Great recipe!!
The addition of strawberries sounds delicious! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
I made these tonight because I wanted to use up some buttermilk I had in the refrigerator. I added some cinnamon and fresh ground nutmeg. They were great! Light, tender and not dry at all. Will keep this recipe for sure. Thank you.
Thank you Kathy, I’m glad you like these 🙂
I had to raise an eyebrow at the egg…don’t know that I’ve ever come across a scone recipe with an egg in it. But this recipe produced the lightest, yummiest, most tender scone I’ve ever turned out! Only had a bit more than 1/3 C buttermilk, so used half-and-half for the remainder of the liquid. I also baked a bit longer…more like 23 minutes. And I added lots of cinnamon—and maybe next time cinnamon chips—for a taste that was perfect for a chilly November morning. Long story short, this is a fantastically flexible recipe that yields amazing results. It is going in the permanent collection for sure!
Thanks Shanna! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe, and here’s to more scones!