Easy Vanilla And Cream Scones

These easy vanilla scones are a classic and delicious vanilla flavor scone that goes so well with coffee or tea and anyone can make them. The scones are fluffy and light on the inside with a slight crunch on the outside and are wonderful on their own or with a little jam. Homemade scones are perfect for a snack, an afternoon treat, or for Sunday breakfast.

Vanilla scones are a tradition in our house and I really think this is the best scone recipe.

They are easy to make and have a classic flavor combination of vanilla flavor and cream. If you are wondering about the texture of these vanilla scones, they are buttery, flaky, and fluffy with those amazing layers that everyone loves.

Many people are scared to work with recipes that involve dough and I can understand that because I used to be that way too.

This is my tried and true recipe to make scones and I will walk you through the steps to make the perfect fluffy vanilla scones. I will also show you what you can look out for with your finished scones so you can know what to fix the next time you make them.

Now let me show you how to make them!

The ingredients you need

1. Heavy Cream: Make sure the cream is cold. The cream helps with the moisture in the scones.
2. Cold Unsalted Butter. Make sure you are working with cold butter.
3. Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I prefer King Arthur. Read notes below about my tips for which flour to use. )
4. Egg: These are large eggs. The egg is for the eggwash.
5. Salt: I always use kosher salt for my recipes. If you do not have kosher salt, regular table salt is fine, just reduce the amount of salt by half.
6. Sugar: Regular granulated sugar.
7. Demerara Sugar: I like to use this as a topping for my scones. You can also use regular sugar.
8. Vanilla extract: The best quality you can find.
9. Baking Powder: This helps give the scones rise.

All really simple ingredients here. I always have all of these ingredients on hand so for me, these vanilla scones are always at the top of my list when I am thinking about a special breakfast on the weekends.

How to make the best vanilla scones

The steps to making these easy vanilla scones are what makes them so amazing! They really do come out so delicious and fluffy when you follow these steps.

1. Finely cube your butter then add it to your dry ingredients

Mix all of your dry ingredients well in a large bowl. I like to cut the stick of butter lengthwise into thirds with a sharp knife or pastry cutter. I then flip it to its side and cut it lengthwise again into thirds. I like to do this first and then place the butter back into the fridge while I assemble the rest of the ingredients

2. Working with the butter to make fluffy scones

This is what makes a scone. When you marry the butter and flour together this gives those layers everyone loves and makes big fluffy scones.

I like to use a pastry cutter to mix the butter into the flour but you can also do this in a food processor. I also like to finish making my vanilla scones by rubbing the flour-butter mixture between my fingertips.

You just keep rubbing the mixture through your fingers until you don't feel any more lumps and it resembles a coarse meal.

3. Adding the wet ingredients to the scone dough

This is where you mix your cream, vanilla, and egg and then add it to the butter-flour mixture. Here is where lots of people struggle as well.

Sometimes a recipe calls for one amount of liquid but your dough is still dry after adding that.

I have tested this vanilla scone recipe many times and I can tell you that, you start with what the recipe calls for and you will never need more than an extra 2 tablespoons of cream. Just add one tablespoon at a time.

4. Shaping the scone dough- the rustic crumbly dough is good!

The dough for these vanilla scones is not smooth but a little rustic. It should stay together but you will see a few lines and cracks here and there.

Do not try to make the dough smooth.

You will think that there is not enough liquid at the first fold but with every fold and shaping that you do, it will come together more and more. There is no need to be perfect when working with scone dough.

The rustic-looking dough is good dough!

5. Shaping and cutting scones

Tips

• I do not roll my scones. I use my fingertips to gently press the dough into a disc that is about 7 inches across and about ¾ inches thick. Use a ruler if you are not good at eyeballing this. After I gently shape the dough I fold it in half and press it back into the 7-inch across disc. I repeat this step 2 more times (a total of 3 folds and 3 shaping it into a disc). This will give you the layers you love.

• When cutting these scones, I cut the scones into triangles so there is no waste. Biscuit or cookie cutters produce excess dough that needs to be re-rolled (or re-pressed) which ruins the scones. The triangles will seem very small but these scones will bake up to a beautiful size.

That is really all there is to it. No rolling. No fancy techniques.

Just make your dough, press it out, fold it, shape it three times, and cut.

The best sugar for topping your scones

Now you may or may not have Demerara sugar in your house but if you do this is the time to use it. If you are not familiar with Demerara sugar it is very lightly processed coarse sugar that adds the most beautiful crunch and texture to baked goods.

It is not expensive and it lasts a long time. This is what I love to add to the top of the scones but you can substitute granulated or coarse sugar if you do not have it.

This is a very easy and forgiving recipe. It is also a great cream scone recipe to practice with until you feel confident working with dough.

Once you are comfortable working with these classic cream scones, you can experiment and try out other scones recipes with fruit or toppings (or savory) like my blueberry vanilla yogurt scones, blackberry scones, cheese scones, and apple pie scones.

Pairing Ideas

If you are looking for ideas of what to serve with these vanilla scones, here are some ideas: