Secret to perfect scones lies in one iconic Australian ingredient

Scones are one of our favourite afternoon tea treats – enjoyed with plenty of jam, cream and a cuppa.

They may be simple in ingredients, but a classic scone recipe can be quite the challenge to perfect. Having to meticulously rub cold butter into flour and overkneading are the main reasons most people end up with stodgy, flat scones.

No one likes a stodgy scone.

That’s why there are plenty of cheat’s ways to make scones these days: most notably the lemonade scone, which works by adding carbonated bubbles to the scone dough to help aerate the dough, resulting in fluffy scones with an even rise.

Since it’s the carbonated bubbles (not the lemonade itself) doing the hard work, it means you can basically use any carbonated beverage you like in a cheat’s scone.

And there’s one iconic Australian beverage that might just make the best scones ever.

Easy scones with a twist: ginger beer scones

The drink we’ve all been drinking for generations potentially makes the most tender and fluffy scones.

This scone recipe only uses 3 ingredients: cream, flour and ginger beer.

Bundaberg Ginger Beer (aka Australia’s favourite ginger beer), manufactured right here in Australia, is made using homegrown Aussie ginger and Queensland cane sugar to create a sweet and refreshing beverage with real ginger pieces suspended throughout. This iconically Aussie drink is brewed over 3 days using a traditional family recipe, giving it that classic flavour we’ve all known for years.

Of course, we love drinking a bottle of Bundaberg ginger beer straight from the fridge, but we think it tastes even better in a scone!

How does ginger beer in scones work?

When making traditional scones, butter is rubbed into flour. The butter breaks down into the scone dough, and when the scones bake, these little bits of butter melt, creating air pockets that result in fluffy scones.

You can mimic this texture by using a carbonated beverage, in this case ginger beer and cream. The ginger beer adds the carbonation bubbles, which aerate the dough, and the cream adds fat to the dough (this would usually be butter) – fat blocks gluten development, which helps achieve tender scones.

Putting all that science aside, Bundaberg ginger beer adds a lovely spicy and sweet flavour to scones.

WATCH: Ice-cream scones

There are only 3 easy steps to making Bundaberg ginger beer scones

3 ingredients and 3 steps are all it takes to make scones with Australia’s most iconic soft drink.

Step 1: Combine flour, cream and ginger beer in a large mixing bowl using a butter knife (this stops you from being too heavy-handed) and turn the dough out onto a flour-dusted bench.

Step 2: Using your hands, work the dough gently until it’s just combined (a little unmixed flour is okay when making scones) and flatten into a 3-4cm thick disc. Cut rounds of dough.

Step 3: Brush the rounds with cream or milk and bake at 200 degrees for around 12-15 minutes. Just until the scones have risen and are beautifully golden.

Check out the recipe, get baking and enjoy these scones with whatever you like!

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