British Herb Scones Biscuits Recipes

HERB-CHEDDAR SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Toss butter in flour mixture to evenly coat, then press between your fingers until mixture has the texture of coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces remaining. In another bowl, whisk together cream and eggs.
• Make a well in flour mixture; add egg mixture, cheddar, scallions, and dill. Stir together with a fork until dough begins to form but mixture is still crumbly. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead just to combine (do not overwork). Pat out 1/2 inch thick. With a floured 2 3/4-inch biscuit cutter, cut out rounds, as closely together as possible; place on prepared sheet. Gather scraps; pat out again and repeat.
• Brush tops with cream; sprinkle with more dill and scallions. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

CLASSIC BRITISH SCONES RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F (425°F if using a fan oven).
• Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl.
• Add butter and using fingertips rub into flour until you get a fine breadcrumb consistency.
• Pour in milk (save a little bit to brush the top) and mix to a soft but not sticky dough (if too sticky add more flour).
• On a floured surface, press dough to 3/4" thickness.
• Use a 2 1/2" round cookie cutter and cut out 4 rounds.
• Re-ball the dough and press down again, then cut 2 more rounds.
• Put the rounds on a greased baking tray and brush the tops with the milk.
• Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes until the scones are well risen and golden.

BEST EVER CLASSIC SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet or two (depending on how large your baking sheets are) by lining them with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a fork or a whisk.
• In a liquid measuring cup, measure the cream and add the eggs. Whisk together using a fork and set aside.
• The next few steps should be done quickly, as you're working with cold butter and you want the butter to be as cold as possible when it hits the heat of the oven. This will result in a flaky scone, rather than a heavy and dense one.
• Cut up your butter, right from the fridge, into little pieces and dump it into the flour mixture. Using your hands (wash them well first and remove any rings), pick up handfuls of the butter and flour mixture, rubbing the pieces of butter and the flour between the heels of your hands to create "sheets" of butter. You should act quickly here, and don't allow the pieces of butter to sit in your hands for any length of time as the heat from your hands will cause it to soften. The goal is to create paper-thin pieces of butter, small and large throughout the mixture. Once there are no thick chunks of butter remaining, only thin sheets, remove your hands from the mixture. Hands equal heat, so handle the mixture as little as possible.
• Pour in the wet ingredients and mix roughly with a fork. Do not over mix, or the result will be heavy and dense.
• Once the wet ingredients have been incorporated but there are still several streaks of flour, turn the dough out onto a clean and floured counter surface. Press the dough down into the counter and then fold one half over the other half like you are folding a piece of paper. Press down again and make another fold. Repeat this 2 or 3 more times, gathering any outlying dough bits and flour into your folds. Don't knead the dough like you would if you were making bread, and don't stir or mix the dough like you would if you were making muffins. Scones are technically a pastry, so the goal is flaky layers that are created by the thin sheets of butter and all the folding.
• Once your dough is formed after folding several times, shape it into a rectangle about 1 3/4 to 2 inches thick (approximately). Again, be careful not to handle the dough too much, so a few little cracks here and there are fine.
• Cut out circles of dough using a biscuit cutter or the rim of a class or jar. Arrange the circles of dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the egg wash (whisk together the egg and water).
• You'll need to re-shape the leftover dough to form another rectangle - do this carefully and gently, without adding much extra flour if possible. The less you handle the dough, the more tender and flaky the scones will be. Cut out the remainder of the scones until you have about 10-12 in total.
• Bake for about 15-18 minutes just until barely golden brown and the surface of the scones lose their shine. Let them cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

BRITISH TEA SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine in mixing bowl the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. With pastry blender cut in the shortening. Add raisins. Lightly beat the egg and add enough milk to total 2/3 cup liquid. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir gently with folk until dough holds together. Gather dough into a ball and place on lightly floured board and knead gently, about 12 kneading strokes. On lightly floured board roll dough out 1/4 inch thick and cut into rounds with biscuit cutter. Place scones on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
• Makes 12 to 16 scones.
• Presentation: Split scones while hot and spread with butter. Best served fresh from oven.

BRITISH SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
• Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the sugar and enough milk to mix to soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface, knead lightly and roll out to a 3/4-inch thickness.
• Cut into 2-inch rounds and place on the prepared baking sheet.
• Brush with milk to glaze.
• Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 10 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
• Serve with butter or clotted cream and jam.

FRESH HERB SCONES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly grease cookie sheet. In a large bowl, combine flour, parsley, sugar, thyme, baking powder, rosemary and salt; mix well.
• With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Stir in milk and egg just until moistened.
• On floured surface, gently knead dough 10 times.
• Place on cookie sheet; roll or pat dough into a 6" round.
• Cut 8 wedges; separate slightly.
• Bake for 15-20 min.
• or until golden brown.
• serve warm.

AUTHENTIC BRITISH SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 425F.
• In a medium bowl, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter. Rub the mixture together with your fingers to break up the butter, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the milk slowly, mixing as you add, using enough of the milk to get your dough to come together with no lumps remaining. (Your dough should be quite sticky. If a good consistency is not achieved with the listed amount of milk, continue adding until your dough reaches a good consistency.)
• Spoon the dough out until a well-floured surface. Generously dust the top of the dough and knead the dough 2-3 times to coat it with flour and smooth the surface. Press the dough into a round that is roughly 1 inch thick.
• Using a well-floured cookie cutter, cut the dough into 2 inch circles. (Be sure to press the cookie cutter straight down and up. Twisting the cookie cutter will impact the amount of rise you get on your scones.)
• Place the rounds onto a greased and floured baking sheet. Brush them gently with the egg yolk and milk mixture.
• Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes, until golden and firm.
• Remove the baked scones from the oven and let them cool for 30 minutes (if you can resist). If you like softer scones, cover them with a clean tea towel as they cool.

BRITISH SCONES (MAKEOVER - LIGHT)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In a large bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Combine the egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla.
• Add to crumb mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.
• Turn onto a floured surface and knead gently 6-8 times.
• Pat dough into a 6-inch circle and cut into eight wedges.
• Separate wedges and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Brush tops with milk; sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire rack and serve warm.

BRITISH HERB SCONES (BISCUITS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Lightly grease a baking tray and dust it with flour.
• Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl.
• Add butter to the bowl, toss briefly through the flour, then rub it in with your (preferably cold) fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the herbs.
• Start adding the milk, mixing initially with a spatula or palette knife, and then when the dough starts to come together, with a quick light hand.
• You are aiming for a soft, unsticky dough which leaves the sides of the bowl clean; you may not need all the milk – if, however, the dough seems a bit dry, add a teaspoon more milk at a time.
• Be careful not to add too much milk, and do not overwork the dough.
• Shape the dough into a round with your hands and place on a lightly floured surface.
• Flour the rolling pin, then lightly roll out the dough to a thickness of a half-inch.
• Stamp out 2” rounds with a biscuit cutter.
• When you are left with the trimmings, bring these together and roll out again lightly, and continue stamping out rounds until you have cut out the last scone.
• Lay the scones on the prepared tray, and brush the tops lightly with the extra milk.
• Bake 10 – 12 minutes until well risen and lightly browned.
• Remove to a wire rack to cool.
• Serve as suggested above, and store any left over in the freezer, to be gently re-warmed later in a microwave oven.