Scones, How should they be cooked?

Question

Can someone tell me should scones hard like trying to saw a stone with a knife, or soft and flakey like bread? The store behind the question is that we have this cafe company here in the states called Panera Bread Co. I've been to three different locations and tried three different types or flavor of scones. And each one of them was hard as aand dry as a rock. I didn't know if they were suppose to be that away or they just way over baked the scones. I'm just a crazy American who loves to try new foods, if all scones are like this I willn't be trying them again.

Answer 1

The Panera Bread near me does good scones, not hard as a rock!

Scones are a "short" bread, meaning they are flaky and have layers. They are similar to an American biscuit, only a bit sweet adn usually w/ dried fruits and/or nuts and a glaze or icing topping. They can be savory, too. Try making these! THIS is how scones should be!


Orange Glazed Blueberry Scones

2 cups unbleached flour, plus more for rolling berries
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut in chunks
3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
1 egg
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400º F. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter using 2 forks or a pastry blender. The butter pieces should be coated with flour and resemble crumbs.
In another bowl, mix buttermilk and egg together, and then add to the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate, do no overwork the dough.
Roll blueberries in flour to coat, this will help prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baked. Fold the blueberries into batter, being careful not to bruise. Drop large tablespoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until brown. Cool before applying orange glaze.

Orange Glaze:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 oranges, juiced and zested

Combine butter, sugar, orange zest, and juice over a double boiler. Cook until butter and sugar are melted and mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and beat until smooth and slightly cool. Drizzle or brush on top of scones and let glaze get hazy and hardened.

--Tyler Florence
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Bacon Cheddar Cheese Scones

4 slices bacon, chopped
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream, plus 2 tablespoons

Preheat the oven to 400º F. In a medium skillet, cook the bacon, stirring, until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels. Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter, cheese, green onions, and pepper with a pastry blender or fork, and work just until it starts to form lumps and come together. Add the bacon. Add 1 cup of the cream and work just until it becomes a sticky dough, being careful not to overwork.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat until it comes together. Form into 2 large circles, about 7 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick and cut each into 8 wedges with a sharp knife. Transfer to baking sheet with a spatula, leaving 1/2-inch space between each wedge. Paint the tops of the wedges lightly with the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream and bake until golden brown, 22 to 23 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the baking sheet. Serve warm.

--Emeril Lagasse

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

1 lb self raising flour
3 ounces caster sugar
4 ounces butter or margarine, cubed
8 fluid ounces milk
lemon juice
1 beaten egg, for glaze
raisins

oven 200oC/400oF.
rub the flour, fat and sugar to breadcrumbs.
Add the raisins and mix in.
Heat up the milk very slightly with some lemon juice to curdle it.
With a knife make a well in the centre of the flour and add the liquid.
keep stiring with the knife until all incorporated into a dough.
Lay some flour on your board and tilt out the mixture.
The key to scone making is not to work the dough too much.
Just pat the dough to, I think about 1/2inch.
This amount of dough makes 11 medium scones.
Don't flatten the dough too much.
Then just lightly bring the bits together and cut out again.
They sould be slightly rustic.
Lay them on a tray, not touching one another and egg wash.
Bake centre oven for about 10/15 mins, really depends on your oven.
The centre and bottoms should be cooked as well as the top.
These are very good eaten warm but if left for a few days can be toasted.

Answer 4

Neither. They are American biscuit- like, but not quite. Most American companies do not know how to make them properly. My mum would laugh at the prices for them too. She was English and made the all the time; it is joke here. I make them: it takes about three minutes. But you won't find all the silly fillings and stuff like they make here. No pepperoni and chilies, and silly ingredients. At the most we make them with raisins or currants, once in awhile a cherry version. There are savoury scones, too with a bit of herb and cheese in; but mostly they are plain or fruited.

It depends too, upon what area you are from as to how they are cut. In the north they tend to make one big round and cut it into wedges; in the south they make them with round cutters. Your family has recipes, too, that tend to be handed down and around. My family makes them in wedges.

Sorry, Sugar Pie: no icing on scones. We do not make them that way.

Answer 5

They should be soft like a biscut. At least all the ones I have had and made are. If you want to try a real scone I would suggest finding a really good bakery in you area and try one there.

Answer 6

Definitely crusty on the outside. The inside I would say should be more like cornbread than a buttermilk biscuit. When you break a scone, you will get soft crumbs falling from the inside.

Answer 7

The scones I cook have a crisp outside and a soft middle :

http://www.recipesforvegans.co.uk/fruitscones.html

Answer 8

the scones i've made and eaten are tender. the puff up a bit and sort of "break" at the middle (which makes it easy for seperating and them slathering in jam and cream!) and are golden brown on the top. the middles are soft and light.

i think you just have a bad recipe! ;)

Answer 9

They are hard on the outside, should be like a buttermilk biscuit inside. They are crumbly .Have never tried them at Panera, maybe they are not a big seller so they dried out alittle more then they should have. I kinda like them.