They’re fattening too! Why scones are Britain’s most controversial food (2024)

FAQs

They’re fattening too! Why scones are Britain’s most controversial food? ›

For it turns out that scones are … fattening. A Food Standards Agency (FSA) report has found that the average scone contains 408 calories, with the best – sorry, most fattening – clocking up a remarkable 756 calories and 39.2g of sugar.

American scones are often dense wedges or triangles, while British scones are taller and usually round. British scones are reasonably dense, but not as dense as American scones (assuming they're fresh).

ANY TYPE OF SCONE

Although convenient and tasty, scones are a complete loss. They are typically extremely high in calories from the heavy butter and cream. And, although scones with fruit might seem healthier, most are even higher in calories and still high in saturated fat. Steer clear of scones.

American scones use much more butter than British scones, and they usually have quite a bit more sugar. The extra butter is what makes them so much denser. This is not really a good or bad thing, as British scones pile on plenty of sugar (in the form of preserves/jam) and butter or clotted cream as toppings.

A Biscuit (U.S.) Is a Scone (U.K.)

Both baked goodies use flour, fat, liquid and a leavening agent. The main differences are that scones tend to have less butter (because you'll add butter to it when you eating it — or else, clotted cream or jam) while American biscuits tend to have more butter and light layers.

"Scones are typically made using a quick bread method with a higher ratio of liquid to flour, and sometimes no butter at all," says Snyder. In contrast, biscuits have a high ratio of butter, and the lamination process needed to achieve flaky layers is a key differentiator to scones.

What is an American biscuit in the UK? The last piece of the puzzle, an American biscuit is a crumbly leavened quick bread similar to what we call a scone in the UK.

fattening. A Food Standards Agency (FSA) report has found that the average scone contains 408 calories, with the best – sorry, most fattening – clocking up a remarkable 756 calories and 39.2g of sugar. Add jam and cream to the largest scone tested, and you are talking more than 900 calories.

Try the plain croissant at Panera Bread: It's got 300 calories and 6 grams sugar. Plus, the chain refuses to use artificial colors, flavorings, and more than a hundred other potentially unsafe additives. Chain bakery scones regularly clock in at 500 calories or more, while some have an astounding 47 grams of sugar.

A plain, chocolate- or vanilla-glazed version will often be lower calorie than the a small-sized scone, though they're largely equal in calories from saturated fat (and short breads like scones typically pack more sodium than their doughy counterparts).

What do British call biscuits and gravy? ›

Scones and Gravy: The English Equivalent

In England, the closest counterpart to biscuits and gravy would be scones and gravy. However, it's important to note that the gravy in this context refers to a savory sauce, rather than the creamy, sausage-infused gravy that is synonymous with the American version.

If you go into an American bakery and ask for a “scone”, you'll get a sweet, fluffy, usually triangular bread product, often with some form of berry baked in. If you go into an American restaurant and order a “biscuit”, you will get a fluffy, savory bread product that you might categorize as a “scone”.

In British English, crackers are sometimes called water biscuits, or savoury biscuits.

Biscuits are made with buttermilk, no eggs and are flakier than their scone counterpart, apart from when they're not. Biscuits can be flaky but also incredibly soft and tender, made as drop scones.

Fast Breads by Early & Morris describe a scone as “lighter than a biscuit, smoother than an English muffin, heavier than a muffin, and thicker than a flat bread.”

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word 'scone' is pronounced 'skon' in the UK. Whereas across the pond in America, the popular baked good should be said as 'skown'.

Whereas a scone has a shorter, more biscuity crumb, a shortcake is almost half cake and half scone. (These shortcakes also have cream in the dough, to add a further layer of indulgence.