Us Brits love our scones, but they’re not always easy to make.
You want them to be soft, buttery and crumbly while also remaining firm and in tact. Unless you’ve had a lot of practice, it can be a pretty difficult skill to master.
Luckily, Great British Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood is on hand to tell people where they’ve been going wrong. It turns out we’ve been making a common mistake that causes our bakes to shrink.
In a recent TikTok video, he revealed his top baking secret, and you only need to do one thing to perfect your scones. Sometimes a little tip makes all the difference, and he demonstrated how to do it in a simple clip.
Paul said: “I’m relaxing it all the time, so it keeps its shape. By keeping plenty of flour underneath it, it prevents it from shrinking. So if I cut that, it stays in that shape and, if I stretch it out and cut it it’ll go, because it’s trying to contract again.”
Since the video was shared, it’s been viewed over 2,000 times, and people were quick to comment too. They were super grateful for the useful advice.
One person said: “Great recipe. I sell basic scones. It’s not easy, even basic baking.”
Another wrote: “Gorgeous.” A third replied: “Thank you Paul.”
Meanwhile, one more commented: “I made them gluten free, they were lovely. Thank you Paul.”
In the past, the famed star baker also revealed where people commonly go wrong when making scones. According to the pro, people tend to make three common mistakes.
Previously, Paul said: “Egg wash the top, try not to egg wash the sides. If it goes down the sides too much, it creates a glue, and prevents it from rising up.
“Lumps are bad in a scone because you don’t want a big lump of butter in there. You’ll end up with just butter pouring all over your tray, which is what you don’t want.
“Use the 15 minutes of a scone in the oven as a good rule. 15 minutes bang on is 99% of the time going to be spot on.”
This is Paul Hollywood’s recipe for classic scones.
Ingredients
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500g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust
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25g baking powder
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80g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
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2 medium eggs
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250ml milk
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80g caster sugar
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1 large egg, beaten with a pinch of salt
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Icing sugar, to dust
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Jam
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Clotted cream
Recipe
- Take some baking paper, and line two baking trays. In a large bowl, mix the flour and baking powder together. Then add the butter and use your fingers to rub it together for a few minutes until it forms a breadcrumb-like texture.
- In a seperate bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and sugar. Add this to the flour mixture, and stir together until it all binds together and forms a ball.
- Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold it a couple of times to add some air, but make sure you don’t knead it. You want to be left with a loose, soft dough.
- Use a rolling pin to gently roll it out to a 3cm thickness, and ensure there’s plenty of flour underneath so the dough doesn’t stick.
- Grab a scone cutter, and press firmly to cut out rounds and then pop onto the lined baking trays, while making sure to leave space in between.
- Brush the tops of the scones with a little beaten egg, and put them into the fridge for 20 minutes. This enables them to rest. Use this time to heat your oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7.
- Remove the scones from the fridge and brush them again with a little egg. Bake for 15 minutes until the scones rise and form a golden brown colour.
- Allow the scones to cool on a wire rack and, once cooled, dust lightly with icing sugar and serve as you wish.
