Homemade Scones (Frybread)

Almost nothing says comfort food better than a fried homemade scone topped with honey butter, homemade strawberry jam, or in my daughter’s case, Nutella.

When I was a little girl, I remember eating scones in the summer time. My parents always did a big garden and sometimes the zucchini would get a little out of hand. When a zucchini got lost in the leaves and grew extra big, my mom would slice it up, dip it in egg and flour and fry it up. Fried zucchini and scones were one of my most favorite meals! Now, if only I could get my own children to like fried zucchini…

But at least they like the homemade scones!

This recipe for homemade scones or frybread starts with my basic white bread recipe found here.

Once you have your dough through the first rise, you are ready to make scones!

With a sharp knife, cut the dough into equal pieces. This recipe makes 24 rolls/scones.

I like to form each piece of dough into a pretty roll shape while it’s resting. To do this, pull the dough toward the center and tuck it underneath, rotating in your hand and pulling down as needed to form a smooth ball. Place seam side down on a greased tray or plate.

Now you want to get your oil heating up. The dough is great to just rest while you wait.

And this is where I turn it over to Charlie. He is a much better fryer than me. That is kind of his specialty in our house.

In Charlie’s words,

The first thing I do is grab my manly apron. The scones sometimes get air pockets and will spit grease at you like an angry llama. With that you want to get a pan that will handle the hot oil (some nonstick pans will wear down quicker cooking hot oil). With your preferred pan, pour enough oil to be about 3/4 of an inch deep. Too little oil will not maintain your desired temperature.

Next you want to get the oil to the right temperature before you start cooking. If the oil isn’t hot enough the scones will absorb more oil and not be as good. Too hot, and the scones will be too crispy on the outside or not done on the inside.

I like to cook at about 375 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use a cooking thermometer at first until you learn the settings for your stovetop that will maintain that temperature. Another good trick to test if your oil is hot enough is to flick a small drop of water from your finger into the oil, and remember to watch out for the llama. If the water immediately pops you know you’ve got a good temperature. If there’s a delay in the pop then give it another minute and test it again.

When it comes to cooking, have a small bowl with a little flour in it to dip your fingers into before pulling the scones out, and a pair of tongs handy to flip and remove them. After you’ve dipped your fingers in the flour grab a dough ball and start flattening it. I like to pull from the edges more than pushing on the middle to avoid making the center too thin and bubbles forming that make for uneven cooking.

Depending on the size of your pan you can usually get a few in there cooking at the same time to speed up the process.

Watch the scone and when the down side starts to get to a golden brown flip the scone over and let the other side brown up too.

I like to do only one flip instead of going back and forth. When both sides are golden brown let the scone drip off for a second and stack them on a tray with a paper towel. Repeat until all your scones are cooked and the house smells like fried food. If you wait too long you’ll have to clean up the drool from everyone, and of course fried food tastes best fresh.

Thanks Char for the help with the frying!

These homemade scones are best served fresh and hot. We like them with butter, honey, strawberry jam, raspberry jam, or even Nutella!

These scones are also perfect for the base of our family favorite, Frybread Tacos. Find the recipe for Frybread Tacos here!

We hope you enjoy these homemade scones/frybread as much as we do!

~ Rachel and Charlie