Basic scones

Ingredients

• 3 cups self-raising flour
• 80g butter, chilled and cubed
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups milk
• Plain flour, for dusting
• Jam & cream, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Sift self-raising flour into a large bowl.
2. Using your fingertips, rub butter into self-raising flour until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Make a well in the centre. Add 1 cup of the milk. Mix with a flat-bladed knife until mixture forms a soft dough, adding more milk if required. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently until smooth (don’t knead dough too much or scones will be tough).
4. Lightly dust a flat baking tray with plain flour.
5. Pat dough into a 2cm-thick round. Using a 5cm (diameter) round cutter, cut out 12 rounds. Press dough together and cut out remaining 4 rounds. Place scones onto prepared baking tray, 1cm apart. Sprinkle tops with a little plain flour. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and well risen. Transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm with jam and cream.

Note

• You can freeze the dough before cooking for a lighter, fluffier scone