Afternoon Tea Time

Scones are very British and while you can find them elsewhere, they aren’t as popular in most other places. In the U.S. scones are not what most people enjoy with their coffee, or even tea for that matter, but scones can be quite tasty!

We decided to make scones during our time learning about Jane Austen, a British author from the late 1700s. While I can’t recall if scones are mentioned in any of her work, several of her characters take their tea with many delicious treats. The tea time of Jane Austen’s day isn’t the “afternoon tea” we might associate with the English today. In Jane’s time, tea time would have been in the drawing room after dinner, usually when the men joined the ladies.

Afternoon Tea was introduced by Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, in the late 1800s. She got hungry between lunch and dinner, which wasn’t until 8 pm, and so she began asking for some tea, buttered bread, and small cakes between lunch and dinner. This became a habit and she began asking her friends over to join her. Afternoon Tea started to become fashionable and spread throughout England and today tea time and the British have become synonymous. 

So, when we were looking for something to enjoy while reading Emma, we turned to a common thought of tea time treat… scones.

While scones do tend to be dryer than most other pastries, they don’t have to be “hard”. These are quite perfect with a crisper outside and a softer middle. The maple glaze is a great way to kick up the flavor and I love anything maple, but these would be great plain with jam!

What You’ll Need

Making these is actually really easy and it would be a great way to help children to learn how to measure ingredients and mix dough.

You’ll need the following ingredients…

• flour
• baking powder
• brown sugar
• butter
• heavy cream
• salt (if your butter is salted, you can omit this)
• vanilla extract (if you are out, you can omit this too)
• powdered sugar
• maple syrup

The last 2 ingredients are for the glaze but if you are planning on not using the glaze, you won’t need the powdered sugar or maple syrup. 

If you are used to cookie dough or even pie dough, this dough will seem unworkable, crumbly, and maybe wrong but the dough will come together. If on the other hand, you are used to a biscuit dough then you will be fine with this. I am not saying the dough is hard, it is an easy recipe, but if you are used to dough coming together a certain way, it can be off-putting when it doesn’t.

Once you mix your dough, you’ll flatten it into a disk and cut. I have pictures showing 6 pieces but 8 works well too… it just depends on how big you’d like your scones to be!

Once they are done, they will be slightly golden on the top, browned on the bottom, crusty on the outside, but soft on the inside. You’ll want them to cool before applying the glaze if you are using the glaze.

Enjoy Your Tea Time

My kids really liked these scones and I will be honest, they were some of the first scones I have enjoyed. They were a great addition to our week learning about Jane Austen, and if you are looking for a good book of hers to start with, Emma is my favorite!

Don’t forget to print the recipe and pin for later… and if you make these please let me know what you think! You can comment below or head over to Instagram or Facebook and share your pics… tag me @bemandfam!

BEM and Fam 🙂

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Maple Glazed Scones

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: British,

Keyword: homemade, Kid approved, sweets

Ingredients

Scones

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour I measure this which is best for baking and it should be 180 grams
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp butter
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp salt if your butter is salted, you can omit this

Glaze

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ½ tbsp butter
• ½ tbsp heavy cream
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and prep a baking sheet. I recommend parchment paper.

2. In a larger bowl mix your flour, baking powder, salt if using, and sugar.

3. Add your melted butter and use a fork to mix together, it will appear crumbly.

4. Add your cream and vanilla (if using), use the fork to mix and press it all together. Make sure to mix in the flour from the bottom of the bowl. The mixture will seem a bit dry, that is ok.

5. Put a little flour on your hands and on a surface. Take the mixture from the bowl, shape it into a ball, then, press into a disk on your prepared surface. The disk should be about 5-6 inches across.

6. Cut into 8 triangles (like a pizza), it might be easier to apply a bit of flour to the knife after the first cut.

7. Place pieces on the baking sheet with at least an inch in between each piece.

8. Brush the scones with a bit of heavy cream, milk, or butter to give a bit of browning to them. If glazing, this step isn't as necessary.

9. Bake for 16 minutes (ovens do vary) or until the top starts to brown. While baking, whisk the glaze ingredients together to a consistency you like.

10. When scones are done, allow them to cool. Glaze by using a spoon to dribble or simply dip the tops of the scones into the glaze for perfect coverage!

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