Drop scones — Scotch pancakes, if you learned them the other way — are small, thick griddle pancakes made from a simple self-raising batter and cooked in batches on a hot, lightly greased pan. There’s no yeast, no proving and no special equipment: a heavy frying pan and a griddle-going grandmother’s instinct for when to flip are all the method has ever needed. The full ingredients, timings and step-by-step method are in the recipe card below.
Drop Scones
Ingredients
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 25 g caster sugar about 2 tbsp
- 1 large egg
- 200-250 ml milk or buttermilk for a traditional tang; added gradually
- 1 knob butter or a little vegetable oil for greasing the griddle
Instructions
- Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and stir in the caster sugar.
- Make a well in the centre and add the egg and about half the milk. Whisk to a smooth, thick batter, then gradually beat in enough of the remaining milk to bring it to the consistency of thick pouring cream.
- Heat a griddle or a heavy frying pan over a medium-high heat and wipe it with a little butter or oil.
- Drop dessertspoonfuls of the batter onto the hot griddle, spacing them well apart so they have room to spread.
- Cook for 2–3 minutes, until bubbles rise to the surface and start to burst, and the edges look set and matte — that's the cue to flip, not the clock.
- Flip with a palette knife or spatula and cook for a further 30–60 seconds on the other side, until golden.
- Lift onto a wire rack and cover with a clean tea towel to keep the scones soft and warm while you cook the rest of the batter, adding a little more butter or oil to the pan as needed.
- Serve warm, spread with butter and jam, or with a drizzle of golden syrup.
Tips and variations
The classic method uses milk, but a splash of buttermilk in its place gives a slightly tangier, lighter scone — worth trying if you have some left over from another bake. Either way, judge the batter by eye rather than the recipe alone: it should coat the back of a spoon like thick pouring cream, and a little extra milk is the usual fix if it looks too stiff. The griddle itself does most of the work — once it’s properly hot, resist the urge to move the scones about, and wait for the surface to bubble and the edges to turn matte before you even think about the spatula.
This is about as inexpensive a teatime bake as exists: a cupful of self-raising flour, one egg and a splash of milk from the fridge door will see you through a full batch, with no special-occasion ingredients and nothing that needs a trip to the shops. It freezes well too, layered between greaseproof paper, so a larger batch on a Saturday afternoon covers more than one teatime.
If this sort of grandmother’s-method bake is your thing, you may also enjoy Mrs Robin’s Fruit Cake — another one-bowl, no-fuss recipe from the same nostalgic teatime tradition.
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