Recipe for amazing perfect sourdough scones with sultanas and cranberries. Tasty, fluffy and bloomin lovely with a thick smear of salty butter and a good old English brew!
I’ve been lovingly caring for the sourdough starter I made a month or so ago. I mastered the art of general bread making – with a little help from Mr Hollywood – about a year ago (it was a happy day for me when my dough addicted husband declared my bread delicious. I’d had far too many ‘hmmm it’s okaaaay’ comments!).
So I thought I’d up my game and try some artisan bread.
After baking a delicious looking loaf (that took around 19 hours from start to finish), I had to shamefacedly admit that I don’t like sourdough bread (blush).
How disappointing! I’d had it a few times when we were on holiday in California, and I don’t think I really liked it then, but I wanted to think I was a bit of a foodie, and therefore it was the law that I liked sourdough bread. Oh well.  As with olives, I’ll keep trying in the vain hope that I can eventually look sophisticated like the rest of you sourdough/olive eating folk.
After a second failed attempt with Mr Hollywood’s almond and honey sourdough, I admitted defeat with the breads and decided to give my starter one last chance in a cake (can you call a scone a cake?) before bringing an end to it’s wasted life.
And guess what? Success! Tasty, fluffy and bloomin lovely sourdough scopes with a thick smear of salty butter and a good old English brew!
The Sourdough Scones Recipe:
Sourdough Scones
Ingredients
- 400 g (3 1/4 cups + 1 tbsp) self raising flour
- 100 g (6 1/2 tbsp) cold butter cut into small cubes
- ¼ tsp salt
- 100 g (1/2 cup) golden caster sugar
- 75 g (3/8 cup) sultanas
- 50 g (1/4 cup) dried cranberries you can swap the sultanas and cranberries for other dried fruit like raisins/cherries etc if you like
- 250 g (1 cup) sourdough starter
- 70 ml (4 1/2 tbsp) whole milk, warm, but not hot semi skimmed will do if you haven't got whole
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For brushing:
- 2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F (fan) and line a baking tray with baking parchment.400 g (3 1/4 cups + 1 tbsp) self raising flour, 100 g (6 1/2 tbsp) cold butter, 1/4 tsp salt, 100 g (1/2 cup) golden caster sugar, 75 g (3/8 cup) sultanas, 50 g (1/4 cup) dried cranberries
- Place the flour, salt and butter in a large bowl and rub together with your fingertips until most of the butter lumps have gone. Add the sugar and dried fruit and give it a quick mix.
- In a separate bowl, mix the starter, milk and vanilla extract.250 g (1 cup) sourdough starter, 70 ml (4 1/2 tbsp) whole milk, warm, but not hot, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pour 3/4 of the starter mixture into the flour mixture and use a round ended knife to work the mixture together. Add more of the starter mixture and work in gently until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. Don't overwork, or you'll get tough scones.
- Tip out the dough onto a floured surface and flatten it out with your hands so that it's about 3cm thick. Use a round cutter dipped in flour (to prevent it sticking) and cut out your scones. Make sure you just press the cutter down rather than twist it - otherwise you'll get scones that rise a bit wonky.
- Gather the leftover dough, gently rework and cut out the rest of the scones until all the dough is used.
- Place on the prepared baking tray, brush with a little milk and place in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.2 tbsp milk
- Remove from the oven, leave to cool and serve sliced in half with butter.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I used a cup of starter and omitted the vanilla. These were up there with the best scones ever eaten. I followed Emmanuel Hadjiandreou’s Method for making sourdough and not only was it foolproof it was delicious and my whole family loved the bread. Please try his method, the bread is lovely, not sour and quite fluffy!
Why does the starter milk and vanilla extra need to be in the microwave?
Hi Alohapei. This was a tip I was given, and it worked so I went with it.
It was quite a few years ago when those instructions were written, so now, with more experience, I would use warm milk, and not put it in the microwave. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect that.
I must have missed your earlier recipe on sourdough starter. May I have it please, before I start making these lovely scones 😋? Thank you
Hi Susan,
Unfortunately i don’t have a a Sourdough Starter on my site but i have found this recipe for you. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-recipe
Thanks
Chris
Just baked the sour dough scones – delicious (substituted the fruit for port soaked raisins). Wonderful taste, and so quick and easy to make. Highly Recommended.
can a bread maker be used to mix everything up
Best recipe made with my starter which I been baking bread,it about a month old the scones were lovely thankyou
Your right the best scones made with my starter,which I made a bout month ago thank you for recipe.
I wish you also listed US conversions to make it easier.
Why did you have the sourdough starter and milk in the microwave? Did it not kill the effect of the sourdough ( wild yeast)?
Hi Mira,
It’s been a while since I cooked these, but from what i can remember, the sourdough starter in these scones was used for flavour (to give a slight tang to the scones) – rather than rise. The scones were made with self-raising flour to give the required rise.
This meant I treated the sourdough starter as I would if I was making scones with milk. Scone recipes often call for warmed milk, so that’s what I did. They turned out fluffy and light, so it seemed to work 🙂
Delicious without the microwave step. Stir and bake doesn’t give sourdough a chance to rise anyway.
Hi, was your starter refreshed first?? So that it was bubbling away or was it a bit flat. An important point that most ‘alternative sourdough recipes’ don’t mention. I’m guessing you would get lighter scones if it was refreshed or just leave them to ‘rise’ for an hour or two first if using un-refreshed starter. Thoughts?
Hi Karen,
From what I can remember when I last made this, the starter wasn’t bubbling away, it was a couple of days old. The self raising flour is what gives the scones the lift, so there’s no need to let them rise.
The starter is really there to add flavour and to make the scones more tender.