Why won't my scones rise?

MissRibena

Hi everyone
One of the posters on the nuitrition and diet board recommended these scones as a healthy snack and being a bit partial to the odd scone at work, I decided that I'd give them a go.

Not really much of a baker (usually trying to be low cal, low GI and am too much of a savage to have 'just one' of anything). First batch were flat as a pancake, so I googled and decided to be lighter when rubbing in the fat and mixing in the liquid, roll them a bit thicker, take care not to twist the cutter, use a smaller cutter and make sure loads of space around each one to rise. But still no joy on the second batch!

Anyone know where I'm going wrong?

(Specifically am using shamrock bread soda, Tesco demerara sugar, Howards wholemeal flour, used butter instead of marg., used Glenisk low fat yogurt in one batch and Aldi in the other. .... and what the heck will I do with all the ingredients now! lol)

Eviledna

Try adding a tsp of lemon juice to the mix to react more with the bread soda, and above all preheat your baking tray in the oven first, that is essential.
Watch your fingers on the hot tray when you are putting on the doughy scones!!

Faith

When you're rubbing it together, really lift it up out of the bowl. Pinch a bit and pull your arms up maybe a foot, lowering them down as you rub. That gets loads of air in and helps them rise a bit.

laughingtoaster

i used to have this problem too. here's the advice that helped me.

Once you add the liquid you must move quickly and lightly (the soda and yogurt will start to react). hold your fingers stiff like a claw when mixing in the liquid. handle the dough as little as possible, roll it out gently - just enough

Magic Monkey

Using all wholemeal flour won't produce as much aeration as when using 50:50 or even 25:75 wholemeal to self-raising. Try replacing half the wholemeal with self-raising flour.

Other tips are to triple-sift the flours, don't knead the dough, just push it together after mixing (like soda bread), and dissolve the tsp of baking soda in 2 tsp of boiling water - this helps disperse it in the mix. And don't worry, it won't ruin the aeration effect.

duploelabs

treat the dough like it's made out of lava. Don't knead it at all and when you turn it out, only lightly touch it to shape it

MissRibena

Thanks for all the replies everyone

I tried again this evening. I had my baking tray hopping hot. I added a squeeze of lemon juice. I rubbed in the butter from really high and it was mixed but only just. The only suggestion I didn't have a chance to try was the dissolving the bread soda. Still no joy - just the same as the rest. They are still tasty but I'd die of shame bringing them to work! The only thing I can think of is that I'm doing it at 220c in my non-fan oven - maybe it should be hotter but they are pretty 'golden' after 7 - 10 mins so if it was hotter, they'd probably be raw inside.

I don't really get it - I'm not that bad of a cook normally! I think I'm going to call myself a lost cause on this.

Nevyn

What flour are you using?
Has it been stored in an air tight manner?

MissRibena

I'm using Howards Wholemeal flour and I only bought it yesterday. I would try self-raising but am trying to be healthy, which is why this recipe appealed in the first place. It was recommended by a poster on Nuitrition and Diet so at least one person could get them to work.

Magic Monkey

The original recipe from the Flour Advisory Bureau is here, along with scone tips here. Try increasing the oven temperature by 10-20c, and when you load them into the oven, put them on the top shelf. If the third attempt flops, try replacing 50% of the wholemeal flour with self-raising flour. Maybe not as healthy, but better than non-wholemeal scones, and at least they'll rise.

phormium

Ok this may be stating the obvious but are they rising at all? how flat are you making them to start with. I find sometimes when showing people how to bake that the expectation for the amount the scones will rise is unrealistic especially with brown ones. If you want nice big high scones then they should be the depth of the scone cutter to start with. Most of these are fairly standard height, approx 1 inch high to start with. All the advice you have got is correct but maybe you are just expecting too much. Try some white ones with self raising flour, they are easier to get to rise but same principle applies cut them thick to start with, if they work then you will know your method and oven are working ok. I know they are not as healthy but they can be a treat while you practice the brown ones.

MissRibena

Breakthrough!

I think I have cracked it. Basically I was following the instruction of cutting them at 1cms, so although later batches were rising a bit, they weren't turning into 'scones'. I continued with all the other suggestions but I also took phormium's advice and cut them much thicker and turned the oven up to 230 as suggested and now have scones that would not shame you.

Actually a good little recipe! The 55g of sugar is way too much IMHO, half or less is loads with the raisins. I used fat free yoghurt in the last lot (all that was left in the fridge!) and they still worked.

They come out at about 90 cals each (no butter!), and as treats go, are pretty healthy, so I'm delighted! Thanks everyone for all the help.