How to Make the Best Scones + Strawberry Scone Recipe

These oat scones are easy, tender, moist and quick to make, especially with my tip for shaping the dough. My complaint about some scones is that they can be dry and cake-like. Following the steps in this recipe with the tips gives you the best, most moist and tender scone you've ever made.

This is a very flexible recipe. Feel free to substitute other kinds of fresh berries or dried fruit for the strawberries without making any other changes. Make a batch along with a pot of ginger lemon honey tea, and you're set for the morning.

Jump to Recipe

Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.

Jump to:

• 👩‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works
• 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
• 🔪 Recommended Equipment
• 👩‍🍳 5 Tips for Making Perfect Scones
• 👩‍🍳 Shaping Tips
• 🏔 High Altitude Tips
• 🤷‍♀️ Oat Scones FAQ
• Strawberry Scones with Oats and Lemon Glaze

Scones were the first bread I made when I graduated from loaf breads many years ago. I experimented like crazy with different kinds of milk, fruit and flours. I started making this blueberry scone loaf, and I obviously have a preference for strawberries in my scone, since I have a strawberry scone with ginger on the blog, but if you check it out, you'll see it's very different from this one.

👩‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works

• The addition of oats makes the scone more moist, in the same way it works in these Healthy Apple Cheddar Muffins. Since it's very dry where I live, this is a huge bonus.
• When scone dough is cut into individual scones, the edges can be pinched, causing the scones to not rise as high during baking. Additionally the scones can spread more easily during baking. Starting with a large round disk of scone dough, slicing it with a sharp knife, and then leaving the disk intact, allows the dough to rise to its full potential while it bakes without spreading.
• Baking the scone bread without actually separating out individual scones contributes to a moister scone.
• Buttermilk adds tenderness to the scones, and reacts with the baking powder and baking soda to get a great rise like in these peach scones. Yogurt does the same thing in this strawberry yogurt cake and pear yogurt cake with chocolate chips.
• A quick freeze helps the dough keep its shape while it bakes.

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👩‍🍳 5 Tips for Making Perfect Scones

• Cut the butter into the flour BEFORE adding the liquid.
  • The butter coats the flour, preventing it from developing more gluten when everything is mixed together.
• All ingredients must be very cold, especially the butter.
• Don't over-mix the dough.
  • A slightly lumpy batter is best. You should be able to see bits of coated butter pieces the size of a pea all through the floury mixture.
  • If you use a food processor to mix the butter in like I do, be sure to pulse it. The more the butter is over-mixed into the flour, the texture of the baked scone will be drier and cake-like.
  • If you're new to making scones, I recommend whisking all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, and then cutting in the butter using a pastry blender.
  • Fold in the liquid in using a spatula. At the end, just knead it a few times with your hands to make sure the flour and liquid are completely absorbed. Don't knead the dough any more than absolutely necessary.
• Don't under-mix the dough.
  • If you have dry flour or little pools of liquid in the dough, the scone won't hold together very well in those areas when baked.
  • The dough should be slightly sticky as you form the dough into a 1"-thick disc.
• Freeze the dough for 15 - 20 minutes just before baking off.
  • This helps the dough retain its shape without spreading while it bakes.
  • This extra step is particularly important if you cut individual scones from the dough before baking.

👩‍🍳 Shaping Tips

Separating the wedges of dough can be tricky, and time consuming. Also, it promotes spreading of the wedges during baking. I have a secret tip.

• Chill the dough in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.
• Slice through the chilled dough using a sharp chef's knife, but don't separate the wedges before baking.
• Use a wet knife when slicing the dough. This prevents the dough from sticking to the knife. When dough pinches together for any reason, it won't rise as much.
• After baking, just slice again, and separate the wedges. Slide the scones back into the oven for 5 final minutes if needed, and you'll have perfectly shaped, gorgeous scones.

🏔 High Altitude Tips

Make the following adjustments to this scone recipe for baking these scones at high altitude (7000 feet):

• Use 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• Decrease the baking soda to ¾ teaspoon.
• Stir in 1 additional tablespoon of buttermilk.

🤷‍♀️ Oat Scones FAQ

Can I make these scones ahead and freeze?

There are two options:

• Freeze them before baking. Freeze on a baking sheet for 1 hour. Place in a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Allow for additional baking time when you pull them out to bake them up.
• Freeze them after baking. This works well, but I recommend freezing them before drizzling on the glaze. Once they come to room temperature, warm them in a 350˚F oven, and drizzle on the glaze.

Why are my scones so hard?

There are two common reasons for tough scones:

• The dough was worked too hard. When adding the liquid, use a gentle pressure in mixing the dough, and only mix it long enough for the flour to be absorbed into the dough.
• The butter wasn't cold enough. If the butter isn't cold, it doesn't create layers in the bread. You end up with more of a cake-like, denser scone.

Why are my scones flat?

• Old baking soda or baking powder. They don't last forever.
• The dough is too soft. There's a lot of butter in scones, and as we know butter doesn't hold it's shape when heated. Freezing the shaped scone dough for at least 20 minutes chills it enough to hold its shape and rise.
• Lack of acid in the dough. Acid activates the baking soda and baking powder. That's why the buttermilk is important, or having yogurt, sour cream or at least lemon juice in the mix of ingredients.
• Low fat milk. When I've used low fat milk as my only milk product in scones, they've baked up flatter.

This recipe was inspired and modeled from this Strawberry and Honey-Oat Scones recipe by The Hungry Couple. Her recipe was designed for baking them at sea level.