By:Nagi
614 Comments
Lemonade Scones are the fastest and easiest scones you will ever make! Incredibly fluffy, moist scones madefrom scratch using only 3 ingredients – self raising flour, cream and lemonade. The secret ingredient is lemonade – but they don’t taste of lemon at all!
This is the faster way to make classic scones which call for butter to be rubbed or blitzed into flour. Lemonade Scones rise ever so slightly less, but the difference is barely noticeable!
Lemonade Scones
Scones are as Australian as Meat Pies andLamingtons. Made the traditional way, butter is rubbed into flour using your fingers – or a food processor. Not particularly difficult, but it does take time, calling for fridge cold butter to be diced into cubes.
I don’t know who discovered this genius shortcut way of making scones, but I am forever indebted to them.Sometimes I do enjoy taking the time to make scones the traditional way.But I usually makethese Lemonade Scones which honestly come out so similar and yet takeless than half the time to make.
If you’ve never tried these before, you’re honestly going to be amazed. Seriously AMAZED!
Scones are an afternoon tea favourite in Australia, brought to our shores when the British settled here just over 200 years ago. It’s a regular at quaint tea houses, especially in the countryside, and at local bake sales!
What’s the difference between an American biscuit and a scone?
🇺🇸That’s biscuits as they’re known in America that look like our scones! A southern classic served savoury, fabulous with grits, sausage gravy and eggs.
A comparison of the classic Aussie scone recipe with this New York Times Biscuits recipeis all it takes to verify that they are indeed made the same way – just used for different purposes. 🙂 Lemonade Scones are slightly more different because they are a touch sweeter than classic scones.
What you need for Lemonade Scones
Here are the 3 ingredients you need:
Self raising flour – this is just plain flour (all purpose flour) and baking powder that’s already been combined. It’ssold as “self raising flour” in the UK, Australia, NZ. It’s easy tomake your ownself raising flour simply by mixing 2 tsp baking powder for every 1 cup of flour.
Cream– thickened or heavy cream works best I find. But it does work fine with ordinary cream too, but it needs to be full fat (I found low fat didn’t work as well, not as soft inside); and
Lemonade-the “secret ingredient”, the namesake of this scone recipe!! I don’t know the science behind why it works. I like to think the fizz activates the baking powder to make the scones rise and make them fluffy, but I’m totally guessing here!
What type ofLemonade to use?
Schweppes and Kirks Lemonade are the two brands I use. I’ve made it with “no frills” too and it worked fine, so I am pretty sure any lemonade brand should be fine. Sprite and 7 Up also work – tried it and it comes out exactly the same!
How to make Lemonade Scones
Just dump the flour, cream and lemonade into a bowl, mix, turn out onto board, cut out scones and bake.
Yep. That’s it.Really!
Lemonade Scones – Tips!
Few tips to share to ensure your scones come out soft and fluffy every time!!
Less dough handling = fluffier scones. So only mix the batter until the flour isalmost fully incorporated (ie can still some flour), then scrape onto work surface and knead as few times as possible to bring together into a disc shape with a pretty smooth surface (I aim for 5 kneads, 8 is ok).
Do not twist the cutter – press the cutter straight down and up, resist the urge to twist! If you twist, the sides of the scones gets “smeared” which affects how well they rise.
Avoid touching sides of scones – use a big kitchen knife or similar to transfer scones to tray to avoid touching the sides of the scones.
Place so they’re touching each other ever so slightly – because they help each other rise (isn’t that just so sweet? 😍)
Don’t be tight with the jam and cream – there’s nothing sadder than running out of cream mid scone scoffing!!
Whether Lemonade Scones or traditional made scones, they are best served warm but MUST be served with copious amounts of cream and jam. There’s just really no getting around that part. It’s like having a grilled cheese sandwich without cheese. It just ain’t right. Just saying.😇
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
More Aussie favourites
Scones– made the classic way
Pikelets
Caramel Slice
Lamingtons
Pavlova
Sausage Rolls
Party Pies
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Lemonade Scones - 3 Ingredients From Scratch
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 10 minutes mins
Cook: 15 minutes mins
Total: 25 minutes mins
Baking
Australian, New Zealand, UK
4.98 from 135 votes
Servings10 scones
Tap or hover to scale
Recipe video above. Moist and fluffy scones, made with only 3 ingredients! These are truly miracle. They must be served with copious amounts of cream and jam. That's a given!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups self raising flour , plus extra for dusting (flour sub - Note 1)
- 1 cup thickened cream (heavy cream), not whipped!
- 1 cup lemonade (Note 2)
To serve
- Whipped cream
- Jam
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan). Line tray with baking/parchment paper.
Combine the flour, cream and lemonade in a bowl and mix until flour is mostly combined. Do not over mix, it will make the scones dense! The dough should be soft and fairly sticky.
Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead gently just 3 - 5 times to bring dough together, then gently pat into a disc shape 2.5cm/1" thick.
Use a 6cm/2.5" round cutter to cut rounds - press straight up and down (don't twist), flour cutter in between. (Note 4)
Use a knife or similar to scoop up (avoid touching sides) and place on tray, slightly touching each other (they help each other rise).
Brush the tops lightly with milk. (Note 5)
Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top. Place on rack to cool. Place tea towel over them to stop the tops from getting crusty.
Serve with copious amounts of cream and jam, and of course tea!
Recipe Notes:
1. Self raising flour (called self rising flour in the US and Canada) is simply flour that's already got baking powder in it. To make your own self raising flour, just add 7 tsp baking to 3 1/2 cups plain/all purpose flour (no need to minus 7 tsp flour, dough is quite sticky).
2. Lemonade - I use Schweppes and Kirks. "No brand" lemonade works fine too, as does 7Up and Solo so I presume any brand of any of these should work fine. Just need something fizzy and sweet!
3. Cutting tips - If you don't have a round cutter, which I didn't for ages, use an empty tin (cleaned!) or you can just cut them into squares with a knife. Just be sure to flour the knife between cuts so the dough doesn't stick to it.
TIPS: Push cutter straight up and down, do not twist. Flour the cutter in between so the dough doesn't stick. I usually get 6 out of the first batch, then I combine and pat out the offcuts to make another 3 - 4.
4. Milk brushing -This makes the tops nice and golden, and helps smooth the top too.
5. Storage - keeps for 3 days in an airtight container but needs to be reheated to serve. Also freeze well, for up to 3 months.
6. Nutrition per scone - jam and cream not included (I cannot be held responsible for how much you pile on!!).
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 74gCalories: 188cal (9%)Carbohydrates: 31.5g (11%)Protein: 4.1g (8%)Fat: 4.8g (7%)Saturated Fat: 2.8g (18%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 16mg (5%)Sodium: 6mgFiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 2.6g (3%)
Keywords: lemonade scones, scones recipe
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Originally published January 2014. Long overdue to add a recipe video and fresh new photos!
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614 Comments
Kelli says
This is such a great recipe and so easy!
I had a craving for Bakers Delight Berry and White Choc scones, so I used this as a base and added white choc bits and finely chopped dried cranberries. They were a good replica and just needed an extra 2 minutes I found. Yummmo!Reply
- Nadine says
Easy recipe to make & to remember!!!
But too sweet for my taste for scones jam & cream.
I use sparkling filtered tap water – we have a soda stream (it’s like sparkling spring water – not mineral or soda water) work great in airfryer too ❤️ xnxReply
- Janice says
What is the best way to reheat scones please?
Reply
- Jackie says
Personally, I put mine on a paper towel or plate & pop them in the microwave for 9 to 12 seconds for one scone & 14 to 20 seconds for two scones, depending upon how warm you want them. Every microwave varies, of course, so start with the least amount of time & increase as needed. Hope this helps!
Reply
- Ena says
Wow this was so simple and quick. Turned out perfect, rose well and looks great!
Next time I would like to experiment with adding salt, no sugar lemonade and wholemeal flour.Reply
- Kelly says
These scones are quick and simple to make. Absolutely delicious.Reply
- Madeline says
Turned out an absolute treat and scoffed with cream and jam. Everyone really enjoyed them and came back for more. Thanks!Reply
- Judith Maier says
Made them for the second time yesterday, this time for a christmas party, served them with whipped cream and strawberry jam. They were all devoured and everyone commented on how lovely they were. Thanks for another brilliant recipeReply
- Leanne says
These are really easy and so yummy!Reply
- Katrina says
So delicious, simple and easy. Made these as part of a brunch – savoury first followed by scones and sweeter foods. Prepared them and had them on the table within 25 of finishing the earlier course – amazing … light and fluffy and easily comparable to the hard slog of normal scones, definitely my new recipe!Reply
- Jay says
These were beautiful! I’m looking forward to making these for friends one day. I doubled the recipe, used plain flour and added 5 TSP baking powder and a little salt. They rose well – slight crunch on the outside and soft on the inside.Reply
- Sarah says
I can report that these are also a great base for cheese scones. There’s no noticeable lemonade flavour or excess sweetness (I used Schweppes). I grate a little 200g block of Red Leicester cheese (Coombe Castle), mix most of it into the dough and reserve a handful or so to sprinkle on the tops after brushing with milk. They’re delicious warm with butter and Vegemite. I’d like to experiment with adding a bit of spice like paprika and/or some fresh parsley next time. Thanks again for such a useful recipe.Reply
- Jan says
Made the scones with ginger beer, very successful. Thank you again Nagi!!
Reply
- Evelyn says
Made these scones for afternoon tea. They were absolutely delicious. Great recipe.Reply
- Chris says
These were much nicer than other lemonade scones I have had in the past, not overly sweet and did not taste the lemonade .I will be using this one in the future for sure ,so easy !Reply
- Ashley says
I used your recipe after my daughter made scones using a similar recipe at preschool and asked for an encore! It’s my first time making scones so I was sooooo terrified of overmixing that I totally undermixed it and it was a gooopy mess but i added more flour while I was trying to save my doughy fingers and I feel like it was such a forgiving recipe, they turned out perfect! My last scraps-made scone turned out amazing too!! The kids are so thrilled with their scones for breakfast and they are usually hard to pleaseReply
- Allison Mathews says
hi Nagi can you put in the baking powered if you still use self raising flour and if so how much thank you
Reply
- Sarah says
No, if you use self raising flour you do not add baking powder. Self raising flour has baking powder mixed into it already. If you put in any more it would be too much.
Reply
- Casey says
I have made these scones for years, since we made them at a cafe I worked at. We’d make them 2-3 times a week because they were so popular. When I make them at home, I flatten the dough into a rectangle and use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut them into equal pieces, rather than potentially having a tiny little scone in the bunch
Reply
- Julie Knighton says
I made these gluten free and they were amazing! Light, fluffy, melt in the mouth. Yum!Reply
- The Farmer’s Wife says
This is great to hear !
Did you need to add more liquid? Often GF is very dryReply
- Julie says
I used exactly the same quantities of everything. There are a few comments on here that GF flour doesn’t work so I think the result is probably very flour dependent. I use a really great 1:1 GF flour from Sabato in NZ – it contains milk powder so you get good browning. I saw a comment on here about it working with I think it was Aldi? GF flour. Based on my experience baking GF recipes from USA I think Bob’s Red Mill would probably work. I just have a go with most recipes to make them GF – usually works.
Reply
- the Farmer’s Wife says
Thanks Julie.
I’ve made these several times with regular flour and they always turn out brilliantly.
I make today with Doves Farm Free SR GF flour and same quantity ingredients, UK. Followed recipe same as always. While they baked ok, they just didn’t colour at all and ended up over baking in the vain hope they would brown. Should I add some milk powder, how much do you think? Really wanting to make for old family friend 🤞Reply
- Evelyn says
The BEST scone recipe ever! So light and fluffy. Thanks NagiReply
- Sarah says
Today I noticed the art on the Google homepage was of scones and I thought “I feel like scones,” did a search and spotted your recipe – not the top result but I’ve always enjoyed your food and was curious about three-ingredient scones (four for me because I don’t usually have self-raising flour, so I appreciated your putting the right amount of baking powder right in the recipe). I’m so glad I tried it because they turned out absolutely excellent! They’re so light and soft inside with a lovely golden crust. We had them for afternoon tea with a choice of jam and cream or butter and Vegemite and they were wolfed down. Thank you!Reply
