Drop scones with plain flour recipe

These golden drop scone pancakes come with a warm blueberry compote and fragrant thyme butter melting over the top.

Drop scones with plain flour are the same as Scotch pancakes and are popular at teatime in Scotland. They are like American pancakes, but smaller and thicker. Usually served with butter and jam, we have given these ones an impressive upgrade with a delicious herb butter and a quick homemade berry compote. Although this recipe has a long ingredients list, everything is easy to find in supermarkets, and the recipe is quick to do. The scones only take 20 minutes to cook and you'll get 12-16, depending how large you make them. If you liked this lovely teatime treat, check out our maple drop scones too.

Ingredients

For the scones:

• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp of salt
• 30g caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 250ml of milk
• 1 tbsp of oil
• 2-3 tsp fresh thyme leaves

For the thyme butter:

• 90g butter
• 3 tsp freshly chopped thyme leaves

For the blueberry compote:

• 250g blueberries
• 2 tbsp sugar or honey

Method

1. To make the scones: Sift the plain flour, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl. Add the caster sugar, a large egg and 150ml of the milk. Whisk to a smooth batter. Stir in 100ml more milk, 1 tbsp oil and the fresh thyme leaves.
2. Heat a heavy frying pan or griddle, brush with a little oil and drop in tablespoonfuls of batter and cook until bubbles rise, then flip them over and cook until golden. Put them in a clean tea towel to keep warm while you cook the rest of them.
3. To make the thyme butter: Soften the butter, add the freshly chopped thyme leaves. Wrap tightly in cling film in a sausage shape and chill (or freeze).
4. Meanwhile, make the blueberry compote: simmer the blueberries in a pan with 2 tbsp water for a couple of minutes. Add the sugar or honey, and simmer until just softened and the syrup has reduced.
5. Serve the warm pancakes with slices of butter melted over the top and the blueberries.

Top tips for making drop scones with plain flour

You could try this recipe swapping the blueberries in the compote for cranberries and the thyme in the butter for rosemary. This will give it a bit of a festive feel - perfect for a weekend breakfast in the run up to Christmas.

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