Really Easy Light and Flaky Fruit Scones Recipe

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Did school cooking put you off making fruit scones? Worried they might end up dense and chewy again? I promise, they’re much easier to make than you think! This easy fruit scones recipe yields beautifully light and flaky scones, that are just as good as those served in fancy bakeries! Keep reading for the easy recipe, FAQs and lots of helpful tips to help you get it right first time…

Why you’ll love this recipe

Having enjoyed many afternoon teas in my time, I’m definitely partial to a fruit scone with jam and clotted cream!

I’ve eaten some seriously delicious fruit scones, and I’ve had some truly awful ones too. And yes, the scones I made in school were just as rubbish as everyone else’s. (You know when they call them rock cakes instead of scones? Yup… Not great!)

I’m pleased to say I’ve had a lot of practice since my school days though! Having developed this recipe over many attempts, I’m so happy to share my new and improved easy fruit scone recipe with you!

As I’ve made a lot of frustrating scone mistakes over the years, I wrote this recipe to help YOU avoid making those same costly errors. So keep reading to learn just how easy it is to make well risen, light and flaky scones, with a perfect ratio of fruit.

Jam, clotted cream, and fruit scones on a rack

What is the trick to making good scones?

I wouldn’t say there is any one trick that makes for good scones, but rather a series of tricks that work together. Here’s what you can do to ensure you make perfect fruit scones, first time round…

Get the temperature right. Scones need a high temperature to encourage that perfect rise and light fluffy middle that you’re after.
Get the ingredient ratios correct. This is as easy as paying close attention to the recipe, and making sure you weigh your ingredients.
Don’t overwork the dough. If you do, you will over-develop the gluten in the flour. Which can result in tough, dense and deflated fruit scones.
Add the fruit at the very end. This will help you not overwork the dough, and makes it easier to distribute the fruit throughout the dough.

Fruit scones with jam and cream on a plate with a knife

What to avoid when making scones

There are a few things you can avoid when making fruit scones. I would always recommend making scone dough by hand, rather than using a stand mixer. A mixer can very quickly overwork the dough, which will likely result in dense, deflated scones.

Avoid having warm hands! Rubbing butter into flour gets a bit messy if your hands are too warm. To avoid this, simply rinse your hands in cold water to cool them down before you begin. Alternatively, you can use a rounded knife to ‘cut’ the mixture together.

Avoid a dry dough. You want your fruit scones dough to be a little sticky and more on the moist side. So avoid adding lots of extra flour to it when you’re bringing it together/adding the dried fruit on the worktop. Using full fat milk willl also help.

Ingredients

Confused about what ingredients to buy? Not sure about a substitution? Here’s everything you might need to know…

Flour – You need self raising flour for these fruit scones. If you only have plain flour, you can make self raising flour using what you have instead.
Baking Powder – Don’t confuse or substitute this with bicarbonate of soda. They are two different things, and react differently in baking.
Sugar – I like to use caster sugar when I’m baking. Avoid using granulated sugar if you can. Its crystals are larger, and take longer to mix with other ingredients. Which can lead to an overworked dough.
Butter – Unsalted butter is best in baking. But salted butter will still work if that’s all you have.
Egg – All eggs specified in my recipes are large size. Most eggs will work great, just try not to use extra small or extra large ones. Or it could upset the ingredient ratio.
Milk – I prefer to use full fat milk in fruit scones recipes. The higher the fat content, the more moist your scones will be.
Dried Fruit – I use a 100g combination of sultanas, raisins and chopped glacé cherries. If you want to change the dried fruit, make sure you stick to 100g, and use pieces that are roughly the same size as raisins.

Emma’s top tips

Here are tips you’ll find helpful when making this fruit scones recipe.

Use cold butter. This is imperative when adding it to the flour. Otherwise it will melt, and you will end up creaming the ingredients together. Rather than achieving the breadcrumb like consistency that you need.
Find rubbing the butter into the flour difficult or tedious? Use a pastry blender! My Gran used one of these all her life, and it’s honestly a game changer! It makes very quick work of this stage.
Try not to let the egg wash/milk drip down the sides of the scones when you brush them, as this can inhibit the rise.
Try and cut as many scones out of the first roll as you can. When you re-roll scones dough, you overwork it. And any scones cut from it will be flatter and more dense.
If you struggle with confidence when baking, use the step by step picture recipe instead of the printable recipe. This way, you can see what the dough should look like at every stage.

Timings

Have limited time? Struggle with recipe timings? Or juggling around other things? Here’s some time managing info to make your life easier!

Make the fruit scones dough while your oven is preheating to save time and energy.
Mixing the dough will take about 10 minutes.
Cutting your scones and brushing them with egg/milk will only take 5 minutes.
Baking your fruit scones will take 10-15 mins.
Allow at least 30-40 minutes for your scones to cool. Unless you want to eat them warm, in which case tuck straight in!

A split fruit scone topped with jam and clotted cream

Easy Fruit Scones – Step by Step Picture Recipe

(For a printer friendly version, see the recipe card at the end of this post)

Please note, this recipe includes both UK metric and US Cup measurements.

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make 18-20.

450g (3 + 1/4 Cups) Self Raising Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
50g (1/4 Cup) Caster Sugar
100g (1/3 + 1/8 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Cold and Cubed
2 Eggs
200ml (3/4 Cup + 2 tsp) Full Fat Milk (approx)
30g (1/8 Cup + 1 tbsp) Sultanas
30g (1/8 Cup + 1 tbsp) Raisins
40g (1/5 Cup) Glacé Cherries, quartered and rinsed

Essential equipment

Large Baking Tray
Large Mixing Bowl
Pastry Blender (optional)
Rounded Knife
Jug
6cm Round Fluted Cutter
Pastry Brush

Dough instructions

Preheat your oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/392°F. And either lightly grease, or line your trays with baking paper.

Put the flour (450g | 3 + 1/4 Cups), baking powder (2 tsp) and sugar (50g | 1/4 Cup) into a large bowl.

Flour, baking powder and sugar in a glass bowl

Then add in the cold cubed butter (100g | 1/3 + 1/8 Cup), and rub the mixture between your forefingers and thumbs. Keep going until there are no more large pieces of butter, and the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

If you struggle with this stage, you might find it easier to use a pastry blender or a rounded knife.

Flour, baking powder, sugar and cubed butter in a large mixing bowl

Butter rubbed into flour in a large bowl

Next crack both eggs (x2) into a jug, and pour in enough milk to make it up to a total of 300ml | 1 + 1/4 Cups (this will be approx 200ml | 3/4 Cup + 2 tsp). Beat with a fork until the eggs are blended into the milk.

Then, add the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Note that you might not need all of it, so add gradually.

Use a rounded knife to bring everything together, and take care not to over mix. It should come together to form a soft and slightly sticky dough.

Save any remaining egg/milk mixture for brushing later.

Rough fruit scones dough in a mixing bowl

Next tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and scatter over the dried fruits (30g | 1/8 Cup + 1 tbsp Sultanas, 30g | 1/8 Cup + 1 tbsp raisins, 40g (1/5 Cup) glacé cherries, quartered and rinsed).

Fried fruit being added into scone dough

Then, very gently work the fruits into the dough to evenly distribute. Press/roll the dough to about 2cm thick.

Fruit scones dough on a floured work surface

Using a 6cm round fluted cutter, cut as many scones out of the dough as possible. If there are any offcuts, gently bring them back together and cut out more.

Scones being cut out of dough with a cutter

Baking instructions

Space the scones out on your prepared baking tray, leaving a little room between each one for spreading. And lightly brush the tops with any remaining beaten egg/milk mixture.

Egg washed fruit scones on a baking tray

Finally, bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until risen and golden brown.

Freshly baked fruit scones on a baking tray

Transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

How to store fruit scones

Fruit scones are always best eaten freshly baked, as they go stale very quickly. That being said, if you have any left over, store them in a metal container at room temperature and consume within 2-3 days.

How to rescue stale scones

Fruit scones gone stale but you don’t like waste? Don’t worry! You can revive them by warming them up in a 180°C/Fan 160°C/356°F oven for a few minutes.

Alternatively, they are also lovely toasted and smothered in butter!

FAQs

Why didn’t my fruit scones rise?

There could be a few reasons why your scones didn’t rise. The most common is that you may have over worked the dough. It could also be that your oven temperature wasn’t high enough, or even that your baking powder was out of date/no longer active.

Can I use golden caster sugar in fruit scones?

Yes, you can use golden caster sugar in place of regular caster sugar in fruit scones.

Do scones have eggs in them?

Yes, most recipe for fruit scones have eggs in them. If you need an egg free recipe, this vegan scones recipe is great!

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Someone picking up a fruit scone with jam and clotted cream on it. A text overlay says 'Easy peasy fruit scones'