The Best Cream Scones from our Traditional Family Recipe (2024)

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Another one of the wonderful things my husband brought into our household, is this cream scones recipe! It’s come down through his mother’s family and is one of our very favorite morning or tea time treats!

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In fact, these cream scones were included on the menu for the tablescape competition I wrote about in How My Table Got Ready for the Table Decorating Contest.

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All three of the varieties on the menu use this same basic cream scone recipe – I just change out the additions. If I add liquid to it, like the rosewater, I don’t dump in all the cream at once. I add it slowly to make sure the dough doesn’t get too wet. Same with the cream cheese – you might need to adjust some of the other ingredients to keep the consistency right.

In the world of scones, these are more on the soft side. Not quite a biscuit, not quite a cookie. Soft and delicious, and absolutely decadent with butter!

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The original recipe calls for nuts and dried fruit, which is delicious, but you can substitute just about anything. I love chocolate and hazelnuts, so that’s what we’re going to be baking today.

The recipe is below, but I’ll walk us through the steps here.

Mix the Cream Scones Dry Ingredients

I like to measure all the ingredients out and make sure I have everything before I start in. I feel more organized that way. (I also made my work area pretty with a napkin and roses too. No reason not to be fancy if you want!)

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First step is to mix all the dry ingredients together. The old handwritten recipe says to use a fork, so I always do. Maybe it fluffs it up more than a spoon … ?

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Then add your chocolate chips and hazelnuts. (Or whatever you’re going to include. 1 1/4 cups of whatever it is will be fine.)

Add the Cream to the Cream Scones

Then pour in your cream.

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Stir it all together with your fork until it holds together into a ball, then flour your work surface and dump out the dough. It should look like this, without too much left in the bowl.

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Knead the Dough

Then you get to knead it. The dough should just barely stick to your hands at first. If it’s too wet and sticky, add a tiny bit more flour as you knead.

After just a few turns, the ball should be relatively smooth, and you should be able to handle it without it sticking to you or the counter. You really only knead it till it feels cohesive. The recipe calls for kneading it 8 or 9 times, but do what feels right to you – we all knead differently. Just make sure it stays cool and firm.

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Divide Your Cream Scones into Two Parts and Add the Glaze

Then divide your dough ball into two equal parts, and flatten them out into rounds about 1 inch tall.

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Spread your melted butter over them both. There’s a lot of butter here, so don’t worry if it starts to roll off the top. You can stop whenever you want!

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Sprinkle the sugar over that. I’m not a very good sprinkler, so I had to spread out the sugar with the brush after I accidentally blobbed it on there at first!

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Cut into Triangles

After the glaze is on, cut your rounds into 6 triangles each. (Technically, you could cut them into any shape you want, but triangles are traditional.)

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Transfer the pieces to a baking sheet, and make sure they’re about one inch from each other. They don’t spread out too much, but if you want those lovely golden edges, you don’t want them touching each other.

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I like my edges just barely golden, and the bottoms just barely golden too. So I use a double pan, or put my cream scones on the upper middle rack of the oven. Depending on your desired level of golden-ness, and the way your oven heats, you can leave them on the middle rack or only use one pan. See what works best for you.

Bake Your Scones

Then put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. If this is the first time you’ve made them, check at about 9-10 minutes and see how they’re doing. This would be a good time to rotate the pan to compensate for any hotspots in your oven, too.

When you take them out of the oven, let them stand in the pan for just a couple minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool.

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Our cream scones never get to stay on the rack for very long – we grab them up as soon as they’re cool enough to touch!

If you can get your family to wait long enough, put your scones on a plate and serve them with fresh butter, clotted cream, or whatever topping you love the most.

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The Family Cream Scones Recipe