Healthy(er) Scones Recipe with Chocolate & Crystallized Ginger (2024)

FAQs

What to avoid when making scones? ›

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.

We are all a little tempted to add that extra splash of sweetness into our scones, but make sure you don't use too much sugar as it will flatten them! We recommend using a maximum of 100g of sugar per 250g of flour.

Cake flour is finer and lower in protein, which makes lighter and fluffier scones. If you don't have any on hand, a simple blend of all-purpose flour and a bit of cornstarch makes a great substitute. Simply whisk together 1¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch.

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.

Although convenient and tasty, scones are a complete loss. They are typically extremely high in calories from the heavy butter and cream. And, although scones with fruit might seem healthier, most are even higher in calories and still high in saturated fat. Steer clear of scones.

But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

Using self-raising flour, cream, and water is excellent for what I consider great scones. Lemonade or soda water can also be used instead of plain water to add more rise; we had some fun with this at our Bake Club meetings using different flavours.

For example, if you substitute oil for butter or margarine, you can significantly reduce the amount of saturated fat in your baked goods. This streamlined recipe for Light Scones uses just 3 tablespoons of canola oil, which contains a fraction of the saturated fat found in butter or margarine.

Butter must be COLD from the very start to when the dough enters the oven. 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.

How thick should you roll out scone dough? ›

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).

Low in sugar and high in fibre, wholemeal scones are good options for diabetics. Incorporating yoghurt and fruits is a good option to make desserts for diabetics.

This is what makes the dough flaky.” Although Chang cuts cubed butter into the dry mix with a stand mixer at Flour, she says that, with the grating method, “you ensure that some butter stays in small pieces, for the steam and puff; and some butter starts to soften and mix into the dough, for tenderness.” For the best ...

Hydrate. Flush out all that sweet stuff from your system by hydrating ASAP with water or other low-sugar fluids, and foods high in water content. "Drink plenty of water and go for foods like watermelon, cucumbers, strawberries and yogurt," Seaver says.

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.

Try placing your scones closer together on the tray as this forces them to rise upwards and not outwards.

The most likely reason I can think of is that you omitted the leavening, or what you used was flat. Another reason might be that your dough was too warm when you baked it, so it spread more while baking. Of course, scones are not yeast products, so they shouldn't rise as much as bread would.