Flaky or Tender? The Best Biscuit Cookbook, Plus Scone Books

A scone and a biscuit start in almost the same place: cold fat, flour, something wet and a light hand. Most of what goes wrong with either one comes from handling the dough too much, so the books worth owning spend real time on method.

This guide gives seven books from named authors and editors at established presses. Four are about biscuits and three are about scones, because few books do both well. We have not cooked from them, and we say which picks rest on a review we read and which rest on the publisher’s details.

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Quick verdict: the best biscuit cookbook, and a scone book to pair it with

Five biscuit and scone books side by side

Five of the seven, one for each kind of baker. All seven are described in full below.

Our picks for the best biscuit cookbook and the best scone books

Scones or biscuits: which book do you actually need?

The two share a method but usually aim at different results. The biscuit books here are built around flour, butter and buttermilk, and the scone books around sweet add-ins, spreads and the tea table. Those are broad habits, not rules, and Simply Scones includes savory versions that sit close to a biscuit.

If you bake for breakfast and want something to split and fill, buy a biscuit book. If you bake for coffee, tea or a gift tin, buy a scone book. If you only want a recipe or two of each, a general book will do. Our best baking cookbook guide covers those, and the best breakfast cookbook guide has books that cover both alongside eggs and pancakes. We don’t list the same book twice across this site, so you will find different titles there.

How to choose a biscuits and scones book

Decide what you will bake most often, then check how much of the book actually covers it.

• How much of the book is on topic? Callie’s Biscuits and The Scone Queen Bakes both go well past their title food. Simply Scones, Teatime Scones and Still We Rise stay closer to home.
• Do you need to see the method? Southern Biscuits and Belinda Ellis’s Biscuits both promise step photos, and that matters more here than in most baking.
• What flour will you use? Flour makes a real difference in a tender dough. Check what a book calls for before you buy it, because we did not confirm flour advice for every title.
• Sweet or savory? Simply Scones and Still We Rise both cover savory. Tex-Mex scones and a fried chicken biscuit are not the same project, but both suit a dinner table.
• Are you hosting? Teatime Scones gives you tea menus, and Callie’s Biscuits gives you themed Southern menus.
• Is the age a problem? Simply Scones dates from 1988 and Southern Biscuits from 2011. Older books can still be right, but they may look plain next to a 2026 hardcover.

The gear is simple once you have the book: a bowl, a sheet pan and a hot oven will take you a long way. Keep your butter cold, and stop mixing sooner than feels natural.

How we chose these seven biscuit and scone books

We searched Amazon’s book listings first and kept print editions from named authors or editors at established publishers, plain in stock with a new lead offer sold by Amazon. Author, year, format and page count come from the listing. Recipe counts and descriptions come from publisher copy carried by booksellers. We have not cooked from any of these books.

Here is what stands behind each pick. Still We Rise, The Scone Queen Bakes and Callie’s Biscuits have Publishers Weekly reviews we read. Southern Biscuits, Simply Scones and Biscuits rest on the publisher and the authors. Teatime Scones rests on a bookseller’s overview and the listing.

Several books we would have liked to include showed only limited stock when we checked, including James Villas’s Biscuit Bliss, Jackie Garvin’s Biscuits and Biscuit Head by Jason and Carolyn Roy, so they are worth a look if they come back. We also left out Sarah Kieffer’s 100 Morning Treats, since it already appears on our breakfast guide.

Biscuit and scone book questions, answered

Which book has the most scone recipes?

Teatime Scones says over 90 recipes in all, and Simply Scones says more than 70 recipes for scones and spreads. The Scone Queen Bakes lists twelve kinds of scones among its 100 recipes, so it has far fewer.

Is there one book that does both biscuits and scones well?

Not among these seven. The biscuit books we chose don’t advertise scones, and the scone books don’t advertise biscuits. If you want both, buy one of each, starting with Still We Rise and The Scone Queen Bakes.

Which is best for a beginner?

Southern Biscuits and Biscuits by Belinda Ellis both promise step-by-step photos. For scones, The Scone Queen Bakes is the newest and, per Publishers Weekly, gives a clear warning about warm hands and overworked dough.

Do these books cover savory versions?

Yes, several do. Simply Scones names cheese, pesto and Tex-Mex scones, Southern Biscuits names pimento cheese, and Still We Rise has biscuit sandwiches.

Which is best as a gift?

Still We Rise or Callie’s Biscuits, because both pair recipes with stories. For a tea lover, choose Teatime Scones.

Which biscuit or scone book to buy first

Buy Still We Rise first if biscuits are the goal. Choose The Scone Queen Bakes for scones and everyday baking, Southern Biscuits for technique, Callie’s Biscuits for the whole meal, Teatime Scones for a tea party, Simply Scones for a narrow reference and Belinda Ellis’s Biscuits for the history. For wider baking, go back to our best baking cookbook guide, and for the region behind many of these books, see the best Southern cookbook guide.

And if you would rather let someone else cook tonight, see the menu or call to order.