Plain scones (Mary Berry)
This recipe for plain scones from Mary Berry is super easy, making them perfect for kids and beginner bakers to try. They’re light and fluffy and served with jam and/or cream are a great afternoon tea treat.
Mary Berry’s plain scones are really easy, making them perfect for kids and beginner bakers to try. Like all great scones, they’re light and fluffy and make the perfect treat with your afternoon tea when served with a bit of jam and clotted cream.
As much as I love our cheese scones, fruit scones, and cherry scones sometimes all you want is a delicious plain scone topped with jam and cream. These plain scones from Mary Berry really hit the spot – they’re light and fluffy like all good scones should be. Thankfully, they’re also really easy and quick to make, so you can rustle some up in no time.
I’ve tried lots of recipes for scone over the years but I keep coming back to these Mary Berry scones, because they’re beautifully light and fluffy. A good scone can be surprisingly difficult to make. They don’t always rise, or they’re too dense or biscuit-like. This recipe seems to resolve all those issues.
How can kids help make these Mary Berry plain scones?
With only a few ingredients these plain scones are a great, easy bake for kids. Everything is mixed together in one bowl, so there’s no need for any special equipment like mixers.
Children can enjoy measuring and mixing everything together. You rub the butter and flour with your fingertips which is a fun job for even little kids to do.
Kids can also help make the scone dough and cut the scones out – if you have young children who like playing with playdough they should be good at this.
And once you’ve made the scones, you can get your kids to brush the tops with milk. This is a great job even for very young children and toddlers.
How do you make scones rise better?
A few things can help your scones to rise better. The first is being as gentle as you can with the dough both when you rub the butter and flour together, and when you bring it together into a ball. Mix the milk in with a knife and stop working the dough as soon as it comes together so you don’t over work it which will hinder its rise.
Rather than rolling out the scone dough with a rolling pin, just pat it down gently with your hands until it’s the right thickness. And make sure the dough is at least an inch thick when you cut the scones out. Scones are never going to rise a lot like a cake would, so the thickness they start with will be roughly how they end.
Finally, when you use your cutters try and push them straight down rather than turning them. If you turn the cutter, it can hinder the scones ability to rise in the oven.
How long will the plain scones keep?
I like scones still a little warm from the oven, but if you want to keep them for longer put them in an air tight container. They should keep for a day or two. You can always warm them slightly before you serve them.
If you want to keep them for longer, you can freeze scones. Once they’re cooled, wrap them individually in cling film and put them in a freeze bag. They’ll keep for a few months. Make sure you defrost them fully before you serve them. You can also pop them in the oven for 5-10 minutes to warm them before you serve them.
How do I serve plain scones?
Scones are traditionally served with jam and clotted cream. Whether you put the jam or cream on first can depend on where you’re from (people from Devon put the cream on first and add the jam on top, while in Cornwall they do the reverse.)
What can I use instead of self raising flour?
If you don’t have any self raising flour (which is easy to find here in the UK), use an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and add 2 additional teaspoons of baking powder, and a little salt.
How can I add variations or flavors to plain scones?
A: You can add various flavors to plain scones by incorporating ingredients like dried fruits (such as raisins or currants), chocolate chips, citrus zest, nuts, or spices (cinnamon or nutmeg are delicious). Fold these additions into the dough before shaping and baking the scones. Check out some of our other scone recipes below.
Other scone recipes
If you liked these plain scones, you’ll love our other easy scone recipes for kids:
Cheese scones
Raspberry and white chocolate scones
Fruit scones
Blackberry scones
Buttermilk scones
Cherry scones
Sultana scones
Apple scones
Savoury scones
Strawberry shortcake
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these plain scones:
Digital scales
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Baking tray
Cutters
Wire rack
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Ingredients
450g (3 3/4 cups) self raising flour*
75g (1/3 cup) butter
2 tsp baking powder
50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
2 eggs
milk (about 225ml or 1 cup)
- If you don’t have any self raising flour, you can use 450g (3 3/4 cups) of plain / all-purpose flour with an additional 3 teaspoons of baking powder.
How to make plain scones
Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C Fan / 425F and grease or line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
Rub in the flour and butter
Get your kids to measure the flour and add it to a large mixing bowl.
Measure the butter, then chop it into small pieces. This is a really good chance for young kids to practice their chopping skills as you can use a blunt knife and it doesn’t matter if they end up exactly the same size or not.
Add the chopped butter to the mixing bowl then get your kids to rub it in with their fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and baking powder
Measure the sugar and baking powder and add them to your mixing bowl. Normally, you need to use your finger to level the teaspoon before you add the baking powder, but it’s ok in this recipe for the tea spoons to be a bit rounded.
Mix the sugar and baking powder in with a spoon.
Add the wet ingredients
Get your kids to crack the egg into a small bowl before putting it into a measuring jug. If any rogue shell goes in, fish it out with a larger piece of shell – it’s easier than using your finger.
Add milk to your measuring jug, until the egg and milk comes to about 225ml. If you have digital scales it’s much easier to be accurate. Give the egg and milk a whisk until it’s well mixed. Keep a few table spoons of the milk/egg mixture back in a small bowl to use to brush the tops of the scones later.
Make a well in the flour mixture then get your kids to slowly pour in the milk/egg.
Mix it all with a knife until it comes together in a nice soft dough. Try not to over work it, mix it until it just comes together into quite a sticky dough so that the scones end up nice and light and fluffy.
Make the plain scones
Lightly flour your work surface, then tip out the scone dough. Very gently, knead the dough until it becomes nice and smooth. Try not to handle the dough too much – stop touching it as soon as it’s ready so you don’t over work it (this will keep them light and fluffy).
Rather than rolling out your dough, pat it down with your hands until it is about 2.5cm (1 inch) thick.
Using an approximately 6cm (2.5 inch cutter), get your kids to cut out the scones and put them on your prepared baking tray. Once you’ve cut out all you can, bring all the dough back together then press it out again and cut some more out. When you’re pressing the cutter down, don’t twist the cutter – push it straight down as this will help your scones rise.
Brush the tops of the scones with a little of the egg/milk mixture.
Bake the scones
Pop the scones in the middle shelf of your oven for about 10-12 minutes. They’re ready when they have risen and turned a nice golden brown colour.
Remove them from the oven, then put the scones on a wire rack to cool.
Serve them with butter, jam and or clotted cream.
Plain scones (Mary Berry)
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Mixing bowl
- cutters
- baking tray
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 450 g (3 ¾ cups) self raising flour
- 75 g (⅓ cup) butter
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 50 g (¼ cup) caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- about 225ml or 1cup+ milk
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C Fan / 425F and grease or line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
Rub in the flour and butter
- Measure the flour and add it to a large mixing bowl. Measure the butter, then chop it into small pieces
- Add the chopping butter to the mixing bowl then rub it in with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and baking powder
- Measure the sugar and baking powder and add them to your mixing bowl.
- Mix the sugar and baking powder in with a spoon.
Add the wet ingredients
- Crack the egg into a small bowl before putting it into a measuring jug. If any rogue shell goes in, fish it out with a larger piece of shell – it's easier than using your finger.
- Add milk to your measuring jug, until the egg and milk comes to 225ml. If you have digital scales it's much easier to be accurate. Give the egg and milk a whisk until it's well mixed.Put a few tablespoons of the mixture into a small bowl to brush on the tops of the scones later.
- Make a well in the flour mixture then slowly pour in the milk/egg. Mix it all with a metal knife until it comes together in a nice soft dough.
Make the plain scones
- Lightly flour your work surface, then tip out the scone dough. Very gently, knead the dough until it becomes nice and smooth. Try not to handle the dough too much – stop touching it as soon as it's ready so you don't over work it (this will keep them light and fluffy).
- Rather than rolling out your dough, pat it down with your hands until it is about 2.5cm (1 inch) thick.
- Using a 6cm (2.5 inch cutter), cut out the scones and put them on your prepared baking tray. Once youve cut out all you can, bring all the dough back together then press it out again and cut some more out.
- Brush the tops of the scones with a little of the milk/egg mixture.
Bake the scones
- Pop the scones in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. They're ready when they have risen and turned a nice golden brown colour.
- Remove them from the oven, then put the scones on a wire rack to cool.
- Serve them with butter, jam and or clotted cream.
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If you liked these plain Mary Berry scones you’ll love our other scones recipes as well as our favourite easy bakes for kids.
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