Comments on: The Difference Between Scones and Biscuits

By: Robyn of Oz

Robyn of Oz — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 08:43:49 +0000

Interesting post.
My father is 86 this year and has been making pastries since he was nine years old. His scone recipe is:
Self raising flour with a pinch of salt, cold cubes of butter, milk. The recipe was taught to him by the old cook of the orphanage in the 1940s. I believe cook was of Scottish descent and born in the late 19th century, so good provenance!
The cubed butter is rubbed into the flour and the milk worked in with a blade, either knife or spatula; not too dry and not too wet. My father has always made the recipe directly onto the kitchen counter rather than a bowl, but I prefer to use a bowl so we don’t have dropped cat fur in the scones (you can never get every strand, no matter how often you clean!).
My father used a light touch on a glass milk bottle as a rolling pin, which itself is reasonably light. He’d roll them out to around 1/2 inch and the scones would rise magnificently.
He would cut them with a glass. I use a round biscuit/cookie cutter of around 2 inches across. His technique was to put them on the baking tray touching each other and put onto the middle shelf of a hot oven for around 20 minutes, after they’d been glazed with milk.
The secret of his success is having cool finger tips for rubbing in cold cubes of butter and not overworking the mix. It takes practice, but works.
Biscuits here in Australia tend to be things recognised as cookies in the United States. A famous, and arguably the most popular homebake one over here is the ANZAC Biscuit. Made with flour, oats, desiccated coconut, sugar (use the dark, sticky one), golden syrup (it is NOT treacle), butter and a dash of boiled water that bicarbonate of soda is added to (and thrown in the melting butter). There’s a lot of recipes for it on the web. The diggers received this biscuits from home during WWI and they are still a staple, baked in their thousands for the commemoration of ANZAC Day on 25 April.

By: Lake Agnes Tea House - Banff National Park, Alberta - The Cup of Life

Lake Agnes Tea House - Banff National Park, Alberta - The Cup of Life — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 16:02:39 +0000

[…] outside. They were also listed as biscuits so I was worried that they may have been more like an American biscuit than an English scone. However, the texture inside was tender and crumbly, much like a classic […]

By: Ann

Ann — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 08:09:41 +0000

Growing up in the South, we served biscuits with anything. They can be sweet or savory, and they can be square, round, or drop! One of our favorites as children was honey on biscuits.

By: Lu Ann Pannunzio

Lu Ann Pannunzio — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 20:08:39 +0000

In reply to Kristin. Hey Kristin, Thanks so much for sharing. I love hearing how people enjoy biscuits or scones. I've definitely had biscuits as part of a breakfast meal before. Very delicious that way!

By: Kristin

Kristin — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 07:04:20 +0000

Well, really close. We often have biscuits also with jam (or jelly or preserves), or add breakfast toppings and serve it as a meal at breakfast. This could include ham, eggs, cheese, bacon, or sausage patties, and may even include chicken. There are many ways to prepare and serve biscuits. 🙂

By: Scott Anderson

Scott Anderson — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 01:10:25 +0000

This was an interesting read! I personally am a biscuit fan, as I can’t ignore a warm, savory biscuit.

By: Lu Ann Pannunzio

Lu Ann Pannunzio — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 16:44:18 +0000

In reply to Jean | Delightful Repast. Hi Jean, it's really interesting the many ways one can make scones or biscuits! The differences between them vary because of that, I believe. I love that you had the opportunity to learn from your Southern and English grandmothers. I definitely make (and eat) scones more!