Sarah’s Lemon Scones

These lemon scones are based on my cafe fruit scone recipe that we always baked fresh every morning and had lovely comments from customers on how good the scones were and even had people taking a few extra home with them!

These lemon scones pair perfectly with my homemade lemon curd and a nice dollop of clotted cream.

My sweet scones contain buttermilk and they are nice and fluffy inside and rise beautifully. Don’t let the buttermilk put you off as all you need is regular milk and some lemon juice.

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To start pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees centigrade (200C Fan) or Gas Mark 7 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

In a large bowl weigh out the self-raising flour, baking powder and butter. The butter should be cold and cut into cubes to make it easier to rub into the flour.

Rub the butter into the flour until you have a texture of fine breadcrumbs.

Use the tips of your fingers and rub the butter and the flour until there are no lumps of butter visible.

Add the sugar and lemon zest to the flour and sugar mixture.

Add 3/4 of milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a knife.

Add the egg and around 55ml of the buttermilk into the dry ingredients and bring together with a knife.

Next use your hands to bring it all together then you can feel when the dough has enough liquid and just forms a ball without being too sticky.

Add only enough of the remaining milk mixture to form a soft dough - you probably won’t need it all.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured bench and roll out gently or flatten with your hands to about 2cm thick

Then cut out the dough with a 6 cm round cutter. You should only get 6 scones from this dough, if you get more then they will be very thin scones.

Place the scones on the lined baking tray and brush with milk or any buttermilk that is left.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.

These scones are great served with lemon curd and clotted cream.

Sarah’s Lemon Scones

Sarah’s serving: 6

Sarah’s skill: Easy

Baking time: 12-15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

230g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

40g unsalted cold butter, cubed

40g caster sugar

1 lemon, zested

1 large egg

75ml Buttermilk

METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

2. In a large bowl weigh out the self-raising flour, baking powder and butter.

3. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

4. Add the sugar, lemon zest, egg and around 55ml of the buttermilk into the dry ingredients. Mix together with a knife until combined.

5. Using your hands, bring the mixture together to form a soft but not sticky dough. Add more buttermilk if the dough is dry.

6. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently roll out or flatten with your hands to about 2cm thickness. Cut out six scones using a 6cm round cutter.

7. Place the scones on the prepared baking tray. Brush with any remaining buttermilk or an egg wash.

8. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

EQUIPMENT USED

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SARAH’S EXTRA SLICE

Do not try and cut out more than six scones with a 6cm round cutter from the dough or you will have flat scones.

To make your own buttermilk place the juice of half a fresh lemon in a measuring jug then fill with milk to the 75ml line and mix. After a few minutes the milk will thicken and look curdled and it will be ready to use.

The scones can be frozen up to a month.

To make a larger batch of scones just double the recipe.