Drop Scones, or Scotch Pancakes

Simply delightful. A sweet, fluffy drop scone with  home made jam. Perfection at tea time.

​Drop Scones

A recipe that doesn’t need weighing, can be made literally at the drop of a spoon, can be eaten for breakfast with syrup and bacon or for tea with butter and jam, can be taken on a picnic and eaten with bare hands – really, what a winner!

Apparently, the word “scone” might come from the Germanic “Schoone” meaning spoon, as the recipe was part of the “spoonbreads” family of edibles, or it might come from the town of Scone in Scotland, although it isn’t known if they originated there. Drop Scones are part of the family of griddle or girdle scones, which are cooked over the heat rather than in an oven, and therefore simpler.  The original raising agents may have been cream of tartar and buttermilk rather than baking powder as we use today.

These were, and still are, made throughout Scotland in houses of all income levels and served for tea with home-made jam, straight from the kitchen; still warm, wrapped in a tea towel. They are best eaten on the day they are made although will keep for another day and any leftovers (unlikely) can go in a lunch box.  In “The Family Way”, drop scones are the first dish that Jean was allowed to make to be eaten by her employer’s family and their guests.  She’s nervous, but her efforts are praised – they are easy to make and you won’t have any problems producing your own batch of Drop Scones.
 
Remember, no weighing. You need a large mug to measure the flour.

Serves 8                                                    Timings:  about 20 minutes to mix and make a batch

• 2 large mugs of self-raising flour (or use plain with a teaspoon of baking powder per mug)  (this is about 200g if you feel you need to weigh)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Cold milk – if you have some leftover cream or milk that is just starting to sour, this will make an even lovelier batter
• 1 additional teaspoon of baking powder

Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar. Break the eggs in and beat in adding milk to the batter. You will probably need about a mug of milk per two mugs of flour but use your judgement. You want a fairly thick batter, not thin enough for pouring.

Heat up a heavy iron frying pan to a medium heat and grease very lightly indeed. You are not meaning to fry them but you need some light grease to stop them sticking. Drop soup ladles full of batter into the pan – in my large frying pan I get about three at once. Heat until you see the bubbles of gas rise through the scone and the top looks more set than liquid, then flip over and cook the other side. Just adjust the heat so that the scone cooks through without burning.

Take the scones out when done, golden brown on both sides and cooked through. You can keep them warm in a mild oven wrapped in a tea towel as you cook the rest of the batch.

Breakfast – serve them with crispy bacon, butter, and maple syrup for the American version. You can also drop blueberries onto the scones once you’ve put them in the pan, and they will cook into the scone and seep their juice through the dough. Turn the scones over as normal to cook the top side, the blueberries will just stay inside the dough.

Tea-time/dessert – serve them just as they are, or with butter and jam. Best warm and straight from the pan or oven, but you can also take them on a picnic, buttered and sandwiched with jam.  Sophisticated people could also top them with fruit and whipped cream. The truly decadent could serve them warm with ice cream and a fruit syrup.