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    Home » Recipes » Baked Treats » Tender Buttery UBC Tea Scones

    Tender Buttery UBC Tea Scones

    Published: Dec 10, 2017 · Modified: Apr 5, 2021 · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads.

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    Tender Buttery Tea Scones

    I have many fond memories from the years I was a student at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, including having met my husband there! Other fond memories revolve around food (of course), some of which were the great bakery items sold at the school, like the UBC tea scones (thus the name of this recipe!)!

    Most scones I've had are dry, dense, and kind of MEH. You'd have to drink tea with them just to be able to swallow them! But not these ones! These UBC tea scones are soft, tender, and just plain GOOD. If you are a UBC student, past or present, you know what I'm talking about! And if you're not, you're going to have to make these to see what the big deal is!

    UBC revealed the recipes to their most popular baked treats in a local newspaper several years ago, and to this day, whether on campus or in my kitchen, they are a huge favorite. Now I can share this great recipe with you!

    A stainless steel bowl containing flour, sugar, and chunks of butter for tea scones

    Keep in mind that this is the original UBC recipe. It is not gluten-free. It is not sugar-free. It probably can’t be considered a “healthy” recipe. However, I won’t make any apologies for these tea scones because they are just THAT good.

    That being said, if you ARE gluten-free, I've got you covered! Be sure to check out my Gluten-Free Butter Tea Scones recipe which is a perfect adaptation of this original UBC scone recipe! You would never guess that they're missing the gluten!

    To make these scones, I use a good old fashioned pastry cutter. That’s the neat looking wired contraption pictured above. It’s hand powdered and does a great job cutting all that butter into the flour and sugar. If you don’t happen to have a pastry cutter, you can simply work the butter into the flour with your hands, or use a fork. This ain’t rocket science and doesn’t require anything fancy.

    Just like you don’t need any fancy tools to make these awesome tea scones, you also don’t need any fancy ingredients. This recipe, at its most basic, is simply flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, salt, milk, and an egg. If and how you decide to flavor it is up to you, but there are many options such as blueberries, grated cheese, dried fruit, lemon zest, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, etc. You could even drizzle an icing sugar glaze or melted chocolate over the scones after they’re baked!

    A pile of blueberry tea scones

    Because these are tea scones, the idea is that they are small enough to have with some tea in the afternoon. They are not meant to be big pieces. So I simple drop spoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. They grow and spread a bit when baking, turning into just the right size for nibbling.

    Closeup of a cheese tea scone split open

    You can imagine how tender this scone is, can’t you? It’s literally melt-in-your-mouth good and oh-so-satisfying with a hot cuppa tea in the afternoon!

    Another great thing about these tea scones is they freeze well. You just need to warm them in the oven or microwave for 10-20 seconds and they are crazy good. So you can make a batch of them, freeze them, and have a scone whenever you’d like!

    Melted chocolate drizzled on cranberry tea scones

    Did I mention that these tea scones also make wonderful gift bundles during the holidays? Wrapped up in a pretty cellophane bag with some ribbon or in parchment paper and string and you’ve got a treat your friends will love.

    I'm really excited to share a fond memory from my university days and I hope you'll give these Tender Buttery UBC Tea Scones a try. I'm sure you'll love them.

    ~ Lisa.

    Tender Buttery UBC Tea Scones

    These tea scones are tender, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth good! Easy to make and fabulous with a hot cuppa tea.
    4.67 from 6 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Breads, Breakfast
    Cuisine: Western
    Keyword: scones
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes
    Makes: 18 scones
    Author: Lisa from A Day in the Kitchen

    Ingredients

    • 3 cups all-purpose flour
    • ½ cup sugar
    • 5 teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ cup (165g) cold butter cut into small chunks
    • 1 egg slightly beaten
    • 1 cup milk

    Filling Options:

    • 1 cup dried cranberries, fresh or frozen blueberries, cheese, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.

    Equipment

    • Pastry Blender
    • Baking sheets

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven 450 deg f (230C).
    • Sift together dry ingredients in large bowl.
    • Add chunks of butter to flour mixture.
    • Using a pastry blender, cut butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse oatmeal.
    • Pour milk into measuring cup and add the slightly beaten egg. Pour into butter-flour mixture and stir until well combined.
    • Add 1 cup of desired filling to dough and stir.
    • Scoop rounded spoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving enough space for the dough to spread.
    • Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.
    • Cool on wired rack. Enjoy warm with butter and/or fruit preserves. Also fabulous eaten plain!
    • Freezes well.

    Notes

    • These scones are perfectly good with no filling in them...just a dab of butter and some fruit preserves are all you need to flavor them!
    • Other great filling options are grated cheese, fresh or frozen blueberries, dried cranberries or cherries, chocolate chips, chopped pistachios, or lemon or orange zest.
    • Combinations of fillings work great, too, like lemon zest and blueberries, or dried cranberries and pistachios!
    • For the tea scones shown here in this post, I made a full batch of the scone dough, divided it into three separate bowls, and added three different fillings to each. It was an easy way to get some flavor variety without making 3x the recipe!
    • Check out my Gluten-Free Buttery Tea Scones for the gluten-free version of this delicious scone recipe!
    Have you tried this recipe?Mention @dayinthekitchen or tag #adayinthekitchen!

    If you make this recipe, share your photo on Facebook or Instagram, be sure to tag @dayinthekitchen so I see it!


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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. DebS

      April 05, 2021 at 8:16 am

      These look amazing and will definitely try them! I went to UBC too. Any chance you can adapt the UBC Cinnamon Buns?

      Reply
      • Lisa

        April 05, 2021 at 9:22 am

        Hey Deb! Thanks for your comment, it's always nice to "meet" fellow UBC Alumni! 🙂 I hope you like the scone recipe. I am working on the UBC Cinnamon Bun recipe...first thing is to reduce the amount since I don't need to make a giant tray full like they do at school! Stay tuned! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Suzy

      September 05, 2020 at 12:09 am

      Look full disclosure, I am a transplanted Brit and have have eaten more than my fair share of scones! I love love love these flakey, buttery morsels! They came together so quickly and are totally delicious. I’ll be making these regularly. Highly recommend that you try.

      Reply
      • Lisa

        September 05, 2020 at 7:25 pm

        Thanks so much, Suzy! It's nice to know that the scones passed the test with a Brit!

        Reply
    3. Jane

      August 07, 2020 at 10:36 am

      5 stars
      Love this recipe! I reduced the sugar to 1/3 cup when using cheese, still super good,
      although my kids say they like the full 1/2 ..... but only when I tell them I made the change 😉
      Thank you for sharing the recipe

      Reply
      • Lisa

        August 07, 2020 at 4:52 pm

        That's great that you were able to reduce the sugar with no issues! I guess you could continue to use the reduced amount of sugar and just tell your kids that you've used the full amount! 😉 So glad you liked them, Jane!

        Reply
    4. Benita

      July 03, 2020 at 5:46 am

      4 stars
      I remember these from UBC! Like you, I had cut out the recipe from the local Vancouver newspaper and kept it (for decades) and never made the recipe until I saw your post here. Your scones looked delectable, so I finally decided to try making scones. The original recipe called for the dough to be lightly kneaded on a floured surface and cut out with a floured cutter.

      I tried making these today and my dough came out super sticky after the liquids were added. There was no way that it could be kneaded with making a huge mess, so I just made them as drop scones like you did. They came out delicious. My question; was your dough very, very sticky too?

      Reply
      • Lisa

        July 03, 2020 at 1:36 pm

        My dough isn't very very sticky, but it is sticky. If I want to be able to knead and shape the dough to be cut, I would simple add more flour to the mixture until that was possible. Measuring the flour out by cups can vary from person to person, so the dough "stickiness" can also vary. Alternatively, if the dough was too dry, I would add extra milk to the mixture until it came together. All that being said, I prefer making the drop scones and not handling the dough as much so that the scones come out really tender. Thanks for your comments, Benita!

        Reply
    5. Expertans.Com

      March 28, 2020 at 8:34 am

      These are super easy to make and super delicious! I had NEVER made scones before and prepared these in 15 minutes, and turned out so buttery good! These were delicious. A wonderful treat for a weeknight dinner. I ll be making them for weekend breakfast too.

      Reply
    6. Carola

      January 26, 2020 at 11:58 pm

      5 stars
      I have made these for years. I usually double the recipe, bake 1/2, and shape and wrap the other 1/2 in parchment paper, into a ziplock bag and into the freezer. I take the bag out the night before and put
      In the fridge, bake them in the morning - fantastic fresh baked scones with no effort another day and the house smells wonderful.

      Reply
      • Lisa

        January 27, 2020 at 10:53 am

        That's a great tip about doubling the recipe, Carola, and freezing half to bake another day! Thanks for sharing!

        Reply
    7. Sandy

      December 15, 2017 at 8:17 am

      5 stars
      I saw this post for scones today and knew I had to try it. I had some dried cranberries in my cupboard and a ripe orange on my tree for zest. The only thing I didn’t have was a pastry cutter so off I went to Target. Twenty minutes later the dough was made and scooped onto my pans. The hardest part of this whole recipe was waiting for the timer on my oven to tell me they were ready for the glaze. I just might have burned my mouth with the first bite. This recipe will be one that I will use over and over. My brain is working overtime with ideas for what to put in them.
      Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!

      Reply
      • Lisa

        December 15, 2017 at 10:27 am

        Thanks for your comments, Sandy! I'm so glad you liked the recipe, and I'm excited to be able to share a recipe from my past!

        Reply
        • Sasha

          July 10, 2020 at 7:51 am

          5 stars
          I just made these for my family today. Everyone loved it. We don’t eat sugar so I replaced it with dates which I blended into the milk. Wonderful recipe. I will look into the other ones on this site!

          Reply
          • Lisa

            July 10, 2020 at 8:10 am

            That is great to know that the recipe worked with the dates! I never would have thought about that type of substitution for the sugar...that's brilliant! Thanks for sharing your tip, Sasha!

            Reply

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    I cook up big ideas in my small kitchen in Hong Kong! My recipes are big on healthy eating, real food, and international flavors that you can create in any size kitchen. I also specialize in gluten-free cooking and baking, demystifying gluten-free and showing you how easy and delicious it can be!

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