Chocolate chip scones on a baking tray arranged in rows For the Tallest Scones, Chill Them
My friend, who runs a microbakery in my hometown, makes enviably tall and tender scones. When I asked about them, the single most important tip she gave me for making tall scones that keep their shape is to chill or freeze them before baking.
Whenever I take the time, even just thirty minutes, to chill the shaped scones in the freezer, they bake up noticeably taller, neater, and more tender. Chilling the scones allows the flour to hydrate and the gluten to relax, prevents the butter from melting too early or leaking out during baking, and prevents the scones from spreading out.
A plate with five chocolate chip scones arranged for serving
Here are a few more of my favorite tricks for mixing and shaping tender scones:
Use cold ingredients. As with pie dough or biscuits, keeping the butter cold throughout the whole mixing process makes the tenderest scones with the best rise.
Avoid overmixing the dough. After adding the wet ingredients, mix only enough to bring the dough together into a cohesive mass. Overmixing the dough develops more gluten, resulting in flatter, tougher scones.
Shape the scones into wedges. Reincorporating the scraps left behind by a biscuit cutter overworks the dough, making tough scones. Flattening the dough into discs and cutting them into wedges works the dough less and leaves no scraps.
