Treacle Scones
Treacle Scones are a traditional Scottish bake, flavoured with rich black treacle and warming spices for a deep, comforting flavour. Soft, fluffy, and quick to make, they're perfect served warm with plenty of butter and a cup of tea. A classic teatime treat that brings a taste of old-fashioned Scottish baking to your kitchen.
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Servings: 10 scones
INGREDIENTS
- 100 g Treacle
- 220 ml Milk (cold)
- 60 g Soft Light Brown Sugar
- 450 g Self-raising Flour (see Self-raising Flour note below)
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Mixed Spice
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- 80 g Block Margarine or Butter (cold; cubed)
EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 220°C (200°C for fan-assisted ovens, Gas Mark 7 or 425°F). Grease two baking sheets with a little butter and set aside.
- Measure your milk into a jug, before adding the sugar and treacle. Mix together with a fork/whisk, until the sugar has dissolved and the ingredients have combined - this may take a few minutes of mixing. Set aside.
- Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, mixed spice and ground ginger into a large bowl, holding the sift up to allow some air into them.
- Using the tips of your fingers, rub in the margarine/butter to the dry ingredients, again lifting as you do to allow air in. Continue until you have a sandy consistency.
- Create a well in the middle. Pour in the milk/treacle mixture. Using a wooden spoon, gently bring the ingredients together to form a soft, slightly sticky dough.
- Turn out onto a floured work surface and gently knead together, before stretching the dough to about 2-3cm (¾-1 inch) thickness.
- Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut your scones out and place them onto your pre-greased baking sheets. The smaller your cutter the more scones you will get. Reform and stretch the dough as required to use all of the dough.
- Leave your scones to rest on the tray for about 10 minutes before brushing the tops with some extra milk.
- Bake in your pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. If you are making smaller scones, keep a close eye on them as you may need to reduce the baking time to suit. If bigger you may need to give them slightly longer.
- Once cool enough to touch, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely or enjoy whilst still warm.
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.
RECIPE NOTES:
Self-raising Flour: Don't have self-raising flour? For this recipe, simply whisk together 450g (3⅓ cups) plain flour and 6 teaspoons of baking powder instead (or 8 teaspoons of baking powder in total, once you include the additional 2 teaspoons the recipe also calls for). If you bake regularly, you can also make a larger batch to keep in your baking cupboard. For full instructions, cup conversions and answers to common questions, see my Self-raising Flour Ingredient Guide.
Substitutions:
- Treacle: If you cannot find black treacle, dark molasses can be used as a substitute. The flavour will be slightly different, but it still works well in the recipe.
- Spices: Mixed spice is commonly used in treacle scones, but you can adjust the spices to suit your taste. A little extra cinnamon or ginger works particularly well with the treacle flavour. And if you are in the US, pumpkin spice makes a close substitute for mixed spice.
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