Taste.com.au’s best scone hacks revealed

The crew at Taste.com.au has pulled together their best list of scone hacks, which means your baking is about to go nest level. Find out how to make the best of everyone’s favourite treat here.

Rebecca Nittolo

3 min read

November 9, 2023 - 2:27PM

Minds. Blown.

We’re going to tell you something you already know: Aussies love scones.

The love’s always been there, but it’s actually growing in 2023 with searches for scone recipes up 18% year on year. We’ve seen various scone recipes go viral over the last few months and it seems any new way of baking scones resonates in Australia: adding custard powder, making them with condensed milk or cheat-baking them in your favourite small appliance.

Here are a few of the best scone hacks and tricks from our food editors.

Scones work well in the air fryer.

Hack 1: ‘Bake’ them in an air fryer

You’re probably not new to the air fryer phenomenon that’s been sweeping the globe. Neither is Tracy Rutherford, the recipe developer extraordinaire who is often asked to put our wild air fryer ideas to the test (she’s famous for our air fryer condensed milk French toast, air fryer blooming onion and air fryer ice-cream balls, after all).

When we asked Tracy if you can hack your way to delicious savoury scones in an air fryer she not only nailed it, but ended up making what’s become one of the taste team’s favourite scone recipes. These bacon and cheese winners are surprisingly light and soft considering they’re not baked in a conventional way. Bonus: they’re made in a fraction of the time (only 15 minutes cook time!), which makes this recipe one of our favourite hacky scone recipes around.

Get our air fryer cheese and bacon scones recipe.

Scone hacks:

Hack 2: Make them with just 3 ingredients

One of our favourite recipe writers Liz Macri might have made these with three ingredients, but it’s one of those ingredients in particular that really makes the magic happen: lemonade.

This recipe pretty much begs you to be a lazy baker. Simply throw the ingredients into a bowl, barely mix (Liz says to please “avoid overworking the mixture”) and bake. The result? A perfectly baked scone that’s “light and fluffy”.

The rave reviews on this recipe speak for themselves. One member says she loves “the absence of bicarbonate soda” and the “smooth, ever-so slightly sweeter taste”, while another says she “never would have thought to use” these ingredients but having tried them, admitted she will “definitely be making again”. Us too!

Get our 3-ingredient scones recipe.

A butter bath is a twist you must try.

Hack 3: Cook them in a butter bath

When our Food Director Michelle first told us that she was going to try baking scones completely “bathed” in butter, we were sold. Butter makes everything better, right? RIGHT.

Michelle also adds grated cheddar and bacon to these and the result is “the most amazing, soft, buttery scones” (according to our editor). In fact, these were so good we’ve now done a sweet banana version and a savoury garlic butter version.

Get our butter bath scones recipe.

Cut your time by making one giant scone.

Hack 4: Make one giant one (to avoid cutting them individually)

It’s lazy and we love it. Another masterpiece by scone queen Tracy, this one resembles a cake but is most definitely a scone. By baking it whole, all you have to do is mix, slightly knead and then pop it on a tray – no rolling or cutting required (those of you who don’t own a round cutter, you’re welcome).

You can slice it just like a cake (but we love to sandwich it with jam and cream first, of course).

Get our giant scone recipe.

You can cook scones in a pie maker.

Hack 5: Cook in a pie maker

If you worry about your scones not rising, toppling over or joining together as they bake, this is the hack for you. It’s an equally useful one to know when you don’t have time to switch on the oven or are cooking on the road (campers, you’ll love this).

Admittedly, this hack (from yes, you guessed it – Tracy) will result in scones that are slightly different to what you’re used to. They’re less crumbly around the edge and don’t rise as high – but they’re still fluffy in the middle and absolutely delicious! We’ve even brought the pie maker into the office to whip up a batch of these for special occasions.

As Tracy uses iconic lemony soft drink Solo in these, they’re deliciously sweet – and lend themselves to being topped with lemon curd and cream instead of classic jam. That’s a cool hack in itself!

Get our pie maker scones recipe.