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.
Hi, I’m an old guy in Scotland. We do (or did) these drop scones in a Sunday fry- up. They soak up all the fatty goodness from the bacon and sausages. Like many traditional foods it’s a case of waste- not. The fat is calories and fills hungry bellies.
My Granda would fry pieces of dumpling in the bacon fat and sprinkle sugar on them. I’m getting hungry just remembering them! Some people would throw their hands up in horror at the suggestion of actually eating the fat from bacon & sausages, but this is the way we were brought up – waste not, want not, as you said. My blood cholesterol levels are extremely low, by the way!
I hear you Martin. Fries pancakes with a soft fried egg on top. Cut round and at the end after eating all the white you get the daddy, fried pancake and soft egg yolk for the final bite. Almost as good as tattie scones
Beautifully fluffy and light, even when reheated, though worth mentioning that I added about 5g baking powder with my self raising flour for that extra added fluffiness. My 2 year old added some blue gel food colouring and chocolate sprinkles and his pancake still turned out really well, and still managed to look tasty despite the unnatural colour. I wasn’t sure about adding oil to the batter, but it didn’t make the batter heavy or greasy. Definitely makes enough for an average family of 4 if you’re having just pancakes, or could stretch further if you’re serving with other breakfast items.
These pancakes are incredible! Best I’ve ever made
Just love these pancakes! Easy to make and tasty whether eaten warm or cold.
Just love these pancakes! Easy to make and tasty whether eaten warm or cold.