Local Produce

Scotch Pancakes (Drop Scones): The Easy Recipe

Scotch pancakes — drop scones — are Scotland's small, thick griddle pancakes. The traditional recipe, how they differ from American and English pancakes, and how to get them right.

By Gary·9 August 2026·7 min read

Scotch pancakes are the first thing most Scottish children learn to cook, which tells you two things: they're easy, and they're worth knowing how to make for the rest of your life. Small, thick, and cooked in batches on a girdle or dry frying pan, they're the pancake as teatime item rather than breakfast event — eaten warm off the pan with butter, or cold from a tin with jam, and gone either way before the next batch is ready. If you grew up calling them drop scones, you're also right; it's the same thing, named for the way the batter is dropped onto the hot surface.

What are scotch pancakes?

A small, thick, sweet griddle pancake, raised with baking powder (or self-raising flour) rather than yeast or whipped egg. The batter is thick enough to hold a circle where it lands — no swirling the pan, no tossing — and each pancake is a few bites across. Traditionally they're cooked on a girdle: the flat Scots iron griddle that hangs over the heat and is responsible for half the national baking repertoire, from these to the tattie scones on the breakfast plate. A heavy dry frying pan does the same job in a modern kitchen without ceremony.

They belong to the tradition of Scottish girdle baking that predates reliable home ovens — when your baking surface is a flat plate over the fire, you develop scones, oatcakes, crumpets and these, and Scotland developed all of them to a high standard.

Scotch vs American vs English pancakes

The three-way confusion, settled:

	Scotch pancake (drop scone)	American pancake	English pancake
Size	Small — a few bites	Plate-sized	Pan-sized
Thickness	Thick, soft	Thick, fluffy	Thin
Raising agent	Baking powder	Baking powder, sometimes buttermilk	None
Eaten	Teatime, warm or cold, with butter and jam	Breakfast, stacked, with syrup	Shrove Tuesday, rolled, with lemon and sugar

The scotch pancake is closest to the American — same chemistry, different scale and occasion. An American pancake wants to be a foundation; a scotch pancake is complete in itself, which is why it survives being eaten cold in a way a cold American pancake does not.

The traditional recipe

Makes a good plateful; takes about ten minutes end to end, which is why they exist.

You need: self-raising flour, caster sugar, an egg, milk, and a pinch of salt. That's it — though a spoonful of golden syrup in the batter is a much-loved variation that deepens the colour and the flavour, and a handful of sultanas is the other classic move.

Make a thick batter. Flour, sugar and salt in a bowl; crack in the egg; whisk in milk gradually until you have a batter that falls reluctantly from the spoon — thicker than you think, more like double cream than single. A thin batter makes flat, sad pancakes.
Heat a girdle or heavy frying pan over a medium heat and grease it lightly — a wipe of butter on kitchen paper is enough. The surface is right when a drop of batter sets on contact without instantly browning.
Drop the batter in spoonfuls, well spaced. Each spoonful should hold its circle.
Wait for the bubbles. When bubbles rise and burst across the surface and the edges look set, flip once. The second side takes less time.
First side golden, second side golden, done. If they're pale, the pan was too cool; if they're mahogany with a raw middle, too hot. You'll be calibrated by the second batch, which is why the first batch is the cook's.
Into a clean tea towel as they come off — this keeps them soft and warm, and it's the traditional move, not fussiness.

Eat warm with butter, or with butter and jam, or with berries and cream if it's summer and you're showing off. They keep well for a day or two and travel — they're picnic and bake-sale royalty, and any Scottish farmers' market with a home-baking stall will have a bag of them to measure your own against.

The mistakes that matter

Only three things go wrong with drop scones, and all are fixable:

Batter too thin. The pancake spreads wide and cooks flat. Whisk in more flour; the batter should mound briefly where it lands.
Pan too hot. Dark outside, damp inside. These want a patient medium heat — the girdle tradition is about steady, moderate warmth, not searing.
Flipping too early or too often. One flip, after the bubbles burst and stay open. Repeated turning flattens the rise you added the baking powder for.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between scotch pancakes and drop scones?

Nothing — they're two names for the same thing. "Drop scone" describes the method (batter dropped from a spoon onto the girdle); "scotch pancake" is what the rest of the UK calls them, usually via the supermarket packet.

Why are they called drop scones?

Because the thick batter is dropped in spoonfuls onto a hot girdle or pan, where it holds its shape — as opposed to a thin pancake batter that's poured and swirled. They belong to Scotland's girdle-baking tradition alongside oatcakes and tattie scones.

What's the difference between scotch pancakes and American pancakes?

Same chemistry — a baking-powder-raised batter — but scotch pancakes are smaller, denser and sweeter, made for teatime with butter and jam rather than stacked at breakfast under syrup. They're also good cold, which American pancakes never are.

How thick should drop scone batter be?

Thick enough to fall from the spoon reluctantly and hold a circle where it lands — closer to double cream than single. If the batter flows to the edge of the pan, it needs more flour.

When do you flip a scotch pancake?

When bubbles have risen across the surface, burst and stayed open, and the edges look set — flip once and give the second side slightly less time. One flip only.

Can you keep scotch pancakes?

Yes — wrapped in a tea towel or a tin, they stay soft for a day or two and are traditionally eaten cold with butter and jam. They also freeze well in layers; refresh them briefly in a dry pan.

Free: 10 Scottish Recipes Everyone Should Cook Once

From a proper Cullen skink to tablet that sets just right — the classics in plain steps, sent to your inbox.

Free. No spam — unsubscribe from any email. You'll join the TasteSCOT list.

8 min read