One of our favorite culinary delights on our trip to Ireland was the delicious simplicity of fresh baked Irish breakfast scones, and they are certainly plentiful there!
Bringing the taste home is a true treat as I was able to memorize the simple ingredients and recipe steps after watching a few home chefs in action… however I have added a few of my own steps such as mixing in dried cranberries, using a pastry sheet for handling the dough, and using cast iron to bake. I hope you enjoy making this delightful treat as much as I do.
PS: If you want more farm fresh recipes, we have plenty! Visit our NOURISH section to check out what’s new in the Rural Mom kitchen. If you are into HOMESTEADING, GARDENING or looking for some fun DIY, we have that, too. And of course, there are always GIVEAWAYS (so be sure to check them out.)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
- 1/4 cup Raisins
- 1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Butter (cold)
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour and butter.
- Using a pastry cutter, cut butter into flour until fully crumbed.
- Stir in raisins and sugar.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Pour mix into flour mix and stir until a soft, wet dough is formed. (If the dough is a bit thin, add more flour by the 1/2 cup, mixing in thoroughly until dough has a firmer texture. Be careful not to add too much flour. The dough should be a soft and wet with just enough firmness to shape.)
- Transfer dough to a pre-floured pastry sheet. (Alternatively you can use any flat, clean, dry and floured surface.)
- Use a lightly floured rolling pin to gently flatten dough. (Dough should be approximately a 2-inch thickness)
- Cut scones with a round cookie cutter.
- Place cut scones onto cast iron pan or pizza pan. (Alternatively you can use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.)
- Gather remaining dough in a ball, re-flatten with rolling pin, then cut scones from dough. Repeat until entire batch of dough is cut into scones. If you have a little excess dough left, just pat it onto the top of the scones.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
- Serve warm or fully fully cooled with butter, jelly, jam, or fresh cream.
For a savory Irish scone version, check out our recipe for Cheddar Jack and Bacon Scones: https://ruralmom.com/2013/05/create-savory-irish-scones-with.html
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
1/4 cup Raisins
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
1 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Butter (cold)
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, add flour and butter.
Using a pastry cutter, cut butter into flour until fully crumbed.
Stir in raisins and sugar.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Pour mix into flour mix and stir until a soft, wet dough is formed. (If the dough is a bit thin, add more flour by the 1/2 cup, mixing in thoroughly until dough has a firmer texture. Be careful not to add too much flour. The dough should be a soft and wet with just enough firmness to shape.)
Transfer dough to a pre-floured pastry sheet. (Alternatively you can use any flat, clean, dry and floured surface.)
Use a lightly floured rolling pin to gently flatten dough. (Dough should be approximately a 2-inch thickness)
Cut scones with a round cookie cutter.
Place cut scones onto cast iron pan or pizza pan. (Alternatively you can use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.)
Gather remaining dough in a ball, re-flatten with rolling pin, then cut scones from dough. Repeat until entire batch of dough is cut into scones. If you have a little excess dough left, just pat it onto the top of the scones.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Serve warm or fully fully cooled with butter, jelly, jam, or fresh cream.
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These look yummy! I’m vegan and could use alternatives to the milk and butter. Do you think the recipe would work with egg substitutes like flax? It typically works when there isn’t a lot of egg but I’m not sure about using it for two eggs in a recipe. Thanks for sharing … this one is making my mouth water. 🙂
That’s a really good question! Not being vegan myself, hopefully I’m about to offer you good potential swaps: Soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, or coconut milk would likely work very well in place of the milk. Flax seeds would likely work as a good egg substitute, but could leave the scones a bit too dense. I would suggest mashed bananas or applesauce instead for a lighter, more moist scone. I know a quarter-cup of applesauce will be the equivalent to 1 egg and I’ve used in cupcake recipes with great results.
Hope that helps! Do let me know how they turn out.
Something must be incorrect for the amount of the flour. No way could you roll out with 2 cups of flour…too watery. I added 2 more cups of flour.
Hi Joyce, this is meant to be a wet dough. You will gently flatten it per directions to cut out your biscuits, but it’s not going to be like cutting out sugar cookies. If the dough is too wet, after following the instructions, you can certainly add a bit more flour but try not to add too much or you will have a very dense biscuit. The 2 cups flour to 1 cup milk ratio is a very common, tried and true ratio in baking Irish scones (which are a bit different than other versions of scones.) Just so you don’t think I’m off my Irish rocker, you’ll see that the experts at Kerrygold use the same formula with buttermilk (a lovely alternative) Hope this helps!
I am trying desperately since I just got back from a trip to Ireland. Mine are coming out like pancakes rather than scones. Any suggestions?
Okay, let’s try to trouble shoot this for you. Without actually being in your kitchen, I can only take guesses, so let’s see if any of this helps to start:
1) Are you using self-rising flour? This is very important. If you are using all-purpose, it will completely change the outcome of the biscuit or what the Irish call scones.
2) Is your butter hard or soft when you are cutting it into the flour? Using cold butter yields the best results.
3) After mixing all the ingredients, what is the consistency of your dough? Is it a bit watery. The dough should be soft, but firm and slightly sticky to the touch when you are rolling it out (which is why you need a floured surface for rolling.) If the dough is too liquid in consistency, you can either add more flour until it thickens or initially, add less milk when mixing. Try mixing the milk in slowly, a little at a time until you have the dough consistency you desire.
Does any of this sound like it may be the issue?
What thickness should the dough be rolled out?
Great question, Laura! Generally around 1 inch thickness is perfect. A little thicker or thinner is okay. I will definitely add this to the recipe for others as a guideline!