The 34-year-old midfielder put neither a foot nor a pass wrong all night in his orchestration of a United performance which took them five points clear of Liverpool.
There was also the bonus of a goal from the flame-haired artful dodger - his 97th in the league for the Red Devils. At the other end, United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar had a largely worry-free night on his 250th Premier League appearance.
The Dutch goalkeeper's 14th consecutive clean sheet in the league took his tally without conceding a goal to 1,302 minutes putting him sixth on the all-time record list.
But the night belonged to the magnificent Scholes, who broke the deadlock in the 12th minute.
Michael Carrick drove his corner to Scholes, standing just outside the penalty area and the former England man hit a ferocious right-foot volley which squirmed out of the reach of Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and over the line.
Scholes also played his part in United's second goal on the half hour.
His perfectly judged pass found John O'Shea marauding forward on the right side of the Fulham box.
The versatile Republic of Ireland international, making his 150th Premier League start for United, prodded the ball across the area and Fulham's defenders went to sleep as Dimitar Berbatov touched his shot home from close range at the far post.
Carlos Tevez and Berbatov had further efforts disallowed for offside in the first half, but United's third goal went according to the script in the 63rd minute.
Enter stage right Wayne Rooney, returning after five weeks out with a hamstring injury to replace Berbatov after 61 minutes.
Patrice Evra's cross from the left found Ji-Sung Park on the far side of the Fulham penalty area. Park's attempted shot proved the perfect cross for Rooney, who with his first touch lifted the ball left-footed into the net from four yards at the far post.
Fulham failed to get an effort on target, although Bobby Zamora twice went close to ending van der Sar's record bid.