Irish Scones

This is a delicious and easy afternoon tea recipe for homemade plain Irish Scones that rise high every time.

Best served freshly baked with butter, jam or honey, these flaky and buttery scones are sure to become a favourite!

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With St. Patrick's Day quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to share an Irish recipe for scones with you.

Since I'm not Irish and wanted to share an authentic Irish scones recipe, I followed a recipe for traditional Irish plain scones from Gemma Stafford, a professional chef from Ireland. Her recipe yields scones that rise high, are buttery, soft and flaky.

How to Make Traditional Irish Scones

These buttery scones are easy to make and after you've made them once you'll be able to whip these up in no time. This delicious scone recipe uses plain flour and simple everyday ingredients.

You also don't need any special equipment such as a food processor or electric mixer to make these plain scones.

Here's an overview of the ingredients and steps to making Irish Scones. For amounts and full instructions please see the recipe card at the end of this post.

Ingredients Overview:

• All-purpose flour
• Sugar
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Salted butter - be sure to use cold butter and cube it to make it easier to blend into the flour.
• Milk 
• Heavy cream
• Egg (one)

Steps Overview:

1. The first step in making scones is to preheat your oven and line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large 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.
3. In a small bowl, whisk milk, cream and egg together.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the flour and butter mixture. Mix lightly with your hands until the dough comes together and forms a ball.
5. Turn the ball of dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. For flaky scones avoid over kneading the dough.
6. 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.
7. 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!
8. Place the scones on the baking sheet and brush the tops with a bit of regular milk or cream.
9. Bake them in the hot oven for approximately 25 minutes or until the scones are puffed and golden.

Homemade Quick Jam

Since these scones are plain, you may want to make a little homemade jam to serve with them. You can make a small batch of homemade jam by cooking up about 2 cups of berries. I used a mixture of frozen strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.

To make the jam, 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, but is not essential.

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 glass jar and refrigerate.

If you enjoy making small batches of jam, check out this recipe for Plum Jam. It's one of my favourites!

How to Serve

The best way to serve these fluffy scones is while they are still warm from the oven. Serve these scones for afternoon tea, for breakfast or for brunch with some soft butter, jam or honey. And if you want to be extra decadent, some whipped cream. And, of course, don't forget the cup of tea!

How to Store

If you have any leftover scones, you can store them in an airtight container or zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight and then warm in the oven.

For more Irish inspired recipes, check out the recipes for this Irish Soda Bread with Dill and this decadent Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake.

Enjoy!

More Delicious Afternoon Tea Ideas

• Blackberry Scones
• Blueberry and Lemon Scones
• Pear, Date and Walnut Loaf
• Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake
• Lemon Zucchini Walnut Loaf

This post was originally published on March 3, 2019. It has been updated.