This is an easy afternoon tea recipe for homemade Irish Scones that rise high every time. Best served freshly baked with butter, jam or honey, these flaky and buttery scones are sure to go quickly.
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With St. Patrick’s Day quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to share an Irish recipe with you. Since I love baking and have a weakness for delicious baked goods, Irish Scones were on the top of my list.
About these Irish Scones
Since I’m not Irish and wanted to share an authentic Irish recipe for scones, I followed a recipe for traditional Irish scones from Gemma Stafford, a professional chef from Ireland. You can find the original recipe for her scones here. Her recipe is easy to make and after you’ve made them once you’ll be able to whip these up in no time. Her recipe yields scones that rise high, are buttery, soft and flaky. She uses only simple ingredients such as plain flour (same as all-purpose flour), butter, milk, cream, a bit of sugar, baking powder and a pinch of salt to make her scones.
How to Make Traditional Irish Scones
The first step in making scones is to preheat your oven and line your baking sheet. Then combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the cold butter (if you can get your hands on Irish butter that’s even better) and work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, cream and milk together and add it to the flour and butter mixture. Mix lightly with your hands until the dough comes together and forms a ball. Turn the ball of dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. For flaky scones don’t over knead the dough.
Next, cut the scones into rounds. You could use a biscuit or cookie cutter or even a small glass will work, but I prefer a cutter since you can press down on the scone to release it from the cutter. To make scones that bake straight up, avoid twisting the cutter when cutting the scones, press down and then back up without turning the cutter around the scone. That being said, mine don’t always come out looking perfect, but they always taste amazing! Place the scones on the baking sheet and brush the tops with a bit of milk or cream. And that’s it, now all you have to do is put them in the oven!
Homemade Quick Jam
If you want to make a little homemade jam to go with your scones, you can make a small batch by cooking up about 2 cups of berries (I used a mixture of frozen strawberries, blueberries and blackberries). All you have to do is bring two cups of frozen berries, 1/4 cup of sugar and about one teaspoon of lemon juice to a simmer (I like to include a bit of lemon zest, it makes the jam taste extra delicious). Let the mixture simmer, stirring often, until the fruit softens, I like to use a potato masher to mash the fruit a bit more. Continue to let the jam simmer until it coats the back of a spoon. Take it off the heat, let it cool completely and serve. If not serving right away store the jam in a jar in the refrigerator.
What to serve with scones
Serve these scones still warm from the oven for afternoon tea or for breakfast or brunch with some soft butter, jam or honey. And if you want to be extra decadent, some whipped cream. And don’t forget the cup of tea! If you have any leftover scones, you can store them in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator and then warm in the oven. Enjoy!
More Delicious Afternoon Tea Ideas
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter cold, salted
- 2/3 cup milk I used 2%
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 egg large
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream to brush scone tops before baking
Instructions
- Place a rack in the centre of your oven and preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- Combine the milk and cream in a small bowl and whisk the egg into the cream mixture.
- Add cold butter to the flour mixture and using your fingers work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the combined cream and milk into the flour and mix lightly until the dough forms a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough just enough to get a smooth surface. Using a round cutter, cut as many scones as you can. Re-roll the scraps and cut out more until you’ve used all the dough.
- Transfer scones to lined baking sheet. Brush tops with milk or cream.
Optional: Sprinkle a touch of granular sugar on tops - Bake for 25 minutes or until scones are puffed and golden.
- Serve warm with butter, jam and freshly whipped cream if desired.
The rise you got on these scones is perfection!
Thanks Jess! Yes, I guess 5 teaspoons of baking powder will do that!