Earl Grey Scones
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These Earl Grey Scones are tender and moist tea-infused scones that are incredibly delicious with hints of bergamot and fresh orange flavors. Easy to make, they’re perfect with tea or coffee or brunch… or just because.
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And delicious? Oh my… I wish you could see my smile. Think fresh orange blossoms, blue sunny skies, Earl Grey Tea and the companionship of your best friends.
Well, that’s what they’re like for me! In other words, they’re absolutely lovely. And I have a substantial stash in my freezer just now to prove my point.
They will be making appearances at teas this season and for upcoming brunches and celebrations, like Mother’s Day!
If you love Earl Grey Tea, and here is a convenient brewing guide if you do, I’m convinced you’ll also love these Earl Grey Scones. Whether you’re serving them for tea, or simply enjoying them with a cup of coffee. They’re an incredible, almost addictive treat that’s also simple to make.
What to Love About Earl Grey Scones
- Incredible flavors of citrus, bergamot, Earl Grey tea, and orange zest.
- Beautiful light and soft texture with crispy edges.
- Easy to make and incredibly delicious!
Now let’s talk about scones and what they are. Then we’ll discuss two ways to make these wonderful teatime treats.
What are Scones?
A scone is an easy-to-make quick bread, leavened by baking powder and or soda, and is cut into shapes. Most often you will find triangles and rounds.
Scones can also have tremendous variation in flavors and add-ins. From berries to fresh or dried fruit, pureed fruits or vegetables, like Pumpkin Scones, chocolate chips, or simply made with cream, like the always popular Cream Scones.
If you’re curious about the difference between American style scones and British scones, I’ve written a bit about that on my English Scones Recipe post!
How to Serve Scones
Scones are best served warm.
Reheat them in a preheated 150c/300F oven just before serving for 5 to 10 minutes. Or, you can also reheat individual scones in a microwave for 10 to 20 seconds, depending on your microwave.
For Afternoon Tea:
The scone course is the second course for afternoon tea, just after the tea sandwiches and before the sweets. You may also like to read more here: How to Serve an Easy Afternoon Tea.
Clotted Cream and Jam:
Among tea lovers, the debate on whether the cream or the jam comes first… is contested. Some of which are dictated by Cornish habits or Devon habits. For me, I’ve added jam first and cream second. It’s simply easier to spread jam over the warm scones and topping with cream after. If you’re curious about how the late Queen Elizabeth liked hers, you can read more about that in my Queen Elizabeth Afternoon Tea Recipes post.
Two Ways to Make Earl Grey Scones
I vacillated over which scone shape I would feature in this post. I’ve made them countless times both in wedges and in rounds. Both are delicious and simple. In the end, I decided to simply share both ways to make these addictively delicious scones and let you choose your favorite!
Scone Wedges:
This is a simple way to quickly make scones. Pat or roll the dough into a disc shape about 8-inch in diameter. Then cut into equal size wedges. This produces about 8 larger scones which will bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven. When making Earl Grey Scone wedges, I drizzle then with a simple Orange Glaze (recipe is in the recipe card below) and serve with tea.
Scone Rounds:
More traditional but equally simple to make. To make, roll the dough between 3/4 inch to 1-inches thickness. Use a round shape cutter (I’m using a 2½-inch biscuit cutter) and cut into shapes. For me, this method produces about 13 scones that are smaller than the wedges. These scones will bake for 14 to 16 minutes, depending on your oven. I like to serve with Orange Marmalade and clotted cream.
Ingredients for Earl Grey Scones
Specific ingredient measurements are in the recipe card below.
- Milk or cream
- Earl Grey tea: either tea bags or loose tea which will be steeped in warm milk
- Salted butter
- Beaten egg
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder and baking soda for leavening plus salt
- Orange zest and juice for the glaze if using
Tips for Making Perfect Scones
While easy to make, here are a few tips that will help you make perfectly delicious scones!
- Use cold ingredients. This includes butter, eggs, and milk. Using these ingredients while still cold, lets the butter melt into the dough during baking, resulting in flakey, tender scones.
- Turn dough onto lightly floured surface after mixing the ingredients together until just combined. I like to use a bench scraper to fold the dough in half, on top of itself, several times. This helps bring the dough together while also giving it wonderful layers. And avoid overworking the dough.
- Do not over-knead the dough. Scones don’t need a lot of work to come together. Over-kneading the dough results in scones that don’t rise and aren’t as tender as desired.
- Chill shaped dough (both wedges and rounds) for 15 minutes, or until chilled, while waiting for the oven to preheat. This helps reduce spread and maintain shape.
- Brush scones with cream, milk or buttermilk before baking for a golden brown, crumbly, delicious exterior. You can also sprinkle a bit of coarse sugar over the top for extra texture.
Can you make these scones ahead?
Absolutely. While always best fresh and warm from the oven, these Earl Grey Scones freeze beautifully baked or even unbaked.
Freezing baked scones:
Once cool, freeze scones on a baking sheet, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. Once semi-frozen, store in an airtight freezer container or bag for 2 to 3 months.
Freezing unbaked scones:
A convenient way to make scones ahead is to freeze unbaked scones. Simply cut into desired shapes and freeze, uncovered, on a baking sheet for 30 30 minutes, or until mostly frozen. Store in an airtight container until for 2 to 3 months. Bake frozen scones on a lined baking sheet when ready. Add a few additional minutes to the baking time.
Questions on Scones
Scones originate in Scotland and closely related to the Scottish ‘bannock’, a Gaelic term for cake using thin, rounds of individual size “cakes” made of oats and wheat flour.
Scones are incredibly delicious for a teatime treat, on a 3-tier tray for afternoon tea, or simply a coffee break or afternoon treat. Topping a warm scone with clotted cream and jam is an exceptional treat, but warm butter is always nice too!
Scones and biscuits are very similar in ingredients and in method. Both generally contain flour, baking powder and or baking soda, salt and liquid to bring them together. And both biscuits and scones are most often shaped before baking. The only difference is that most scone recipes contain an egg while often biscuits do not. If you’ve any thoughts on further differences, I’d love to hear about them in the comment section below!
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Earl Grey Scones
Equipment
- Biscuit Cutter for round-shaped scones
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3 Earl Grey teabags
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 orange zested and juiced
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 large egg beaten
Orange Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
- Warm the milk in a saucepan (or in the microwave). Add teabags (or loose tea). Let it brew while the milk cools.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut in the cubed butter with a pastry cutter or with your fingers until it resembles fine crumbs.
- Remove the tea bags from the cooled Earl Grey-infused milk of if you added loose tea, strain the milk. Stir in the orange zest and beaten egg into the milk.
- Add the milk-tea mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
Making wedge shapes:
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. For wedge scones; shape the dough into a disc shape about 1 to 1.5 inches thick. Cut into equal triangle-shaped wedges and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Making round shapes:
- For round scones, roll the dough from 3/4-inch to 1-inch in diameter. Using a round-shaped biscuit cutter, cut into shapes and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Baking Scones
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and chill the shaped unbaked scones for 15 minutes, or until chilled.
- Once the oven is preheated and the scones are chilled, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the shape and thickness, or until golden brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before glazing or serving.
Orange Glaze
- In a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle the top of each cooled scone.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
These were great.
Yay! Thanks for trying them.
This recipe looks absolutely divine, however, my husband is deathly allergic to oranges. Is there a suitable substitute for the orange, or could I just omit it from the recipe?
Hi Paula! You can definitely omit the orange zest (and orange glaze too). A suitable substitute would be anything citrus, like lemon, if your husband isn’t allergic to another citrus, of course! If you’re using the glaze, add milk or water instead of the juice with a small splash of vanilla.