Wholemeal brown scones

Preheat oven to 220 degrees fan and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, sieve together the wholemeal flour, self-raising flour, baking powder, salt (and sugar, if using it). Tip any wholemeal flour left in the sieve into the mixture.

Using your fingers, rub the butter through the dry ingredients until the fat is evenly mixed in and the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

With a light touch, stir the buttermilk with only 3-4 turns of a spatula into the dry mix to form a loose, moist dough – don’t over-mix it.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and lightly bring it together with your hands, use a rolling pin to roll it out to 2.5cm thick (or else pat it level with your hands). Use a medium-size scone cutter to stamp out scones (dipping the scone cutter in some flour helps stamp out scones evenly).

Place the scones on the lined baking sheet. Before baking, whisk the egg with a little milk and use a pastry brush to baste the top of each scone.

Bake at 220 degrees for 12-15 minutes depending on size, until risen and nicely golden on top (reduce oven temperature to 180 degrees after 10 minutes if the scones are getting too dark on top).

Once baked, transfer to a wire rack to cool. To serve, cut in half and serve with a dollop of cream and your favourite jam.