Description
Irish scones are easy to make, and even easier to eat. Spread them with plenty of Irish butter and jam, and serve them with hot tea for the ultimate Irish experience.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (300 grams) all purpose unbleached flour
- 1 1/2 cups (170 grams) white whole wheat flour (see notes)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes – chilled (see notes)
- optional: 1/2 cup raisins, or currents (see notes)
Wet ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup milk (I used skim milk, you can use any kind you like)
- 1 large egg
Egg Wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tablespoons milk
Options for serving
- Room temp salted butter
- Jam, or fruit preserves of choice
- optional: homemade whipped cream
Instructions
- Prepare – Cube the 1/2 cup butter, and place it back in the fridge while you prepare everything else. Note: if your kitchen happens to be on the warmer side, I suggest putting the butter in the freezer. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees farenheit. Line two medium baking pans with parchment paper – set aside.
- Mix together the dry ingredients – To a large mixing bowl add the all purpose flour, and white whole wheat flour, along with the kosher salt, baking soda, baking powder, and granulated sugar and stir to combine.
- Cut the butter into the flour – Add the cold cubes of butter to the flour mixture, gently toss them into the flour so they are nice and coated. Use your clean fingers to press the butter into the flour, working through each piece of butter until they resemble the size of chickpeas. Or, you can use a pastry cutter, if you prefer. Create a well in the middle of the bowl.
- Add the raisins (if using) – At this point, toss the raisins into the flour mixture, if using.
- Add the wet ingredients – Add the egg to the liquid measuring cup with the milk in it. Whisk until very well combined. Pour the liquid into the well of the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula, or a Danish dough whisk (highly recommend) to mix everything together until a shaggy dough forms. knead the dough a few times with the palm of your hand.
- Roll out the dough – Turn the dough out onto a clean, floured work surface. Lightly flour your rolling pin. Roll the dough out one time, then fold in half, roll out a two times, then fold in half again, and roll out the dough into an even 1 inch thickness. The folding process helps the dough to come together, and to make the scones extra flaky.
- Cut out the scones – Flour a 2 1/2 to 3 inch circle pastry cutter, and use it to cut out as many scones as you can. You should get about 4 scones. Note: a scalloped edge is very common with Irish scones, however, a round edge works fine too. Transfer each scone to the prepared baking sheet. After the first 4 scones are cut out, you can re-roll the dough a little and get about 4 to 5 more scones. Keep in mind, these re-rolled scones are never as good as the first ones, but they are still worth baking.
- Brush the scones with egg wash – Arrange the scones on the two baking sheets, I put 5 on each baking sheet. They won’t spread a lot, but allowing more air to circulate between them helps with browning. In the same liquid measuring cup that was originally used to measure out the milk, add the 1 egg yolk, and the 3 tablespoons of milk – whisk to combine well. Use a pastry brush to generously brush the tops of each scone – avoiding the sides of the scone.
- Bake the scones – Bake the scones in the preheated oven for 15 to 22 minutes, or until they are golden brown on the tops and bottoms. They should also seem dry to the touch. Note: I do recommend baking each tray of scones one at a time, they brown better. However, if you want to bake them at the same time, then swap the trays half way through the baking time. You may also need to increase the baking time just a little bit.
- Cool the scones – Allow the scones to cool on the baking pan, on top of a cooling rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes you can transfer them to the cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
- Serve – You can serve the scones slightly warm, after about 10 to 15 minutes of cooling time – very good. Or, you can wait until they are room temp to serve them, also very good. Serve with plenty of salted Irish butter, and your favorite flavors of jam/fruit preserves for spreading on top. Scones tend to be on the dryer side, and are meant to be a vehicle for lots of butter and jam. So good! They are also great served with tea, or coffee!
- Store – Although, the scones are at their best the first day, they are still very good for up to 3 days when stored correctly. Store the cooled scones in an air tight container that is lined with paper towels. You can stack the scones, just make sure to place a layer of paper towel between to absorb any moisture. Store at room temp.
Notes
white whole wheat flour – I like the nutty flavor, and hearty texture the white whole wheat flour provides. You can easily swap it for more all purpose flour if you prefer.
unsalted butter – I highly recommend using an Irish butter, if you can find it. Kerrygold is my favorite. It has a higher butterfat content than American butter, which will make the scones taste extra good. The next best option would be another European style butter, which will contain more fat than American butter.
raisins vs currents – In Ireland currents are these tart, plump delicious little berries that I enjoyed in so many things while I was living there. However, I can’t find the same type of currents in America – they are pretty flavorless. Raisins are the next best option, IMO. It is pretty traditional to use raisins or currents in Irish scones. However, you can easily leave them out if you prefer.
Whipped cream, for serving – from my research, I found that it is common to serve Irish scones with whipped cream along with the butter and jam. I never had scones this way in Ireland, so I stuck with the butter and jam for my serving options. However, if you want whipped cream, be sure to check out my whipped cream recipe!
Gluten free option – Simply swap both the white whole wheat flour and the all purpose flour with an all purpose gluten free flour mix. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking flour, and it worked great. I did have to add a little bit more milk to the dough because it seemed dry, but other than that making the gluten free scones was the same process as making the non-gluten free versions. And, the gluten free Irish scones turned out great. They were a little bit more crumbly than the regular scones, but overall, they had a great flavor and texture. My gluten free eating parents got to try them, and they loved them!
This recipe was adapted from Irish Food & Cooking: Traditional Irish Cuisine with over 150 delicious step-by-step recipes from the Emerald Isle by: Biddy White Lennon and Georgina Campbell. I have been using this cookbook for years, I love it! It is also adapted from Donal Skehan’s recipe for Traditional Irish scones – another great source for Irish food!!!
