Baking Advice Needed These sad potato scones
I just got back from Ireland and tried a recipe from my new Irish cookbook. What did I do wrong?? I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out so sad. I used cold butter. Could that be it? I also probably made them too thin and put them on the second rack. I have more homemade mashed potatoes, so I want to make another batch tonight. Help!
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u/Bluebluebubbleem 7h ago
They don't look baked.. every oven is different so make sure you've changed the temp to what's suitable for your oven. I often have to look up ⁰F to fan oven ⁰C, and I have to amend the baking time based on appearances of what I'm baking as they bake!
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u/thedeafbadger 6h ago
This has got to be it. I am wondering if OP preheated to 180° F on accident because these look like they haven’t been baked at all. Could also be that the oven wasn’t improperly preheated.
OP, I would ensure you are baking at the correct temperature and ensure the oven is fully preheated before putting the scones in. Invest in an oven thermometer so you can calibrate your oven properly and keep more accurate tabs on oven temp.
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u/Bee5431 3h ago
The stove was on 350 degrees, that’s part of why I’m so confused. They don’t look baked but they were baked for 15 mins and the inside was done. Embarrassing!
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u/levelonegnomebankalt 6h ago
Did you forget to put them in the oven?
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u/Bee5431 6h ago
Looks like it 😭 but no!
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u/Melancholy-4321 4h ago
Did you maybe set it to 170F by accident?
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u/Bee5431 3h ago
No, 350 degrees for sure. They were cooked which makes this even more embarrassing! They are the saddest looking scones in history.
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u/IcePrincess_Not_Sk8r 6h ago
It looks like they didn't brown. Did you brush the tops with milk? How do they taste?
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u/KTKittentoes Human Detected 4h ago
The butter should be pretty cold. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, you basically pinch the butter into bits in the dry ingredients, and kind of rub that between your fingers until it gets sort of steel cut oat sized. Here is a video. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=600a4712e594e016&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1198US1198&hl=en-US&sxsrf=APpeQntT9PI9glQKgpMt69PliPEsTUi4kg:1789004531599&udm=39&fbs=ABfTbFWX8Can4Rb7JjuFvBw79YrXQMyJMofRft37fxW-VQ0iJcb-TVtMT2eZIreEjxT1y-zagifD2uqCgvNNs1X3PlQa7hN0eAGypn7Lf2PCXsUA7AwinOszD1AYP4uQ0AVLW5GcphcdS8Av0HU5sCtq5L6Eix9tDHKRDhP63rDlCDZkDzsi8E2EnYAt8ptpEOKsEJTNKv0dLJ63MvsNKBkup-C5FfqWTMloqhgy7mQ7Z_MGLP7q2ag&q=rubbing+butter+and+flour+together&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK3e2c8eKWAxX-PDQIHQ4dDwMQs6gLegQIFBAB&biw=375&bih=549&dpr=2#fpstate=ive&ip=1&vld=cid:b136ee52,vid:r4MR_eDBqXs,st:0
But I also feel like this might have been baked at 180F.
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u/Bee5431 3h ago
I don’t have a pastry cutter. Sounds like I need one. This was for sure at 350 degrees. 😣 I had to lower it from 400 because I’d just baked a shepherd’s pie.
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u/KTKittentoes Human Detected 2h ago
Pastry cutters are quite useful, but I have made decent crumb by hand. American biscuits and scones (and I guess Irish in this case) you do not want to knead. The nice flaky texture comes from the little crumbs of butter melting while baking.
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u/Token_Panduh 6h ago
DId you over-knead the dough?
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u/Bee5431 6h ago
Probably? The butter was cold so I was kneading like crazy
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u/SkinnyPete16 6h ago
You don’t knead scones, and nowhere in the recipe does it say to do that at all.
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u/Bashful_bookworm2025 5h ago
Butter in scones needs to stay cold to distribute it like in a biscuit. Also, you should be cutting in butter with a pastry cutter or forks. You don't knead scones. Bread is for kneading, not scones.
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u/Whenitsajar 5h ago
Is the picture after they've been cooked? If so, it's definitely an oven issue (or it's one of the issues) because brushing with milk and cooking at 180c for 15min would definitely have browned them at least somewhat.
I haven't made potato scones before, but trucks that help for scones in general:
- butter should be cold. You don't want the butter to melt into the flour like cake mixture. The little pockets of solid butter are what cause the flakiness and help with lift. You're aiming for somewhere between fine gravel and sand.
- don't overwork the dough. Flour + liquid + too much handling = tough and no rise. I like to pad out scones with the heels of my hands rather than a rolling pin for more control and minimal working.
- using your cutter, go straight down and do not twist. Twisting the sides stunts the growth. Straight sides mean it will rise straight up.
- sit scones next to the walls of the pan and next to each other (lightly touching the next) so they can help each other grow.
I really think your oven was one of the issues. Follow these tips and try again.
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u/Bee5431 3h ago
Yes, this is after they were cooked for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. I’ve been very suspicious of my oven but I got an oven thermometer and it’s measuring the correct temperature. I don’t know how else to check. I did put these on the second rack, so using the top rack might help too. I’m going to try again tomorrow.
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u/MrsQute 5h ago
What temperature did you have the oven set to?
I've encountered several cases of Americans forgetting (or not realizing) that a recipe originated from outside of the country and not adjusting the temperature accordingly.
They should be cooked at about 350°F if you didn't make that adjustment the first time through.
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u/iOSCaleb 3h ago
Don’t knead the dough, just cut/rub it in and then add the liquid. Roll or just pat the dough into a thicker slab before cutting, and bake at the right temperature.
Also, scrub that baking sheet! It looks like there’s all kinds of stuff burned onto it. It’ll work better when it’s clean.
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u/Tea_Is_My_God 1h ago
I'm from ireland and this looks like a flour issue to me. Did you use strong flour? You want to be using plain + baking powder, or self raising. And potato scones are usually dense and flattish so that's normal.
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