Easy Food Processor Scones: easy and quick to make in your food processor, these flakey scones are perfect for a tea party, breakfast, or snack.
These easy food processor scones are an old favourite of mine. They are my go-to scone recipe. I've made them so many times, so I'm very confident in telling you they're easy and they're delicious. If you're a fan of scones you will love how simple these are to make, and how delicious they are.
Many, many years ago I lived in England for 18 months. During that time I discovered scones. I went for many "cream teas" which is a pot of tea, served with fresh scones, butter, jam, and clotted cream.
Clotted cream is a little hard to come by where I live, but these scones are delicious served with butter and jam, and you can substitute whipped cream if you want to make your own cream tea at home.
These are absolutely perfect to sert at a high tea. Make them the morning of your tea party for the best taste. A good scone is kind of crusty on the outside and nice soft in the middle. These aren't just for afternoon tea. I love these buttery scones for breakfast too. And there a go to recipe for Mother's Day.
Food Processor
Scones are traditionally made by hand, but making them in your food processor is a real time saver. When using your food processor for baking there is always the danger of overmixing. Overmixing scones means they will come out tough and chewy, instead of the tender crumbly texture we're going for. To avoid this problem just be sure to only run the food processor until the dough comes together, and then stop once the dough forms, before overworking it.
You can also make this recipe by hand if you prefer, but the food processor method is much quicker. If you're making these by hand you can use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter, and then mix the dough together and work with a spoon and your hands.
Shaping The Scones
I like to cut my dough in half and then make two large circles with this. You can use a rolling pin or just pat the soft dough out with your hands to make a ¾ inch thick disk. At this stage brush with cream and sprinkle sugar on the tops of the scones. Doing this step before you cut them to size is the easy way and means avoiding having to each individual one after they're cut into smaller pieces. Next you will cut the disk into individual scones using a sharp knife. Make them large by cutting the circle into quarters, or smaller by cutting the circle into 6 equal triangles. If you make them larger you may need to adjust the cooking time slightly.
I really prefer cutting the scone dough into wedges instead of using a round cookie cutter. If you use a cookie cutter, you will have to re-roll the leftover dough, and this can lead to overworked tough scones. By cutting the wedges you avoid having to overwork the dough and make more tender scones.
Scone Add-Ins
I sometimes like to add raisins to this base scone recipe. You can not add your favorite mix-ins to the dough while it's in the food processor, because the blade would chop any add-ins into tiny pieces. If you want to add anything to the dough, you'll have to take the dough out of the food process, and as your last step before shaping the scones, you can add in anything you like. Place the dough and the add-ins in a large bowl and use a wooden spoon to combine. I add ½ cup of raisins.
You can also try adding other ingredients to this basic scone recipe like dried currants for currant scones. You might also like to try adding cranberries, fresh blueberries, chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips.
These scones are best eaten fresh the day they are made. When they're fresh they have a perfect crust on the outside, and are soft in the middle. You can store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature, but like most baked goods they lose the outer crust when they're not freshly baked.
You can freeze the dough and bake it fresh when needed. To do this prepare the scones and put on a baking tray and put the baking tray uncovered in the freezer. Once the scones are frozen individually you can store them in an airtight container in the freezer for several months. To bake them remove one, let it defrost on a baking sheet and then bake according to the recipe.
These are the best scones for a tea party. My favourite would be tea sandwiches, followed by these scones with my favorite jam and cream, and some little sweets. This is great recipe, that's easy to put together. It makes delicious English style scones.
But tea parties aren't the only time for this easy scone recipe, they are amazing for breakfast too. And they're so quick and easy to make in the food processor that you can make a batch first thing in the morning. These are best eaten fresh.
Recipe
Easy Food Processor Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup cold butter
- 1 egg
- ½ cup heavy cream
- plus 1 tablespoon more cream and 2 teaspoon sugar for the top
Instructions
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor.
- Add in the cold butter cut into small pieces and blend until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
- In a small bowl beat the egg and stir in the heavy cream. Add to the flour mixture in the food processor and pulse until it's completely combined and comes together to form a dough ball. Be careful not to over mix.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form into a ball. Cut the ball in half. Form each half into a flat disk about ¾ inch thick. Cut each disk into 6 equal wedges. Brush the top of each scone with more heavy cream and sprinkle with some sugar.
- Bake at 425 F degree oven on a large baking sheet in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the tips of the wedges start to turn golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
With these Easy Food Processor Scones, life really is a party!
More Recipe Inspiration
You might also like our Blueberry Scone recipe here.
Also check out our Peach Almond Muffins recipe here.
You might also enjoy our Jelly Donut Pancakes recipe here.
Dannyelle Nicolle-Ramjist says
These scones are so good and easy to make. The food processor method makes them a nice quick recipe, and they're still soft and tender.
dnr says
Deb, so glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Best, Dannyelle
Deb says
Perfect. So easy so good. Thanks for the recipe.
Danielle says
Ooooh, these look so good. My hubby is Conrish and I loved having proper Cornish Cream Teas while we lived in England. We will have to make these while the kids are home from school. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Krista says
I love that those are so easy and I bet delicious like you said... fresh for breakfast! Thanks for sharing.
Jennifer Hadfield says
I've never tried making scones using my food processor. I love that idea! I pinned this to my brunch board so I can make them! Thanks my friend!
xoxo