This recipe for Classic Scones is my favorite cream scone recipe! I’ve been making homemade scones for years, and this is my go-to base scone recipe every single time. They’re flaky, buttery, and so tender.

Classic Cream Scones

If you’ve been here for any length of time, you know my heart pretty much beats for scones. It’s the buttery, flaky scone texture that gets me. It’s this cross between a fluffy muffin and buttery biscuit, and the scone dough is so easy to work with when making them from scratch.

I’m obsessed. I’ve shared plenty of flavored scones, with some of your favorites (and mine) being these Blackberry Lavender Scones, these Lemon Blueberry Scones, and these Coconut Lime Scones.

But I realized that while I’ve shared dozens of scone recipes, I’ve never shared my go-to base scone recipe. Because with this recipe, you can make pretty much any cream scone you like. You can also leave them as plain scones so you can top them with lemon curd, fresh jam, or some homemade whipped cream.

I mean honestly, scones with cream and jam?! It’s a little taste of England right in your own home. (And if there’s one thing I love about as much as scones, it’s London.)

What I Love About These Classic Scones:

Cream: A good cream scone really can’t be beat, and this recipe is a perfect example. The heavy cream adds such a richness in both flavor and texture.
Simple Ingredients: There isn’t anything complicated about these scones, which is what I love about classic, basic recipes. It’s pantry staple ingredients you probably already have on hand.
Variations: The best thing about this recipe is that you can keep these as plain scones, or you can add various mix-ins, like raisins, chocolate chips, berries, or even savory items (like cheese, bacon, ham, etc.)

Some of my other favorite baking basics are these Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits, this Vanilla Buttercream, and this Banana Bread.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour
Sugar
Unsalted Butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter in almost all of my baking recipes, because I get to control the salt content.
Baking Powder
Salt
Egg
Heavy Whipping Cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Let’s Make This Easy Scone Recipe:

Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Alternatively, you can also make this with your standing mixer so you can mix all of these scone ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer.
Butter: Cut the cold butter into small cubes, and then work the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter (or a fork, or your hands, or with your stand mixer on low) until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Wet Ingredients: Add in your egg, vanilla, and heavy cream, and mix until just combined.
Assembly: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and gently form the plain scone dough into a circle that’s about 1/2” thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 triangles.
Bake: Gently transfer the scone triangles onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Then, brush the tops of each cream scone with heavy cream. Bake until golden brown.
Cool: Allow the scones to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. I suggest serving these with fresh whipped cream, lemon curd, or jam.

Storage Tips: Fridge and Freezer

Once the scones have cooled completely, you can store these plain scones at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Or, you can store them in the fridge for 4-5 days.

You can also freeze scones. You can freeze unbaked scone dough and freeze baked scones:

Unbaked: If you want to freeze unbaked scones, you’re going to make the scones all the way up until baking them. You’ll flash freeze the unbaked scone triangles, then you can put them in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. You can bake the scones frozen (you’ll need to add a few more minutes to the overall bake time), or you can let them thaw and bake them as directed in the recipe.
Baked: Allow the scones to cool completely, then individually wrap each scone in plastic wrap and then store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw them overnight, or you can warm them in the microwave or oven.

What To Add To Plain Scones:

With this classic scone dough, you can add in a number of mix-ins:

Raisins, Dried Apricots, Dried Cranberries, etc
Chocolate Chips, White Chocolate Chips, Butterscotch Chips, etc.
Fresh Berries, like raspberries, blueberries, or chopped strawberries.
Or, if you prefer savory scones, add in shredded cheese, ham, bacon, or sausage.

All you need is to add 1 cup of each mix-in to the dough before you turn it out onto a floured surface.

Additionally, you can add a glaze or icing on top, like this lemon glaze, this orange glaze, or this vanilla glaze.

Final Quick and Easy Scone Tips:

Cold Butter: It’s super important the butter is really, really cold. Like straight from the fridge cold. It makes the best flaky scones.
Don’t Over Work: Scones have the best texture when the dough hasn’t been over mixed. You want to make sure that the dough has just come together before turning it out onto a floured surface. Then you’ll shape the dough into a circle/disc shape, which will help any of the dry bits of scone dough to get worked into the dough without accidentally over mixing.
Heavy Cream: I prefer to brush the tops with heavy cream, because you’re already using it for the dough itself, and it adds a nice golden top without adding too much eggy flavor (like a traditional egg wash can leave).