Almond Flour (GF) Raisin Scone Recipe: Crispy Outside, Chewy Inside (2024)

FAQs

What is the best flour for scones? ›

Use pastry flour for the lightest scones. All-purpose plus pastry flour also works, but don't omit the pastry flour. "Once you've shaped your scones, chill them before baking," Youngman says. "You can use that time to preheat the oven so the kitchen doesn't heat up while you make the dough.

Overworking the dough: when you overwork your dough, your scones can come out tough and chewy, rather than that desired light, crumbly texture. The trick is to use light pressure and only the work the dough until it just comes together.

Handle scone dough gently: “Overmixing leads to too much gluten development, which leads to tough, dense scones, instead of flaky, moist ones,” says Bethany. Once you've added the liquid in your recipe, mix the dough gently until just combined — and no more.

The less you knead the mix, the less the gluten will tighten up – which means your scones will stay loose and crumbly, rather than tight and springy. Make sure you sieve the flour and baking powder into your bowl. This means that the two will be well mixed together, which gives you a better chance of an even rise.

Keeping scone dough as cold as possible prevents over-spreading. When scones over-spread in the oven, they lose the flaky, moist, and deliciously crumbly texture. In other words, they're ruined. But the easiest way to avoid disaster is to use cold ingredients like cold heavy cream, egg, and butter.

My scones have a dense, heavy texture and poor volume

You may have used too little raising agent or over handled the dough before it was baked. The oven may have been too cool.

Scones are typically moist but crumbly, sort of like corn bread or Mexican wedding cookies. In my opinion, a scone should be light and flaky, not moist, but not dry either. The best result comes from using cold butter and cooling your dough in the fridge until just before sliding into a preheated oven.

Keep scones cold before putting them in the oven: For best results, chill the mixture in the fridge before baking, this will help to stiffen up the butter again, which will stop your scones from slumping as soon as they hit the oven's heat.

To ensure taller scones, start with a thicker dough disc and place the scones on a tray with sides, allowing them to slightly touch one another. This arrangement encourages the scones to push against the pan and each other, promoting height.

How long should you rest scones before baking? ›

Recipes for scones sometimes provide a make-ahead option that involves refrigerating the dough overnight so it can simply be shaped and then popped into the oven the next day. But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

You could make the dough in the morning and cut out the scones and refrigerate them before baking. However the scones contain bicarbonate of soda, which acts quickly when it comes into contact with liquid and it will lose some of its raising power as it stands. Consequently the scones may not be quite as light.

Scones should have a soft, biscuit-like texture but more buttery and crumbly rather than bready like a biscuit. Definitely not runny or soft oozy dough and a chewy texture.

Get Flaky Scones with COLD Butter

The cold butter melts upon entering the oven and the water content in butter evaporates in steam. As the steam escapes, it bursts up and creates that beautiful tall, flaky, fluffy texture. I like to cube then freeze my butter before assembling the dough.

If the dough is too dry, the scones won't rise and will be crumbly. On the other hand, if the scones are too wet, they won't rise either, and will be too tough and chewy once baked. Don't hesitate to tweak the amounts and proportions to get the right texture.

You can modify and use all purpose flour as self-rising flour if you add baking powder and salt to give it a leavening effect. A general measurement rule is for every cup of all purpose flour, add a teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the mix.

Bread flour has too much gluten for a tender scone, and cake flour may not have enough. Pastry flour might work, but I find AP to be the most flexible, and most times it's the least expensive as well. Scones are best mixed by hand. Combine dry ingredients, then in a separate bowl, combine wet.

You can, especially if you like your scones a bit more chewy (more like the texture of a pastry). Strong flour has more protein than all purpose, and will therefore have more gluten and chew. The strong floured scones may brown quicker, so check on them a few minutes early!

Sifting flour is usually a good idea, says Penny Stankiewicz, chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. “It lightens the flour and aerates it, making it easier to mix into any emulsion.