In my mind there's nothing better than a warm scone with butter alongside good cup of Irish tea. So simple, but so delicious too.
Irish Scones vs American Scones
Being Irish, I grew up eating a lot of scones. The Irish love scones. Traditional buttermilk scones, raisin or currant scones, brown scones. All the scones. Our scones are a little different to the American variety, though. They tend to be more buttery, more crumbly and not as dry. They're probably closer to an American biscuit than an American scone. We also don't have as much variety in flavors. We tend to mostly stick to the three aforementioned ones! Isn't that funny?
If you're American and you've never been a fan of scones, you've got to give these a try. My husband despised scones until he tried mine, and now they are one of his all-time favorite mid-morning treats.
Scones are a simple and quick recipe
Scones are also a great recipe to whip up if you're having guests over. The mixture is quick to make and mostly has pantry staple ingredients. If you don't happen to have golden raisins on hand, you can just leave the out and make traditional plain Irish scones instead. You can also use raisins or another dried fruit like cranberries with some orange zest added for flavor. However, the golden raisins, (or sultanas as we call them in Ireland) are plump, sweet and juicy, and really the perfect addition to these scones.
Best Served...
Irish scones are best served warm with butter. If I'm feeling a bit fancy, I'll use my favorite orange butter, but regular butter is great too. You can eat them cold, too, or pop them in the microwave or toaster oven for a few seconds to warm them up again the next day. I wish I could tell you how long they will keep fresh, but we've alway eaten all them within 2 days! I'm sure they will be fine for another day or so past that, as long as they are kept in an airtight container, not in the fridge.
Other Irish Recipes
- Irish Shepherd's Pie
- Irish Beef Stew
- Irish Potato and Leek Soup
- Irish Vegetable Soup
- Irish Soda Bread
- Irish Brown Bread
Irish Raisin Scones
Ingredients
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- generous pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 10 oz butter
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup golden raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
- With your hands, rub the butter into the flour until it resembled course breadcrumbs.
- With a whisk or fork, mix the egg into the milk.
- Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Slowly add the milk until you have a soft dough. It should just come together and you should be able to handle it without it being really sticky.
- Place the dough on a floured surface and knead a couple of times just to remove any cracks. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour.
- Roll out to around 1½ - 2 inches thick. Cut into circles with a round cookie cutter or a glass dipped in flour.
- Place on a floured/buttered baking sheet (or use parchment paper). You should get about 16 scones.
- Brush each scone with milk to help brown the tops when baked. Optionally, you can also sprinkle some granulated sugar on top.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the scones are lightly golden on top.
- Best served immediately but can be warmed the following day or eaten cold.
Janelle
I made these tonight for St. Paddy's Day and they were delicious! However, I realized too late (two small kids kept interrupting me haha) that there's no mention of when to add the raisins. I added some in, but it was late in the game and I didn't want to overwork the dough.
Jenna Shaughnessy
Oops thanks for pointing that out! I usually throw them in right at the end and just knead them in!!