Treat yourself like royalty.
This official royal English scones recipe, enjoyed by the Queen of England herself, is (as you would expect) delicious. Here is the official Buckingham Palace scone recipe, adapted for home kitchens. Buttery, just sweet enough, and the perfect companion to your cup of tea.
The Queen’s Own English Scones Recipe
The only thing better than a good cup of tea is a good cup of tea paired with a perfect scone. And if you are going to bake scones, why not bake the very best? In case you are not invited to royal tea at the palace this week, you now have this very official, very royal English scones recipe.
English food does not exactly enjoy a positive reputation. But there is an exception to every rule, and Buckingham Palace’s English scones are it.
The Story of the Royal English Scones Recipe
In May 2020, perhaps because we all needed a bright spring boost to our Covid lockdowns, the Palace released the recipe for the official English scones enjoyed by the royal family and its guests. They even did an instagram video about it. According to the palace:
Every year at Garden Parties across The Royal Residences, over 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 slices of cakes are consumed! The Royal Pastry Chefs are happy to share their recipe for fruit scones, which traditionally would be served at Buckingham Palace every summer.
How to Make the Official Royal English Scones Recipe
The Buckingham Palace royal scones recipe is surprisingly basic.
The recipe makes simple buttermilk scone with butter and leavening, folded with sultanas. (“Sultanas” are British for golden raisins, FYI.)
The scones are just as good without raisins, in case fruit scones are not to your taste, or you would like to divide the recipe into both types.
Here are the main steps to making the Queen’s scones:
- Mix the flour, baking powder, butter and sugar together in a bowl. Work the butter into the dough a bit, as you would pie dough.
- Separately, whisk two eggs and the buttermilk together. Add the liquid to the crumb mixture. Add the raisins, if using, and mix until evenly distributed. Knead by hand until smooth.
- Flatten the dough to a 1” thickness and cover. Leave to rest for 30 to 45 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Cut to the desired shape using a round biscuit cutter.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cover and rest the scones for another 20 minutes in the fridge. Egg wash the top of the scones.
- Bake at 400°F for around 12 to 15 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool before serving with jam and clotted cream.
Baking Tips for Making the Queen’s English Scone Recipe
There are good scones, and there are great scones. A scone fit for royalty (and thus, us) should be:
- Tender, not tough or bready
- Moist, not dry or crumbly
- Not too sweet, and
- Hold together well and not fall apart when you spread jam and clotted cream on top
To check all these boxes, you need a good recipe (check!) and the right technique. Here’s what to do — and what not to do, technique-wise.
- DO NOT overmix the scone dough. Kneading the dough too much will make it tough and bready because it develops gluten. As soon as the scone dough looks smooth, stop.
- DO check your bake. The scone bottoms will look light golden brown and feel hollow when tapped. Because of their small size, scones overbake and become dry easily, so be sure to get it right.
- If using the golden raisins, soak them in warm water for at least 20 minutes, then drain before adding to the dough. This prevents them from absorbing moisture from the scone dough.
Notes on Adapting the Royal English Tea Scones Recipe
The original recipe, as written, was very vague on some small points, and definitely presumes a certain level of baking experience. So I have added a bit more detail, and converted the recipe to American-friendly volume measurements from metric. But other than adding a smidge more buttermilk because the original recipe seemed a little dry, the recipe and technique is exactly the same.
Additionally, I am fairly certain that the original recipe was written for a convection oven, which would be normal in a professional kitchen. The temperature, as written, was way too low for a standard oven for the amount of time listed. So I have adjusted the temperature and time for a conventional oven, not convection.
Most importantly, enjoy your royal English scones with, what else? A lovely hot cuppa English tea.
You will also love these lovely baked goods:
Buckingham Palace Royal English Scones
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (500g)
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking powder (28g)
- 7 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (94g)
- 1/2 cup sugar (86g)
- 3 eggs, divided
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, less 1 tablespoon (175ml)
- 2/3 cup sultanas or golden raisins, optional (100g)
Instructions
- If using, soak the raisins in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain before adding to the recipe.PRO TIP: Why soak the raisins? Two reasons. One, it softens them, which tastes better in the finished recipe than a hard, tough little raisin. Secondly, it helps keep the scone dough moist. Raisins naturally want to rehydrate. By letting them soften I water, the hard raisins pull moisture from water, not the scone dough.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, butter and sugar together in a bowl until crumbly. Work the butter into the dough a bit, as you would pie dough.
- In a separate bowl, whisk two eggs and the buttermilk together. Add the liquid to the crumb mixture. Add the raisins, if using, and mix until evenly distributed. Continue to gently knead the dough by hand until smooth.
- Remove the dough from the bowl onto a clean countertop lightly dusted with flour. Lightly dust the top of the scones with flour. Flatten the dough to a 1” thickness and cover. Leave to rest for 30 to 45 minutes in the refrigerator. Resting the dough allows the gluten to relax. This helps achieve a tender, flaky scone. PRO TIP: You could simply use the palm of your hand to flatten the dough. But I suggest a rolling pin for a more even result. Roll from the center out, and rotate the dough as you go to prevent sticking.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut to the desired shape using a round biscuit cutter. (Note: I used 2" and 2 1/4" cutters. The original recipe did not specify, but this is standard. If you use a 2" cutter, I suggest making the height a little shorter.)
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Cover and rest the scones for another 20 minutes in the fridge. Whisk the third egg and gently egg wash the top of the scones with a pastry brush.PRO TIP: If you do not have a pastry brush, just use your fingers.
- Bake on baking sheets for around 12 to 15 minutes, give or take depending on your cutter size, or until light golden brown. Leave at least 1 1/2" of space between each scone. Cool before serving with jam and clotted cream.PRO TIP: These will bake best if you bake them one sheet at a time, or at least rotate the baking sheets top to bottom, front to back halfway. If you have a convection setting on your oven, adjust the temperature to 375°F (190°C) and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes.
I’m so excited to have THE royal scone recipe!!
These tasted absolutely wonderful. This will. be my official scone recipe from now on — it’s good enough for the Queen, after all! Tender, buttery.
Delicious! It takes a little while of kneading to make the dough perfectly smooth. I was worried this would make them tough but it didn’t.
Buttery and good. Soaking the raisins in hot water is a game changer for me.
If you do not soak the raisins they draw the moisture form your scones. So yes, it is great that you soaked the raisins.
An essential small detail, always!
Fantastic! Scones have risen up well and very light. Taste good as well.
Good morning ? Lisa!
Can I add fresh blueberries in place of dried fruit?
The dried fruit is yummy, but since I have fresh blueberries,I thought of using those instead.
Thank you !
Lisa
Hello! That sounds absolutely delicious. I say go for it!
Lovely, lovely, lovely. Turned out great and I felt like the Queen 😉
Turned out great!
Hi,
Can you make this recipe up to the point of resting it in the refrigerator and let it rest overnight before continuing ?
Hi, Susan! Yes, you can do that as long as you keep the dough covered with plastic wrap so that it does not dry out. Gluten will slowly form over time, making the scones a little more chewy than flaky, so I would recommend not letting them be in the fridge longer than about 10-12 hours. Alternatively, you could cut the scones into rounds, place them on a baking sheet wrapped in plastic wrap and freeze them. All you’d have to do the next day is the egg wash and bake from frozen. This will add a few more minutes of baking time, but the result will be the same.
Will these freeze well?
Absolutely. You actually have two options: You can bake, cool, and then freeze the baked scones. You can also go as far as mixing and cutting the scones, and then freeze the raw scones. Then, you can just egg wash and pop them in the oven right from frozen. They will just take an additional minute or two to bake. Both methods work; the frozen raw method will make the scones taste ever so slightly fresher. (And who doesn’t love a warm, fresh-baked scone?) To freeze them raw, space them out on a cookie sheet, and let them freeze like that. Once frozen, you can toss them all in a freezer bag or container together. Hope this helps!
Hi what fan assisted oven temperature should I use please?
Hi, Carol! If you’re using a convection oven, lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit. The baking time will also likely be slightly lower, so just keep an eye on it. They’ll be done when they’re golden brown (emphasize golden more than brown).
Hi,
Just a quick note… the best tea scone recipes I’ve made used room temperature butter. Cold butter is more for American biscuits.
Also, it’s standard practice for professional pastry chefs to use a scale for dry measurements.
I did all of that following the original recipe … non-convection oven and the scones turned out beautifully. I do appreciate your version leading me to the original., so thank you.
The buttermilk does it mean takes ng out 1 tablespoon of the measured amount. Thank you
Silly question – do we need to butter the pan or did you bake these on parchment paper? Thank you!
No silly questions! It’s actually a great one. I usually bake on a Silpat or parchment because I find it the neatest option. But a lightly-greased pan will work just as well. Happy baking!
Recipe turn out well,I made a big blur and put 86g of baking powder instead of 28g
Tasted terrible had to throw them.
Will make them again.
Oh noooo!!! Ugh. We’ve all been there. So sorry to hear about the measuring issue. Please try again and do let us know how they turn out.
Turned out beautifully and I feel so glad to have this Royal Recipe! Thank you.
Hi. I would like to make these scones but I can only work in lbs and ounces but can’t seem to do convert the measurements for the correct amount. Can anyone her please?
Can you use heavy cream for a substitution for the buttermilk?
You can, but the leavening will be a bit off because it will lack the acid of buttermilk. Add a squeeze of lemon juice or splash of vinegar (about 2 teaspoons worth or slightly less) to the cream and stir before using.
Very good. I froze half of these.
I was excited to try these but I’m a bit disappointed. It tastes bitter and I think it was because of too much baking powder. I did think it was too much as I was preparing.
I agree that there is indeed a lot of baking powder, but alas, I was following the Queen’s recipe. I would suggest cutting back to 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoons, thus eliminating 1 1/2 teaspoons. This will still give leavening but in a less overwhelming way. The other suggestion would be to make sure you’re using a baking powder without aluminum sulfate, which can have a slightly off flavor.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll try them.