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.
Delicious… I used 50 whole wheat flour and added frozen blueberries. Thanks
Can u use powdered buttermilk in place of liquid buttermilk? Thanks
I have never used powdered buttermilk before but I think you should be able to use it with water as a substitution.
Ththe ratio seems really off the dough was extreamly wet and i was unable to roll it it was more like cupcake batter, 240g of flour 2/3 cup of butter milk and an egg. Way too wet!
In my recipe, 2 cups of flour is 270g. Did you hold back some liquid to use as egg wash? Dough is wetter than normal but shouldn’t be like cupcake batter. You can still use extra flour to help it not stick to the counter but remember that you don’t want a dry dough because the scones will come out dry.
So delicious and easy to make ! Thank you 😋😋😋☕️
Trang, these were perfect; thank you! Before today, I’d always made scones using heavy cream. Using buttermilk piqued my interest. SO glad that I tried this…and so is my husband. I put a slight twist on ours by reducing the vanilla to 1/2 tsp, then adding 1/2 tsp of hazelnut extract and about 1/2 c toasted chopped pecans. Yum! Many thanks for what I think is my new favorite scone recipe. 🙂
Thanks Ree!! I love the additional of pecans and hazelnut extract. You could try it with maple extract too if you like maple. This is such a versatile recipe that could be a base for so many delicious scones to come. Thank you for visiting and try it 🙂
Would I somehow be able to sweeten with maple syrup instead of sugar?
Yes, you can but you may want to hold back the buttermilk since maple syrup will add more liquid to the batter. I would sub the same amount of maple syrup for sugar, then try using 1/2 cup of buttermilk mixed with egg, hold back some for egg wash as the recipe directed. Hope that helps. If the batter is too wet just use extra flour when you roll it out, remember that you don’t want this dough to be too dry so the scones come out softer.
Thanks for this recipe, worked perfectly (even with my own homemade buttermilk). I baked these in the oven of our fireplace (saves electricity!) and it’s absolutely fluffy !
These scones turned out so beautifully! My first time making scones. I weighed the flour and sugar. I added 3/4C dried cranberries and maybe a 1/4 C of slivered almonds I had on hand. I just chopped them a little finer. Also half vanilla and half almond extract. I did freeze them for 25 min before baking. At our high altitude (3800 ft) they only needed 20 min. Will probably only do 18 min next time. The buttermilk/egg coating with turbinado sugar put them over the top!! Thank you Trang! I will definitely be making more variations in the future.
Thanks Donna!! So glad to hear you enjoy these, I love the variation you made. Almond extract is amazing.
Where do I find the quantities of the ingredients?
There is a recipe card at the end of the post.
I much prefer using pastry flour and caster or baker’s sugar. I do not no why the superfine sugar improves the result, but I think it’s indispensable for shortbread, and use it in scones as well.
Sorry. “know” not “no.”
Oh my dayss best recipe everrrrr😌😌
Glad to hear you enjoyed these scones! 🙂
Best scones ever
I have them with wild thimbleberry jam
OK I tried to make these twice…and the dough was literally like glue (and I’ve made scones before…). A genuine waste of ingredients ,I feel. I did use frozen butter the second time and refrigerated the dough before baking…came out just the same . Never again!
Hi Kim, sorry this recipe didn’t work for you. This is a wet dough and a bit sticky, not like a dry bread dough. Keeping the work surface well floured could help and using a bench scraper will prevent you having to touch the dough too much. But I totally understand if you hesitate to try this again. Thank you for giving it a chance and even making it twice!
I may have found out why some have struggled with impossibly wet, sticky batter. The recipe for 8 scones calls for 2 Cups or 270 gm all-purpose flour. The figure I use, from King Arthur flour, is 120 gm/cup for all-purpose. Pastry flour is even lighter, at 106 gm/cup, so 270 would be 2 and a quarter cup of all-purpose. I stuck with 270 gm and used pastry flour, and the resulting batter, while a little hard to manage, baked up to very light, delicious scones, although they did spread quite a bit in the baking. I hope this helps.
Thanks Peter! How you measure flour and what you use to measure flour does matter because each time it can be different, if you use different measuring cup, it can also be different. That’s why I try to provide gram measurement as well, exactly how I make my recipe. But this scone dough is on the wetter side for sure, but more moisture will yield softer scones. Did you try freezing the scones before baking to curb the spreading? But I think you’ll still get more spread if using pastry flour since it has less protein which means less gluten which means less structure to the scones. But I’m glad you still find them delicious!
Made these today. Split the recipe in half for sweet scones and savoury scones with cheese on top. Also we cut them with cookie cutters. They were just perfect! Crisp, light and just delicious. My kids just ate three each as an after dinner treat! Thank you!
So I added too much buttermilk but I added a bit more flour and froze the dough for around 30 mins it was still a little gooey so I decided to bake these as scone-muffins and they turned out fab! 😊 they also taste great!