Shouldn’t be any issues with using Diet Lemonade. The main thing you need it for is the fizz.
I love lemonade scones - although kiwis will use L&P.
Si
I tried that once, because I was interested in being able to make scones quickly but without the sugar load. It didn’t really work very well ISTR. Tasted a bit weird. Might be worth trying again, but don’t expect too much.
I know that aspartame (used in most diet drinks) is not very heat stable, so it may well break down during cooking and lose its sweetness.
You can use soda water. They obviously won’t be sweet, but I’m sure you could add something like Splenda if you specifically want sweet scones.
The recipe I used only had 1/4 cup sugar (four tablespoons) for six scones. That’s about 2 teaspoons per scone. So that recipe is pretty easy on sugar. The soda in the quick recipe probably gives more sugar, but if you use half plain seltzer and half soda you might be ok.
For a certain value of “easy on sugar”. That’s waaaay more sugar than I’d want in plain scones. They aren’t cakes. The recipe you said you used had an 1/8th of a cup of sugar for 12 scones.
Oh, wait, sorry, wrong recipe. But the one you used isn’t really a basic british scone recipe which is what you asked for. A basic british scone recipe is more like this
The one I used had 0.25 c sugar (4 tablespoons) for 8, not six. I misremembered. That’s 0.5 tablespoons, or 1.5 teaspoons per scone. That’s hardly cake or cookie sweet, don’t you think? They hardly tasted sweet to me, and I’m not a fan of sweets much at all.
This was the link I used: World's Best Scones! From Scotland to the Savoy to the U.S. Recipe
ETA: never mind. Saw your next post. Besides less sugar they seem pretty comparable. Sour cream provides some fat like butter, cream of tartar+ baking soda= baking powder. Does that recipe have a different texture or taste? I had seen that one and almost used it. Must try both!
Which is virtually the same as American biscuits, albeit less baking powder in the American version.