Apple-Walnut Drop Scones Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a scone and a drop scone? ›

Kneaded and shaped scones are made from stiffer and drier dough resulting in a flakier texture. Drop scones are stickier and moister. This causes the scone to puff and be more tender. All scone recipes are mixed using the using the Biscuit Method, or made by first mixing together the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Much like cinnamon rolls, arranging your scones side by side, just touching one another, helps in making the scones rise evenly, and higher.

Not using enough leavening agent. Placing scones far away from each other on the baking tray. Not preheating the oven before putting in the scones. Low-quality ingredients.

In honor of all things Royal, we present to you a recipe for drop scones, otherwise known as "Scotch pancakes", that Queen Elizabeth made for President Dwight Eisenhower on the occasion of his visit to Balmoral castle in 1959.

Also called Drop Scones, Scotch pancakes are enjoyed for breakfast and as a snack in the United Kingdom. The main difference between Scotch and American pancakes is that the Scotch version is simpler. Ingredients include self-rising flour, salt, caster sugar, and eggs.

Use all-purpose flour for a higher rising scone that holds its shape nicely, both in and out of the oven. To make more delicate, lower-rising, cake-like scones, substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour. Reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1 to 2 tablespoons, using just enough to bring the dough together.

Heavy Cream or Buttermilk: For the best tasting pastries, stick with a thick liquid such as heavy cream or buttermilk. I usually use heavy cream, but if you want a slightly tangy flavor, use buttermilk.

Not chilling the dough before baking: to really ace your scones, it helps to chill your dough again before it's baked. Using cold ingredients does help, but your hands will warm up the dough when you're working with it and the extra step of chilling will help you get the best result.

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.

Why? When cold butter is rubbed into the flour, it creates flaky pockets of flavour (which soft, room temperature butter can't do). Once the cold butter and liquid (e.g milk) hits the oven, the water in the butter and cold liquid begins evaporating.

Why are my scones heavy and dense? ›

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.

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.

It is far better that the scone mixture is on the wet side, sticking to your fingers, as the scones will rise better. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it out with your hand, or use a rolling pin, to a thickness of 1-2 cm (1/2 – ¾ inch).

The longer you get the dough sit before baking it, the less your scones will rise. Try to bake the dough as soon as you finishing kneading and rolling it out. Letting the mixture sit too long will cause the gas bubbles from the leavening agent to disappear. These gas bubbles are what help the scones rise.

Biscuits are made with buttermilk, no eggs and are flakier than their scone counterpart, apart from when they're not. Biscuits can be flaky but also incredibly soft and tender, made as drop scones.

While the American and English scone is made with a scraggly dough of butter, flour, salt, and eggs, Utah scones are made with yeast and no butter. The yeast adds flavor and rise to this scone, making the dough more airy and sweet.

Scones and biscuits are different things in the USA. We call scones “scones”, just like the British do. Most Americans know the difference between the two. A biscuit (in the USA) is a savory quick bread that is usually round and is served buttered with a meal, or sometimes with gravy.

Drop scones, or scotch pancakes, unsurprisingly originated from Scotland and get their name from the fact that you 'drop' the batter into the pan. They are a lot more similar to American pancakes than crêpes, but slightly thicker and smaller.