Irish Scones

This week I’m baking some delicious scones inspired by a magical scone my husband and I had on our trip to Ireland earlier this month.

After dropping off our stuff at our AirBnB we zombie walked our way to the nearest cafe for a scone and some espresso. This carby, subtlely sweet treat managed to revive us after twelve sleepless hours of travel and we ended up having an amazing first day in Dublin.

Throughout our adventures all over the Emerald Isle we encountered many more scones, but none could top the first one. I couldn’t find an exact copy of the magic scone, but this one is from a wonderful Irish baker and it comes pretty close. If you’d like a taste of Ireland grab a cup of Irish Breakfast Tea and get ready to bake these easy tasty treats for breakfast or an afternoon pick me up!

Start off by mixing 3 1/2 cups flour, 5 tsps baking powder, a pinch of salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl. Next cut a stick of cold salted butter into tablespoon sized chunks and then knead them into the four mixture until it resembles bread crumbs.

Then add 3/4 cup raisins to the bowl and combine. If you’re feeling creative mix in chocolate chips, dried blueberries, candied lemon rind, or whatever your heart desires.

In a small bowl mix an egg, 2 oz heavy cream, and 7 oz whole milk. I don’t buy whole milk so I just thickened up my skim milk by changing the ratio to 4 oz heavy cream and 5 oz skim milk.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and use your hands to mix until the loose dough forms. The dough should pull together in such a way that the bowl is clean of powdery bits and batter.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll out your dough to about 1/4″ thickness in a rectangular shape. This step is important if you want a nice horizontal crack running through the equator of your scone…fold it! Yes, fold the dough in half (short side pairing up with short side) and pat it down just a bit. Now you have a 1/2″ thick sheet of dough.

Cut out circular scones using a scone cutter, biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or mason jar lid.

Set on a baking sheet lined with parchment and brush the tops with a bit of milk.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes until the tops of the scones are just turning golden.

These are best served warm and fresh out of the oven! Top with Devonshire cream, lemon curd, butter, or jam.

Let me know what you think of this one and happy baking!

xoxo,

Olivia

 

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups flour
• 5 tsps baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 stick cold salted butter
• 3/4 cup dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc.)
• 1 egg
• 2 oz heavy cream
• 7 oz whole milk (see recipe if you don’t have whole)
• Milk to glaze

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix dry ingredients together.
3. Cut the butter into tbsp chunks and rub them into the dry ingredients with your hands until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add in the dried fruit. 
4. In another small bowl mix the wet ingredients. 
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and use your hand to mix until a loose dough forms. 
6. On a floured work surface roll out your dough to about 1/4″ thickness in a rectangular shape. Fold the dough in half (short side pairing up with short side) and pat it down just a bit. Now you have a 1/2″ thick sheet of dough. Cut out circular pieces using a cookie cutter or mason jar top. 
7. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly brush with milk. Bake 35 minutes until the tops are just golden.