Authentic Irish scone recipe

This recipe is quick, easy, and totally customizable. Just don't forget the jam and butter!

Let’s talk about scones. They’re delicious, pillowy, and, quite honestly, they’re pretty much a dietary staple in Ireland. That's because we do things a little differently on the other side of the pond. 

While scones in the US usually take on a triangular shape and are coated in crystallized sugar, the ones in Ireland and the UK are round and a lot less sweet. We serve them with butter, jam, and sometimes cream too. Currants and raisins are the main fillings, but we dabble with berries too. Brown scones, masked as healthy but equally delicious, are made with coarse Irish wholemeal flour. There’s usually no chocolate to be seen, and do not go near an Irish mammy with a can of pumpkin.

I previously shared this recipe when I worked at IrishStar.com, but I thought I’d share it again with a few updates. I’m still trying to master getting the rise right without self raising flour, but we’ll get there eventually. This easy recipe was shared by my lovely aunt Annette in West Cork, who I go to with all my Irish bread needs. I usually make plain scones and add lemon zest and blueberries to half the batch. Raisins are the classic favorite, but I love raspberries too. 

Use self raising flour if you’re in Ireland and nix and the raising agents. You can also cut down the sugar if you don’t like your scones overly sweet. I’m a walking cavity, so sometimes I even up it. 

If you don’t have buttermilk, simply squeeze a big tablespoon of lemon juice into whole milk and let it sit for five to 10 minutes to thicken. Stick your dough in the fridge if you forget to do this before you start. You want to make sure all your ingredients are as cold as they can be at all times so that the little dots of butter in the scone mix create air pockets during baking, leading to a pillowy texture.

Keep everything into the fridge right before you use it. Frozen, grated butter works great too, but I never think that far ahead.

Ingredients

• 350g flour 

• ½ teaspoon of salt 

• 4 ½ teaspoons of baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon of baking soda

• 80g sugar

• 75g of Kerrygold butter 

• 2 eggs 

• 200ml buttermilk 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/425F and line a big baking tray with parchment paper. Place it in the oven to heat up (this will kick the raising agents into action sooner). 

2. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar into a big bowl. Whisk together.

3. Cut your butter into small cubes and rub them into the flour with your hands until the dough resembles fine crumbs. 

4. Add in any fruits or toppings you want to incorporate. I like using a cup of blueberries and the zest of a full lemon. Mix together with your hands and make a well in the center. 

5. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk with one egg. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients and slowly stir everything together using your hand (no wooden spoons around these parts!). 

6. Once it’s just incorporated - don’t overmix - stick the bowl in the fridge for about five to ten minutes to cool everything down again. 

7. Dump the dough onto a heavy floured surface and put some flour on your hands. Lightly pat down the dough into a round about an inch thick. I’ve been keeping my scones on the thicker side since moving to the US because they’ve been turning out quite flat. 

8. Stick your stamper or the top of a small glass into the flour and stamp out your scones, gathering any trimmings back together as you go. Transfer them to the hot tray.

9. Whisk the other egg into a small bowl and use it to brush the tops of the scones. 

10. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack and serve with lots of jam and Kerrygold!