Easy Sultana Scone Recipe

Fruit Scone cut open on a plate with jam covering one half.

5 from 4 votes

Make this easy-to-make Sultana Scones Recipe for the quintessentially perfect afternoon treat. Golden, fluffy, buttery and filled with sweet sultanas, these fruit scones are exactly what you want from a scone recipe.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Snacks

Cuisine: British

Servings: scones

Calories: 230kcal

Author: Emma Duckworth

Equipment

Ingredients

375 g self-raising flour
½ teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
12 g caster sugar
180 ml whole milk cold
1 large egg cold
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
90 g unsalted butter chopped, cold
100 g sultanas

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Sift dry ingredients together. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Into a large mixing bowl, sift in your dry ingredients; flour, baking powder and salt. Add in the sugar and stir together.
Whisk wet ingredients together. Whisk together the egg in with the milk and vanilla extract. Once whisked, set aside one tablespoon of the egg mixture use as your egg wash later on.
Add butter to flour. Add the chopped butter and using your fingertips, toss the pieces until they're separated and coated with flour. Using your fingertips, rub the flour and butter together until it looks like breadcrumbs with some larger pieces the size of peas. (Alternatively, use a pastry cutter). Add in the sultanas and mix in.
Combine wet into the dry ingredients. Make a well in the dry mix and pour in the whisked egg and milk mixture into the centre. Use a fork to stir until the mixture just starts to come together to form a dough. It will still be very shaggy and sticky at this point. If necessary, use your hands to lightly bring it all together incorporating the dry flour left at the bottom of the bowl.
Bring the dough together and roll it out. Tip the scone mix onto a lightly floured surface and using your hands, bring it together and gently flatten it out.
Cut the dough disc into four. Lay one quarter on top of another and press together. Repeat with the other two quarters. Doing this creates amazing flakey layers in the scones and prevents over-kneading.
Using your hands, shape and press the dough into a round disc or gently roll with a rolling pin until the dough is roughly 3 cm (1 inch) thick.
Cut out scone rounds. Dip a 6 cm (2 1⁄4-inch) cookie cutter in flour and stamp out 4 or 5 rounds. Don’t twist the cutter when pressing down. Place the scones on the prepared baking tray so they're just touching each other.
Cut scones from the remaining dough and bake. Gather any scraps and push them together with your hands until another disc is formed. Cut out as many rounds as you can with this leftover dough. Note, that they won't rise quite as much as the first round, as you’ve worked the dough more than the first scones. Place on the baking tray with the others.
Now refrigerate the tray for 30 minutes to rest the dough. Pre-heat oven to 200°C (400°F) whilst the scones are in the fridge.
Egg wash and bake. Using the egg wash that you set aside earlier, brush the tops of the scones. Take care not to let any drip down the sides of the scones as this can inhibit their rise. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and well risen. Serve scones warm with cream and jam or butter. They are best eaten the day they are made.

Notes

Step-by-Step Photos: My blog post includes helpful step-by-step photos to help guide you through making this recipe.

Self-raising flour substitute: Add 3.5 teaspoons of baking powder to 375g/3 cups plain (all-purpose) flour and stir together. Continue as per the recipe and the other ingredients, including the stated baking powder.

Storage: Best eaten on the same day, but they can be stored in an airtight container and will remain fresh for about two days.

Freeze: These scones are great for freezing. Make the dough up until Step 6. Cut the scones out with a cookie cutter, place them on a baking tray (leaving space around them) and freeze. Once frozen, place in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Bake directly from the freezer; defrosting isn’t necessary.

Tip 1: Keep everything cold. Cut butter and refrigerate or freeze for half an hour before making the scones. Tip 2: Don't overwork the dough. Use my folding technique to create extra flaky layers.

Tip 3: For the best rise. Dust the cookie cutter in flour before stamping down. Don't twist the cutter when stamping out rounds. Egg wash just the tops of the scones (drips will inhibit the rise).

Tip 4: Refrigerate the dough before baking. This allows the butter to harden again and the gluten to relax. This helps create soft, flaky scones.

Nutrition