Scones

OK, now for something entirely different.

Scone VS. Biscuit

What exactly is the difference between scones and biscuits, and by biscuit, I mean biscuit in the American sense and not biscuit in the British sense, which is a cookie, even though the question asks about scones, which is primarily Scottish and which differs slightly from a British scone. Got that?

There is no exact difference. In fact, there's more similarities than differences.

Here are the differences:

* Scones frequently include both an egg and milk (or cream), biscuits do not contain an egg but usually contain buttermilk.

* Scones are often sweeter and richer, although biscuits can also be sweet and scones can be savory. Although, nowadays, you often get biscuits with bacon or bacon fat, possibly ham, mixed right in.

* Scones tend to use a bit more liquid than regular biscuits and so generally result in a more cake-like consistency.

* Scones are often cut into triangles, biscuits are usually round

* Biscuits are often associated with the southern United States, scones with Scotland.

* The Scottish scone is typically made with oats.

* Biscuits are served as a side dish with breakfast or dinner, while scones are more likely to be served with tea, for brunch or as a base for a dessert sauce

* Scones is pronounced sk-on in Scotland and by 1/3 of Britons, and pronounced sk-own by the rest of the rubes wot got no class.

* Biscuits usually contain fat in the form of butter, vegetable oil, or lard.

* Biscuits more often use baking soda (using the acid in buttermilk to activate it), although not necessarily, and scones are not precluded from using baking soda (along with an acid)

So, to summarize, the differences have been fudged like mad, both are quick breads that use a chemical leavening agent, and given the degree of stretch of definitions for both scone and for biscuit, and due to the amount of overlap between those stretches of definition, there's not all that much difference at all. However, a roll, which is leavened with yeast, well, now that's a whole 'nuther animal.