Traditional Tattie Scones
Floury potato, butter, flour, salt. Cut, fried, eaten. That's the whole job.
Tattie scones are one of the great uses for leftover mash. No potato starch, no clever flour blends, no proving. You're not folding these around anything — they're getting cut into triangles and munched, usually next to bacon and an egg. Keep it simple and they'll be better than anything you'll buy in a packet.
Tips & Tricks
- →Floury potatoes only. Waxy potatoes make a wet, gluey scone that won't crisp.
- →Mix the flour in while the potato is still warm. Cold potato = tough dough.
- →No potato starch needed for this version — that trick is for tattie scones you want to fold (tacos, wraps). Cut farls don't need the extra stretch.
- →Leftover farls reheat brilliantly in a dry pan, or fry them in a bit of bacon fat for breakfast the next day.
Cooked farls keep 2 days wrapped in the fridge, or freeze flat between baking paper for up to 2 months. Reheat in a dry pan, 30 seconds a side.
A tattie scone doesn't need reinventing. It needs eating.
Method
- 1
Start with warm mash
If you're using leftover tatties, warm them through gently first. Cold potato fights the flour and you'll end up with a tough dough.
- 2
Mix
Melted butter and salt into the warm potato. Sift in the flour and bring it together with your hands until just smooth. Don't overwork it — gluten is the enemy of a tender scone.
- 3
Roll
Tip onto a floured board and roll out to about 5 mm thick. A 20 cm round is about right.
- 4
Cut into farls
Cut the round into 8 triangles. No biscuit cutters needed. They're going straight in the pan.
- 5
Dry-fry
Heavy pan, medium heat, no oil. Cook each farl 2 to 3 minutes per side until golden brown spots appear and the dough is set through. Stack and keep warm under a tea towel.
- 6
Serve
Hot, with butter melting into them. Or alongside bacon and eggs. Or fried again the next morning in a bit of bacon fat — possibly the best version of all.
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