Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I loved the Maple Oat Nut scone Starbucks used to offer years ago--now it is too heavy for me, but I still remember being obsessed with it--probably a few crumbs still exist in my grad school books!

Scones can be very varied in quality and type--everything from dry, tiny things that need butter to be edible, small moist little things, great big bakeshop things crammed with add-ins and frosting. Big difference between English and American scones, too...

Oh I forgot to mention, I can't really give my mom all the credit for her scones - she cheats and uses the King Arthur Flour mixes, and mixes in her own extras (Heath Bar pieces......) I highly recommend them, though.

I've got a collection of scone recipes because I want SO MUCH to like them. I must say there's quite a lot of variability in the final scone, and it really depends on what each person's idea of a perfect scone really is. I've made the traditional scottish kind that are more like biscuits, as well as the super american kind that's more like a cupcake with a crust. Either kind can be wonderful.

I've admittedly cheated and used the King Arthur buttermilk scone mix. Put some mini chocolate chips in those puppies and slap some sugar on the top before baking. They are really good and I haven't found a recipe from scratch that gives the same flavor.

Most scones are dry, bland and blech, I agree. However, I've had a few good kinds here in NY (most notably Alice's, the Plaza and the Russian Tea Room). They taste best really fresh, smeared with butter or clotted cream and jam. Then again, everything tastes better that way!

I always thought that the Southern biscuits, you know the ones served in restaurants with gravy, grits or jam were the same things as English scones. Am I wrong or confused? I have been served Southern biscuits that were so delicious, fluffy, light, crispy on the outside and others that were like little hard stones and inedible - there doesn't seem to be a happy medium. My Mother has made English scones, sometimes with raisins and the consistency is very similar

Nice thread, Deeberry. I'm in the same boat. They always look good, but I usually need to butter the hell out of them to make them moist/palatable. That said, I had a friend once who made amazing, moist scones, and I figured it was like embolini9 said, "They're very easy to make badly." I kinda figured they'd probably be better in England.

@embolini9: I, too, would eat clotted cream by itself if I could. I actually had some clotted cream fudge while I was outside of London a few months ago. I have to do some serious investigation into making it

@Ansyl : i too, WANT to like them sooo bad .. it just is not happening :p

i think i have a new mission to seek out a moist and flavorful scone, or perhaps create one myself ...

i dont see the point of baked goods that need sooo much butter and fruit or flavor put onto them, just to make them edible. i think any great baked good should be able to stand on its own, and only be complimented by added preserves or butter .. seems a little pointless to eat something merely as a vessel to butter haha.

at this point i think i would prefer a nice homemade, fluffy, buttermilk biscuit over a scone anytime. my tummy and taste buds are convinced ... now i just need to convince my EYES of that :)

I adore scones (made well of course). Yum.
Skip adding chocolate though, yuck. Dried fruit or plain only. They are not cupcakes or muffins.
I prefer mine with no add-ins, and I am odd-one out here in that I actually like them cold and plain, as well as hot and or with things like butter, jam/cream etc.

It is true though, that it is very hard to find a decently made one in a coffee shop or even most bakeries (here in the U.S) I have had the best luck (aside from making my own, which I love) in small bakeries that do everything by hand. There is one me that does a cranberry orange in the fall to die for.

@bareneed--scones are not the same as biscuits, but very close, and certainly the wide range of quality you can find across a region is the same in both pastries. I have the same issue getting a good biscuit--very sad.

Scones are like biscuits- wonderful fresh and warm from the oven. Cold- not so much.

Oh gee, oh gosh, oh golly, if you're craving really grrreat scones... Martha Stewart's "Entertaining" cookbook has a spectacular recipe! Replete with heavy cream and currants marinated in brandy (I think, but I often use grand marnier) --they are fabulous... I've probably made hundreds of them, at this point! When I take them in to work in the morning, everyone swoons--it's always a great surprise. I've also found, that like in other baking, the key is to handle the dough very quickly and respectfully! That is, don't overwork or over handle it, and they'll be awesome every time. And, like the other reader, butterface, posted, take em out of the oven just when they're a light, golden brown on the undersides, and very light golden around the edges on top. For a great color/shine on top, just brush w/ a little cream and sanding sugar, looks great too!! Of course, egg wash will give color too, but I think not for something this tender--would make them too dark and more like a croissant, not so good---after all, this is a SCONE! :D