Drop Scones (Scotch Pancakes)
A favourite on Pancake Day, or on any day of the year. Drop Scones (aka. Scotch Pancakes) are delicious little pancakes that are easy to make and even easier to devour!
If there’s one type of baking I feel I’ve mastered, it’s pancakes!
I’ve even joked about writing my own recipe book solely of different pancake recipes. And it all started with these little beauties. Drop Scones, also known as Scotch Pancakes, are something I’ve been baking since my childhood and something that Granny has always been on hand to help perfect. Similar to American Pancakes but way simpler, they make a great treat for breakfast or just for snacking.
We best enjoy Drop Scones for breakfast, straight from the griddle with a little bit of butter on top. They also make great snacks for wee ones, topped with fruit, yoghurt or lashings of jam – our boys can’t get enough of them!
Best of all, you can even freeze them, popping them in the toaster for a minute or so to bring them back to life whenever you fancy one. And if you plan on batch baking some Drop Scones, then Granny’s top tip of adding a little oil to the batter is a clever way of stopping them from drying out and tasting stale.
So whatever your preference this Shrove Tuesday, you won’t go wrong with a plate of Drop Scones!
Ingredients for Scottish Drop Scones:
Self-raising Flour
Using self-raising flour as opposed to Plain Flour will help give your Scotch Pancakes a little extra lift, keeping them nice and light.
Pinch of Salt
This works hand-in-hand with the raising agents in the flour, creating a chemical reaction that helps make bubbles in the pancakes, making them rise.
Caster Sugar
These pancakes are definitely sweeter than they are savoury! Try swapping the sugar for Golden Caster Sugar for a more caramel-y taste.
Free-range Eggs
The traditional binder ingredient for Drop Scones. I don’t tend to stress too much about the size of eggs in a loaf cake, as long as they’re free-range. For vegan alternatives, see below.
Milk
The moisture in your batter! You can use whatever milk you have to hand, but for extra indulgent pancakes, opt for full-fat milk.
Oil
A little trick from Granny: pop a little oil into your batter before cooking, as it’ll stop the pancakes drying out, and they’ll keep better if you don’t finish eating the batch in one sitting.
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Drop Scones (Scotch Pancakes)
EQUIPMENT
- Griddle Pan (or frying pan)
INGREDIENTS
- 220 g Self-raising Flour
- Pinch Salt
- 50 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Free-range Eggs
- 280 ml Milk
- 1 tbsp Sunflower/Vegetable Oil
INSTRUCTIONS
- Sift the flour, salt & sugar into a large bowl.
- Whisk the milk & eggs together in a separate bowl with a fork and then gradually add them to the dry ingredients whilst mixing together. Once combined add the oil and mix again until just combined.
- Grease your griddle or frying pan with a little oil. Once hot, spoon a small amount of the batter (around 2 tablespoons) onto the gridle.
- Your pancakes are ready to flip once bubbles have started to pop on top & they appear dry. Using a spatula, flip the pancakes & cook the other side for around a minute or until a golden brown.
- Remove from the heat & enjoy with your topping of choice.
Video
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won’t always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
Your Granny is great!! No matter what ingredients I use this works. We are now gluten and dairy free and I use freee flour and almond milk and they are still perfect. Best scone/pancake recipe ever
Hi Amy
Thank you for being gracious . I don’t know why people have to give negative comments. You kindly share your recipes and it’s entirely up to folks to use them or not, nobody says they must. At the moment I am sitting in my kitchen watching my 18 year old granddaughter devouring the pancakes she made from your recipe, she made them a bit larger and poured honey over them they are delicious. I am never disappointed with the recipes you share. The finished bake may not always look like your pictures but who cares how they look as practice will make perfect lol! the important thing is they taste great and I have fun baking them. Every blessing
Hi Amy
Gave these a try tonight and sorry (y’know I follow your recipes every week) but I have got to be honest, these are not Scottish pancakes, far too runny and no oil to be used plus one egg. They are meant to be thick batter and this mix is like crepes.
They were ok but not typical mix of a Scottish pancake, sorry.
And the term “Scotch” is only nowadays used for the drink, the pies & broth. Most of us consider “Scotch” to be offensive and an insult.
Hi Clarice. Thanks for taking the time to comment. However, I think you’re possibly confusing Scotch Pancakes with American-style Pancakes. Scotch Pancakes are not as thick and could be described as somewhere between American-style pancakes and crepes.
As with all recipes on Baking with Granny, everyone will have their own family recipes that may vary from my own – that’s not to say either is wrong or not considered typical. The addition of oil is a tip from Granny (as explained above) to keep your pancakes fresher for longer – you don’t need to add this, should you prefer not to.
I’m afraid I also disagree with your sentiment that “Scotch” is used as an insult. As you say, it is often used to describe Scottish produce, such as whisky, pies and broth; pancakes too. You will also find them named this when buying from a supermarket.
As Scot myself, I would never consider it to be offensive and I’m not aware of any other Scots who would either. But my apologies if it has offended you on this occasion, that’s obviously not my intent.
Hope that addresses your concerns.
Amy :)
I am Edinburgh born and was raised by a Scot who brought me up with all this rigid proper thinking and it IS ‘Scotch’ in this case! Our landlady was from Aberdeen and made these all the time, never calling them ‘Scottish’ pancakes. Personally I can’t wait to try this – with benefit too of all the other input…
Such a simple recipe but delicious. Followed your instructions exactly and had them for breakfast in minutes. Thank you again.
Always best to use golden castor sugar and a bit of golden syrup, I also add vanilla which really improves. Use butter – always