Making Tender Scones at Home Is Easier Than You Think

All you need is a bowl, fork and baking sheet for fresh, warm scones with crisp tops and soft centers.

A few years ago, my kids and I decided that the cost of going out for brunch didn’t make sense. I could easily and quickly make cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon and breakfast potatoes at home for far less money, and we wouldn’t have to wait in line, squeeze into a too-small table or shout to be heard. It became something of a weekly ritual, and the one thing they always asked for is homemade scones.

Now that the kids are increasingly off on their own, I realized that it’s time to give them a scone recipe they can whip up with limited time, supplies and, well, experience.

What most people don’t know is how easy scones are to prepare from scratch, especially if you start with this take on cream scones. Crisp outside and tender within, they come together by simply stirring a handful of ingredients and plopping the dough onto a pan.

If you’re wondering what cream scones are, you’re really asking what scones are. Like cookies and cakes, there are endless styles. From their wide-ranging origin stories to the present, scone varieties share only the defining characteristics of sturdiness and getting their rise from baking soda or baking powder instead of yeast. Ideally, they’re not tough, but they also shouldn’t be plush like muffins.