I keep telling myself that I need to get a copy of the CWA (Country Women’s Association) cookbook. I mean, we’re talking about a collection of tried and true recipes devised by generations of country women. How can you possibly go wrong with that?
Indeed, I’m happy to report that their scone recipe alone is a triumph. I had been madly searching online for a basic, good scone recipe and became almost as frustrated as I got when I was searching for a fudge recipe. So many variations! It therefore came as a pleasant surprise to find a recipe that required a small number of base ingredients and a no-nonsense method.
The CWA show scone recipe is simple: 3 cups of self-raising flour, half a cup of cream, between one to one and a half cups of milk (add a cup first and see how your dough forms) and a pinch of salt. If working by hand you would need to cut the cream and milk into the flour and work into a dough but wanting to give my Kitchenaid mixer a job every now and then, I simply place all ingredients into the mixer bowl and gently mix with the paddle attachment.
Once you have a nice, slightly sticky dough that you can still manipulate easily, place onto a floured surface and cut out scone rounds. How big/small depends on your taste. I like petite scones whereas my husband prefers larger ones (vulgar!). You’ll need to adjust your baking time according to how big your scones are but in general, you’re looking at 10 minutes of baking time in a hot oven (220-230C).
Today I served the scones up with the Berry Farm’s Strawberry & Kirsch jam and King Island double cream. Bliss!
LOVE CWA recipes, tried and true! And the Strawberry and Kirsch jam sounds divine…maybe should try making a recipe for that one?? YUMMO!
I’m really looking forward to making jam with the TMX actually. I think gourmet jams are lovely but $8+ per tiny jar hurts!
I’ve never seen a scone recipe without butter or margarine. This one sounds so easy, I’ll definitely try it. What type of cream is needed?- I’m in England and we have single, whipping and double cream here. (Ithink single is about 18% fat, double about 48% and whipping somewhere in between. Not sure though.) Hope you can help. Thanks
Hi Alison. This recipe is amazing. The CWA ladies know their stuff! I’m guessing the cream kinda takes the place of butter/margarine but is still fluid enough to keep the dough moist and not greasy. I used whipping cream which I think in Australia is about 30-33% fat so you’re spot on. Good luck! :D
What is a Paddle attachment?
Hello. A paddle attachment is the stand mixer attachment that best tackles soft/medium dough or batter mixture (as opposed to the whipping attachment or the dough hook). I am not sure what they are called for other mixers but that’s what KitchenAid Mixers describe them :)
I use a similar recipe which is all cream and no milk but I find it to be quite “short”. I will certainly try this one with milk. I have my Grandma’s CWA but have yet to make the scone recipe.
I think cream makes sense instead of butter and buttermilk since they are just byproducts of cream anyway lol. I think the milk keeps the mixture from being too rich. Please try :D
made these today. beautiful. i pulsed dough in a food processor, but all other instructions the same. my friends thought i was this brilliant scone maker! very quick!
Great :) They are so fuss free compared to a lot of recipes.
By far the easiest scone recipe I’ve ever made. Another tip to help them rise is to place them close together on the baking tray. This helps them rise evenly and prevents the scone from falling over.
It’s definitely a fine example of ‘simple is best’! Thanks for the additional tip. Scones are indeed hard to keep upright :)
HI Monica. Thanks so much for sharing. …I have a GREAT fudge recipe for you. Hope it helps :)
http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chocolate-pistachio-fudge-96
*I find I get a better result if I heat the condensed milk, then break up the choc and stir it in with the milk off the heat. Then add butter and extra bits. Stir quick, it sets quickly from here. ;)
The recipe is SO adaptable, I like to use cranberries and pecans with shortbread bikkies crushed up. As long as you keep your added ingredients to between 150-200g then you can add anything. Red lollies, crushed choc bikkies and frozen marshmallows (so they don’t melt) make a great rocky road fudge too.
Give it a go, if you haven’t already. It’s awesome!!
Thanks so much for the recipe link Ange. It does look rather good :)
After attempting a myriad of scone recipes/directions/measurements and so on I have finally found one that works! so impressed with myself right now haha! thank you! <3
Hi Kelly. Thanks for the feedback :) I certainly don’t bother with any other scone recipe these days. Some seem so elaborate. Props to the ladies at the CWA!
hi moni,
could you explain “between one to one and a half cups of milk “?
don’t quite understand
looking forward to try out your recipe :) many thanks
Hi Shia! Thanks for visiting. I’ve clarified things a little more on this post but use a cup of milk first and see how your dough turns out. If the dough seems ‘dry’ and has no stickiness to it, add a little more milk. I think I made an allowance for more/less milk as it depends on how moist your cream is as to how much more milk the dough might need. If the cream is getting old and has lost some moisture, it’s going to be more like butter. If it’s fresh cream, it’ll be quite liquid so the dough probably won’t need as much of the milk. Hope that makes sense!
These scones were delicious, simple to make and quick, easy to enjoy with the family
Tried this today and I was very pleased with the result. I’ve never been confident with scones but these were great. Very easy, no fuss recipe and they were gone in a flash! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thanks for visiting Regine. I try to be adventurous and try other scone recipes but this one can’t be beat! If it ain’t broke, as they say :)
Hi there, I made these today but used a cup of lemonade instead of the milk and they were divine :)
Oh nice! I have heard about adding lemonade so I must try next time… Except lemonade never seems to last at home :( Thanks for visiting!
3 cups anchor brand sponge self raising flour (sifted) tsp baking powder 300ml thickened cream, 300ml (cup) lemonade 14 mins@ 220. Absolutely divine
Thanks so much! :) I tried these this morning. It was so quick and easy. Took me like 2 mins to whip these bad boys up lol (not including cooking time) I added about a tsp of bicarb to help rise a bit more also.
Oh wow, I tried these yesterday and they were the lightest scones I have ever made! Just beautiful! And I had a couple that were left over today and the texture was still just as light. And mixing it all in the KitchenAid was so easy! Will definitely be keeping this recipe.
Looking forward to trying these. How thick is the dough when you cut out the rounds?
Hello can i ask when you have your dough do you roll it out to inch thick or just press it out by hand till its flat then use the scone cutter
also how many scones does this make
many thanks