Scones and biscuits are essentially the same, with the former being a sweeter take on the latter. In their richest forms, they start with cold butter cut into flour and are bound with cream. But cream alone can saturate a scone, while vegetable and fruit purees and juices bring moisture to butter-based pastry. Introducing flavorful produce, nuts, and spices means that these scones keep better than traditional white-flour varieties, which diminish in taste over time.
Chilled ingredients yield a lighter texture. Fat and liquid that are cold will give off more steam when they hit the hot oven. That steam results in flaky layers or lighter centers.
The pastry should be blasted with heat to achieve a crisp exterior and soft interior. If your oven has trouble getting hot enough, preheat it to 25 degrees hotter than you want, then lower to the correct temperature after you put in the pan(s).
Bake scones and muffins on half sheet pans to prevent the bottoms from browning too much.
Mixing vigorously makes for tough pastry. At every stage, but especially in the final combination of wet and dry ingredients, fold gently to ensure tenderness.
Slide the scones, biscuits, or pastries, on their parchment paper, off the hot pan onto a wire rack as soon as they come out of the oven. This will prevent them from overbaking in the residual heat of the pan and from getting soggy bottoms if left to steam on the pan.
A short stint in the oven or toaster oven—not the microwave—brings scones and biscuits close to their original state. If they’re frozen, thaw first.