Easy Recipe Drop Scones

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

In honor of all things Royal, we present to you a recipe for drop scones, otherwise known as Scotch pancakes, that Queen Elizabeth made for President Dwight Eisenhower on the occasion of his visit to Balmoral castle in 1959.

According to the National Archives, the Queen prepared drop scones for the President, using a family recipe. Later she sent the President a letter and enclosed the recipe, with annotations and a suggestion to use treacle in place of the caster sugar.

Mary Berry Easy Homemade Drop Scones Recipe (scotch Pancakes)

When I first started testing this recipe, I couldn't understand why the dough was more of a pancake batter, and not scone-like as I had imagined. Here in the states we think of drop scones like drop biscuits, instead of cutting out triangular shape scones for baking, we drop the dough from a spoon onto the baking pan.

But drop scones in parts of the UK, in particular Scotland, where Balmoral castle is situated, are more like American pancakes than typical scones. Drop scones are thicker than American pancakes, and a little smaller.

If you read the Queen's recipe in the image above, note the use of teacups as measurements for flour and milk. Before Fanny Farmer we used teacups for measures as well.

Easy Drop Scones

To figure out how much a typical teacup holds, I tested two teacups, an English made one, and a French limoge. Oddly, when I filled each (completely different shape) tea cup with flour and weighed them, the result for each was exactly 100 grams.

By volume, the teacups were each 3/4 of an American standard cup. So 4 teacups would be 3 American cups, and 2 teacups would be 1 1/2 cups.

European butter has a much higher fat content than standard American butter, so if you have European butter, you may want to use it, to more closely replicate what the Queen was making.

English Scones Recipe

Most recipes for drop scones I found add a little salt. I don't know if the Queen used salted butter or not. Her recipe doesn't call for it, but since I use unsalted butter, I added a little salt to the batter.

A note on the cream of tartar. We happen to have some in our pantry, but many people don't. Cream of tartar is a dry acid. It combines with the alkaline baking soda to create the leavening in the scones.

Baking powder is just the combination of baking soda and cream of tartar with some corn starch thrown in, so if you don't have cream of tartar, you can substitute both the baking soda and the cream of tartar with baking powder.

Queen Elizabeth Iis Recipe For Drop Scones

I've changed the method just a little from the Queen's original by adding the wet ingredients to the dry, instead of the dry to the wet.

An extra note here, when I first started playing with the recipe, I didn't realize it was for what are essentially pancakes. I was expecting more traditional scones, and therefore kept working at the recipe until I got them. I did manage to pull a more traditional scone out of the Queen's recipe, just by doing a couple of things. I reduced the milk to 1 cup. I mixed the ingredients until they just came together as a sticky, shaggy dough. I used heaping tablespoons of European butter. With this mixture you can make drop biscuits. Just measure out 1/4-cup scoops of the batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 12-14 minutes, until nicely browned on top. Serve warm with butter and jam.

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2, 000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Rachel's Drop Scones

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

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Drop scones (Scotch pancakes) are a traditional Scottish recipe. Whether you make them for an easy breakfast, brunch or just as a snack they’re so simple to make they’re perfect for kids who want to get busy in the kitchen

Queen Elizabeth Ii's Drop Scone Recipe

You can enjoy Scotch pancakes with any topping you like (syrup, Nutella, peanut butter etc), but when we make them we tend to have them just with butter or maybe even a little jam. They’re such a lovely, simple recipe it make them versatile to enjoy however you like.

This is a really easy recipe which makes it perfect for kids to try. As well as measuring the dry and wet ingredients, your kids can get to whisk it all together to make the batter.

If you have older children, that are safe around a cooker, they can also ‘drop’ the mixture into your pan and flip them to cook the pancakes.

Lemon Blueberry Drop Scones Recipe

Drop scones, or Scotch pancakes are similar to American fluffy pancakes but a little bit sweeter and a little bit thicker. They’re nothing like a crepe style pancake, and nothing like a scone either!

Yes. Drop scones are delicious warm with a little butter on them, but you can still enjoy them as a snack once they’ve cooled down. If you want to reheat them you can pop them on a baking tray, cover it with foil then put them in the oven on a medium heat for 10 minutes or so. Alternatively, you can toast them for a few minutes to get some heat back into them.

You can keep Scotch pancakes for a day or two in an air tight container. If you want to keep them for longer drop scones can be frozen for a few months. Once you’ve made them, stack them in a pile separated with baking paper then put them in a freezer bag or wrap them well in foil. Defrost them then, reheat them in the oven until they are warmed through.

Drop Scones Recipe

You can serve these with anything you like really. They are delicious just with a bit of butter, or you could add some syrup or jam. Try them with anything you would add to a pancake or regular scone.

If you don’t have self raising flour, swap it for an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder.

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Queen Elizabeth Ii's Drop Scones Recipe

* If you don’t have self raising flour, swap it for an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder.

Get your kids to measure out the flour, salt and caster sugar and add them to a mixing bowl. Give them a little mix together.

Measure the milk out in a jug or if you have them, use the ml setting of your digital scales to measure it accurately.

Glazed Lemon Poppyseed Drop Scones

Crack an egg into a small bowl, just in case any shell goes in then add it to your milk. If any shell does go in, simply fish it out with a larger piece of shell. It will stick to that better than it will your finger.

Make a well in the middle of your dry ingredients then slowly pour in the milk/egg mixture. Whisk it together until all the flour is mixed in and you have a nice smooth batter.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan (or girdle pan if you have one) then drop 2 spoons (dessert spoon or soup spoon) of batter on top of each other into the pan. Depending on the size of your pan, you should be able to cook a few drop scones at the same time. We were able to do 3 without them touching.

Double Cheese Drop Scones

Cook the pancakes over a medium heat for a few minutes until bubbles start coming to the surface. Gently flip them over with a spatula and cook them on the other side for another minute or two until they are nice and golden. Older kids that can be trusted near a cooker should be able to help with this.

Remove them from the pan and pop them on a baking tray covered