You Asked — We Listened: The Sweet Shop Scone Recipe (At Last!)
- Traci Williams
- Dec 16, 2025
- 3 min read
If you stood in line at the Sweet Shop in Gearhart, you probably remember these scones.
We sold more than 55,000 of them during our time there — not that we were counting (okay, maybe we were). Hand-stirred, baked in small batches, and almost always sold out.
These are an occasional feature at the Teanaway Country Store and are sought after at the Swauk-Teanaway Grange Bake Sale.
What makes them unforgettable isn’t just the flavor — it is the way we serve them: split while still warm, buttered, and filled with jam or lemon curd.
Our savory versions got the same treatment, stuffed with tomato chutney and bacon, with just a hint of rosemary baked into the dough.
But here’s the real story behind them…
Where the Recipe Really Came From
We can’t take full credit for these beloved scones. When we bought the Sweet Shop in 2016, the previous owner had already created a devoted following — but she never shared the recipe.
Enter a friendly neighbor, who not only taught the recipe to that previous owner, but claimed she learned it herself growing up in Puyallup while working in a booth at the fair making those famous scones. She happily passed it along, and over thousands of batches we adapted it, refined it, and discovered a few tricks that made these extra special. We spent so many hours in the "scone zone" every morning, it became a verb: Sconing.
Today, we’re finally sharing it with you — the original Sweet Shop scone recipe, Teanaway-tested and approved.
Our Best Tips Before You Start
A few details make all the difference:
Grate and freeze the butter. We always use salted.
Use a fork to mix the dry ingredients.
Don’t overwork the dough. Bring it together gently. Kneading not needed!
Use parchment paper. Prevents scorching, ensures even bottoms.
Bake hot — 425° to 450°F - ovens vary.
Serve warm. Preferably right out of the oven.
Fill them! Butter + jam is classic; lemon curd if cooled; savory fillings for adventurers.
Sweet Shop Scones (The Real Recipe)
Ingredients
2 ½ cups flour
Scant ¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add-ins:
Berry version: ⅓ cup currants
Lemon version: Zest of 1 lemon
½ cup salted butter, grated and frozen
1 cup cold whole milk
Extra sugar for topping
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°–425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and currants or zest with a fork.
Add frozen grated butter and toss lightly to distribute.
Pour in cold milk and gently mix until just combined.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and form a short log.
Cut log in half; shape each half into a circle about 1½ inches thick.
Cut each circle into 5 wedges (yes, five — tradition!).
Place wedges on parchment-lined sheet and sprinkle generously with sugar.
Bake 13 minutes, or until golden and fragrant.
Cool 5 minutes, then split gently and add butter + jam.
For lemon curd, cool fully first.
Enjoy warm — the best way.
A Few Scone Stories
At the Sweet Shop, people adored these scones in every form and on every timeline. Some froze them regularly. Some swore the day-olds tasted even better. Contractors and workers often bought extras to tuck into their pockets for later.
At least one superstitious golfer insisted our Marionberry scones were his good-luck charm — he swore they helped him win several major tournaments and refused to tee off without one.
And occasionally, orders came in by the dozen from ambassadors and celebrities who had discovered them and wouldn’t visit Gearhart without taking a stash home. Recently we were told someone donated $100 for just two at the grange bazaar.
Great baked goods have a way of creating legends.
Coming Soon: Our No-Fail, Blender Lemon Curd
We always served the lemon scones with homemade lemon curd — and yes, we’ll be sharing our extremely easy blender recipe in an upcoming post. Stay tuned! In the meantime, we’ve do sell a great lemon curd made by Stonewall Kitchen if you want to try this recipe right away as well as jars of jam.
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