• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RecipeTin Eats

Fast Prep, Big Flavours

  • My RecipeTin
  • Recipes
  • Recipes By Category
    • Mains
      • Chicken
        • Chicken mince
      • Beef Recipes
        • Ground Beef (Mince)
      • Pork
      • Lamb
      • Turkey
      • Shrimp / Prawns
      • Salmon
      • Fish
      • Salad Meals
    • Soups
    • One Pot
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides
      • All
      • Vegetables
      • Show Off Salads
      • Rice
      • Potato
    • Pasta
      • All
      • Pasta bakes
      • Pasta salads
    • Sweet
      • Cake recipes
      • Cupcakes & Muffins
      • Cookies
      • Puddings & Cosy Desserts
      • Bite Size
      • Pies
      • Slices & Bars
      • Frosting & Icing
    • Cuisine
      • Asian
        • All
        • Stir fries
        • Noodles
        • Soups
        • Chinese
        • Japanese
        • Thai
        • Vietnamese
      • French
      • Greek
      • Indian
      • Italian
      • Mediterranean
      • Mexican
      • Middle Eastern
      • South American
    • Dietary
      • Gluten Free
      • Low Calorie
      • Vegetarian
    • Other Categories
      • BBQ
      • Breakfast
      • Burgers
      • Cocktails
      • Party Foods
      • Rice Recipes
      • Roasts
      • Sandwiches & Sliders
  • ✨Party✨
  • Collections
  • About
    • Me
    • Free Recipe Books
    • Contact
    • eBooks
      • The Food Photography Book
      • Chicken Wings Cookbook
    • Food Bloggers Central
    • Nitty Gritty
      • Policy: Use of Recipes & Images
      • Privacy & Disclosure
Home Baking Recipes

Lemonade Scones (3 ingredients)

By:Nagi
Published:11 Oct '19Updated:8 May '20
412 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Lemonade Scones are the fastest and easiest scones you will ever make! Incredibly fluffy, moist scones made from scratch using only 3 ingredients – self raising flour, cream and lemonade. The secret ingredient is lemonade – but they don’t taste of lemon at all!

This is the faster way to make classic scones which call for butter to be rubbed or blitzed into flour. Lemonade Scones rise ever so slightly less, but the difference is barely noticeable!

Close up of Lemonade Scones with jam and cream

Lemonade Scones

Scones are as Australian as Meat Pies and Lamingtons. Made the traditional way, butter is rubbed into flour using your fingers – or a food processor. Not particularly difficult, but it does take time, calling for fridge cold butter to be diced into cubes.

I don’t know who discovered this genius shortcut way of making scones, but I am forever indebted to them. Sometimes I do enjoy taking the time to make scones the traditional way. But I usually make these Lemonade Scones which honestly come out so similar and yet take less than half the time to make.

If you’ve never tried these before, you’re honestly going to be amazed. Seriously AMAZED!

Overhead photo of Lemonade Scones fresh out of the oven

Scones are an afternoon tea favourite in Australia, brought to our shores when the British settled here just over 200 years ago. It’s a regular at quaint tea houses, especially in the countryside, and at local bake sales!

What’s the difference between an American biscuit and a scone?

🇺🇸That’s biscuits as they’re known in America that look like our scones! A southern classic served savoury, fabulous with grits, sausage gravy and eggs.

A comparison of the classic Aussie scone recipe with this New York Times Biscuits recipe is all it takes to verify that they are indeed made the same way – just used for different purposes. 🙂 Lemonade Scones are slightly more different because they are a touch sweeter than classic scones.

Hand holding Lemonade Scones with jam and cream

What you need for Lemonade Scones

Here are the 3 ingredients you need:

  1. Self raising flour – this is just plain flour (all purpose flour) and baking powder that’s already been combined. It’s sold as “self raising flour” in the UK, Australia, NZ. It’s easy to make your own self raising flour simply by mixing 2 tsp baking powder for every 1 cup of flour.
  2. Cream – thickened or heavy cream works best I find. But it does work fine with ordinary cream too, but it needs to be full fat (I found low fat didn’t work as well, not as soft inside); and
  3. Lemonade -the “secret ingredient”, the namesake of this scone recipe!! I don’t know the science behind why it works. I like to think the fizz activates the baking powder to make the scones rise and make them fluffy, but I’m totally guessing here!
What type of Lemonade to use?

Schweppes and Kirks Lemonade are the two brands I use. I’ve made it with “no frills” too and it worked fine, so I am pretty sure any lemonade brand should be fine. Sprite and 7 Up also work – tried it and it comes out exactly the same!

What goes in Lemonade Scones

How to make Lemonade Scones

Just dump the flour, cream and lemonade into a bowl, mix, turn out onto board, cut out scones and bake.

Yep. That’s it. Really!

How to make Lemonade Scones

Lemonade Scones – Tips!

Few tips to share to ensure your scones come out soft and fluffy every time!!

  • Less dough handling = fluffier scones. So only mix the batter until the flour is almost fully incorporated (ie can still some flour), then scrape onto work surface and knead as few times as possible to bring together into a disc shape with a pretty smooth surface (I aim for 5 kneads, 8 is ok).
  • Do not twist the cutter – press the cutter straight down and up, resist the urge to twist! If you twist, the sides of the scones gets “smeared” which affects how well they rise.
  • Avoid touching sides of scones – use a big kitchen knife or similar to transfer scones to tray to avoid touching the sides of the scones.
  • Place so they’re touching each other ever so slightly – because they help each other rise (isn’t that just so sweet? 😍)
  • Don’t be tight with the jam and cream – there’s nothing sadder than running out of cream mid scone scoffing!!

Stack of Lemonade Scones, ready to be eaten

Whether Lemonade Scones or traditional made scones, they are best served warm but MUST be served with copious amounts of cream and jam. There’s just really no getting around that part. It’s like having a grilled cheese sandwich without cheese. It just ain’t right. Just saying.😇

– Nagi x


Watch how to make it


More Aussie favourites

  • Scones – made the classic way
  • Pikelets
  • Caramel Slice
  • Lamingtons
  • Pavlova
  • Sausage Rolls
  • Party Pies

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Close up of Lemonade Scones with jam and crean

Lemonade Scones - 3 Ingredients From Scratch

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 25 mins
Baking
Australian, New Zealand, UK
4.98 from 83 votes
Servings10 scones
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Recipe video above. Moist and fluffy scones, made with only 3 ingredients! These are truly miracle. They must be served with copious amounts of cream and jam. That's a given!

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups self raising flour , plus extra for dusting (flour sub - Note 1)
  • 1 cup thickened cream (heavy cream), not whipped!
  • 1 cup lemonade (Note 2)

To serve

  • Whipped cream
  • Jam

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan). Line tray with baking/parchment paper.
  • Combine the flour, cream and lemonade in a bowl and mix until flour is mostly combined. Do not over mix, it will make the scones dense! The dough should be soft and fairly sticky.
  • Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead gently just 3 - 5 times to bring dough together, then gently pat into a disc shape 2.5cm/1" thick.
  • Use a 6cm/2.5" round cutter to cut rounds - press straight up and down (don't twist), flour cutter in between. (Note 4)
  • Use a knife or similar to scoop up (avoid touching sides) and place on tray, slightly touching each other (they help each other rise).
  • Brush the tops lightly with milk. (Note 5)
  • Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top. Place on rack to cool. Place tea towel over them to stop the tops from getting crusty.
  • Serve with copious amounts of cream and jam, and of course tea!

Recipe Notes:

1. Self raising flour (called self rising flour in the US and Canada) is simply flour that's already got baking powder in it. To make your own self raising flour, just add 7 tsp baking to 3 1/2 cups plain/all purpose flour (no need to minus 7 tsp flour, dough is quite sticky).
2. Lemonade - I use Schweppes and Kirks. "No brand" lemonade works fine too, as does 7Up and Solo so I presume any brand of any of these should work fine. Just need something fizzy and sweet!
3. Cutting tips -  If you don't have a round cutter, which I didn't for ages, use an empty tin (cleaned!) or you can just cut them into squares with a knife. Just be sure to flour the knife between cuts so the dough doesn't stick to it.
TIPS: Push cutter straight up and down, do not twist. Flour the cutter in between so the dough doesn't stick. I usually get 6 out of the first batch, then I combine and pat out the offcuts to make another 3 - 4.
4. Milk brushing - This makes the tops nice and golden, and helps smooth the top too.
5. Storage - keeps for 3 days in an airtight container but needs to be reheated to serve. Also freeze well, for up to 3 months.
6. Nutrition per scone - jam and cream not included (I cannot be held responsible for how much you pile on!!).

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 74gCalories: 188cal (9%)Carbohydrates: 31.5g (11%)Protein: 4.1g (8%)Fat: 4.8g (7%)Saturated Fat: 2.8g (18%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 16mg (5%)Sodium: 6mgFiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 2.6g (3%)
Keywords: lemonade scones, scones recipe
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Originally published January 2014. Long overdue to add a recipe video and fresh new photos!

Life of Dozer

Now you see it… now you don’t! (Except for the smear of cream on his snout 🐽)

Dozer hoovering lemonade scone

Previous Post
How to make Mimosas – Champagne cocktail
Next Post
Asian Side Salad

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Related Posts

Slice of Blueberry Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting on a plate

Blueberry Cake with Lemon Frosting

Gingerbread Men propped up on a mini Christmas tree

Gingerbread Men

Bread and Butter Pudding with ice cream, fresh out of the oven ready to be served

Bread and Butter Pudding

More Baking Recipes

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cooked this? Rate this recipe!




412 Comments

  1. Lani says

    January 17, 2021 at 8:21 am

    5 stars
    I made these using sparkling water w/lemon flavouring & they were, meh. But, I thought I’d give them another try using 7 Up and then if they weren’t so great move on. They were FANTASTIC!! Actual soda pop makes a difference. THANK YOU for this recipe. It’s a keeper!

    Reply
  2. Cathy says

    January 11, 2021 at 6:17 am

    Hi Nagi,

    Happy New Year 😘

    Could this Recipe be used with Soda water or Mineral water instead of the Lemonade?

    Many Thanks
    Cathy x

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 11, 2021 at 1:39 pm

      Hi Cathy, yes you can, they won’t have a sweet edge as it will be missing the sugar in the lemonade though – more like a savoury scone! (Just use this as an excuse for extra jam and cream) N x

      Reply
      • Cathy says

        January 11, 2021 at 6:58 pm

        Yes! Any excuse will do for Extra Jam & Cream 😛
        Thankyou x

        Reply
  3. Nashville Gal says

    January 10, 2021 at 10:55 am

    While I realize this is not the typical scone I’m used to, whatever this recipe makes (a good old fashioned southern biscuit) was pretty good. I added the zest of a lemon, a hefty squeeze of juice and a couple handfuls of frozen blueberries. I had to sprinkle in a bit more flour since the berries were wet and made the dough a little too sticky. I bought a tiny clotted cream just to be fancy (I’d never tasted it before and didn’t care for it at all) but made a simple glaze to add some sweetness. These were fast, tasty and simple. All in all I’d say it was a success. Mine didn’t look as nice as Nagi’s but for a first time not too bad.

    Reply
  4. Lynda Stewart Baker says

    January 9, 2021 at 9:57 pm

    5 stars
    I used to be an expert at making traditional scones. Last night I tried this method – wonderful results. No going back. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

    Reply
  5. Susan Ashworth says

    January 7, 2021 at 12:11 am

    Hi could I use cream fraiche? Instead of cream.

    Reply
  6. Susan Ashworth says

    January 7, 2021 at 12:10 am

    Hi could I use cream fraiche

    Reply
  7. Louise says

    January 5, 2021 at 6:38 pm

    5 stars
    I love your recipes!! I gave it five stars for the simple ingredients and taste. But today I don’t know what I did but the mixture was so sticky. I just scoop mixture in and baked them anyway. To my surprise it turned out really well. It didn’t look great. But the taste is light and yummy. Will try again.

    Reply
  8. Skye says

    January 1, 2021 at 11:21 am

    5 stars
    so easy and delicious

    Reply
  9. Melissa says

    December 31, 2020 at 5:37 pm

    5 stars
    So yummy and so easy! We ate them warm from the oven with homemade jam. My first time making lemonade scones but we’ll definitely make them again. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  10. Elsa says

    December 27, 2020 at 7:27 am

    Nice scones

    Reply
  11. Fiona says

    December 25, 2020 at 3:04 am

    5 stars
    This is my long-term favourite recipe for scones! So easy! Nagi – would gingerale be okay? I don’t have lemonade and I can’t get to the shops before Christmas!

    Reply
  12. Susie says

    December 14, 2020 at 11:42 am

    I am a very inexperienced baker and made these over the weekend. They were easy to make (wonderful instructions – thank you) and devoured by our guests. Turned out perfectly! Thanks so much Nagi.

    Reply
  13. Fiona says

    November 21, 2020 at 5:51 am

    I love treacle scones. Could I add treacle or would the additional liquid affect the consistency and end result?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      November 21, 2020 at 11:06 am

      Hi Fiona, the liquid would make these really soft – something I’d need to test! N x

      Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Meet Dozer

Official taste tester of RecipeTin Eats! Meet Dozer
As Featured On

What's for Dinner?

Close up of beef enchiladas in a baking dish, fresh out of the oven

Beef Enchiladas

Butter Chicken served over basmati rice in a bowl, ready to be served

Butter Chicken

Overhead photo of 2 black bowls with Chinese Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing, ready to be eaten

Chinese Chicken Salad

Salisbury Steak recipe in skillet.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken - 7 ingredient magic. The coconut fragrance is heavenly! recipetineats.com

Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken

Fast prep. Big flavours!

Never miss a recipe

Back to Top
  • Related
  • RecipeTin Japan
  • Food Bloggers Center
  • Help
  • Contact Us
  • Image Use
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
Site Credits Developed by Zao © RecipeTin Eats 2021 · All Rights Reserved Back to Top