Grandma Innes’s Rolled Griddle Scones

If Ron’s Scottish Grandma Innes were alive today, she’d be 130 years old. She made these griddle scones on a wood-burning stove, and young Ron eagerly awaited the moment they were ready. Ron is sketchy on the details (“How hot was the stove, Ron?” “I don’t know! Just ... hot! If I sat on it, I’d hurt myself!”). No cookbook would ever use that as a benchmark, so I’ve done some detective work, combining Ron’s description of his grandmother’s rolled Scottish scones, with Scottish-Canadian reader Jim Lefevre’s Griddle Scones (aka “Girdle Scones” and published elsewhere on this blog) to unlock what I believe must have been Grandma Innes’s secret! Life is too short not to make either of these beautiful scone recipes!

Ron hung around our kitchen today, as I reworked Jim’s recipe into what I believe Grandma Innes must have made. Neither recipe uses currants or raisins, but both men swear the recipe is authentically Scottish! Try them yourself (Hey! Hands off those men … I’m talking about the scones)!

Grandma Innes’s Rolled Griddle Scones:

2 c. (500 mL) all-purpose flour

2 tsp. (10 mL) baking powder

¼ tsp. (1.25 mL) salt

¼ tsp. (1.25 mL) baking soda

½ tsp. (2.5 mL) cream of tartar

2 tbsp. (30 mL) sugar

1 tbsp. (20 mL) plus 1 tsp. softened butter 

1 c. milk (250 mL) (I reduced the amount of milk in Jim’s original recipe) 

Combine all ingredients, rubbing butter into dry ingredients to form coarse crumbs. Add milk all at once, stirring just until all ingredients are moistened. Expect the dough to be quite stiff if you use whole milk, and softer if you use nonfat or skim milk. 

Flouring your work surface and hands, gather dough into a ball, kneading three or four times. Add extra flour, as needed. Pat into a 8- or 9-inch diameter circle, ½-inch thick. Cut into six wedges, “baking” about 20 min. on medium heat of electric or stove top griddle, or at 300 deg. F. If using griddle, turn to brown the other side, halfway through the cooking time. Serve hot with butter and jam. Yum! 

I suspect Grandma Innes patted her scones into a slightly larger circle, cooking them for a shorter time or using different leavening agents. During their time on the griddle, my scones rose to above an inch, emerging beautifully puffy. When Ron said Grandma Innes’s scones were thinner, I said “Live with it!” Each generation of cooks does things very differently!