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A plate of cream scones with homemade honey butter in the background.

Cream Scones with Honey Butter

Afton Cyrus
Enjoy a delicious “smackerel” with this easy scones recipe, inspired by A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh series. Slathered with homemade honey butter, Pooh and his friends would surely enjoy these classic British-style cream scones for teatime or elevenses.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Cooling Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 12 scones

Good To Know

  • A pastry blender does a good job of cutting the butter into the flour, but if you don’t have one, you can mix the butter in with your fingers. Smoosh the butter pieces flat first, then break them up and rub them into the flour until they form small bits that are evenly distributed. Just try to do this quickly, so the chilled butter doesn’t warm up too much.
  • A 2-inch round cookie cutter makes 10 to 12 nicely-sized scones for snacking, but if you don’t have one, you can pat the dough into a ¾-inch-thick rectangle and cut out square scones with a bench scraper or chef’s knife instead. If your scones are bigger than 2 inches, you may get fewer than 12, and they may need to bake a bit longer in the oven.
  • Make sure your butter is very soft before you mix your honey butter together. You can set it out to soften on the counter at the beginning of the recipe, and if it’s not quite soft enough when you get to that step, pop the bowl of honey butter in the microwave and heat it at 50% power for 10 seconds at a time until it’s very soft (but not fully melted). That will make mixing in the honey much easier!
  • Extra honey butter can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week; soften the butter on the counter before serving, if chilled. Scones can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days; warm them up in a toaster oven or regular oven at 350 degrees to refresh before serving.

Equipment You'll Need

  • Rimmed baking sheet
  • Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
  • 2 Bowls (1 large, 1 medium)
  • Whisk
  • Pastry blender (see note)
  • Rubber spatula
  • Ruler (nice to have but you can also eyeball it!)
  • 2-inch round cookie cutter (see note)
  • Pastry brush
  • Oven mitts
  • Cooling rack

Measure Your Ingredients

Scones

  • 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon table salt
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces and chilled
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Honey Butter

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and well softened (see note)
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • ⅛ teaspoon table salt

Let's Cook!
 

Make the Scones

  • Set your oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  • 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon table salt
    In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces and chilled
    Sprinkle the chilled butter pieces over the flour mixture. Use a pastry blender to blend the butter into the flour until it looks like fine crumbs, with pieces of butter no bigger than a pea.
  • 1 cup heavy cream
    Add the 1 cup cream and use a rubber spatula to stir until just combined and no dry flour is visible (the dough will look crumbly).
  • Sprinkle some extra flour onto a clean countertop. Transfer the dough to the floured counter. Use your hands to gather up the dough pieces into a ball, then gently knead and press the dough until it sticks together in a smooth-ish mass. Press and pat the dough into about a 7-inch circle, about ¾-inch thick.
  • Use a 2-inch round cookie cutter to cut out 6 to 8 rounds of dough. (You can dip the cutter in some extra flour if it sticks to the dough.) Transfer the dough rounds to the parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Gather up the dough scraps into a ball, gently knead them together, then press out the dough into another ¾-inch-thick circle. Use the cookie cutter to cut out more rounds of dough. Repeat as needed until you have 10 to 12 dough rounds total.
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream
    Use a pastry brush to paint the top of each scone with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cream.
  • Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake until the scones are puffy and golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.
  • Use oven mitts to remove the baking sheet from the oven and place it on the stovetop or a cooling rack. Let the scones cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.

Make the Honey Butter and Serve

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and well softened, 2 tablespoons honey, ⅛ teaspoon table salt
    While the scones are cooling, in a medium bowl, combine the softened butter, honey, and salt. Use a clean rubber spatula or spoon to mash and stir until the ingredients are well combined and the honey butter looks smooth and shiny.
  • Serve the scones warm or at room temperature and slathered with honey butter as a delicious smackerel.
Keyword Easy Scones Recipe with Homemade Honey Butter