Irish soda bread is a traditional treat in the United States often baked at St. Patrick’s Day, however these Irish Soda Bread Scones are such a tasty twist on this traditional recipe, you will want to enjoy them all year! This scone recipe creates delicate, soft scones with pops of fruit flavor. Orange zest and raisins perfectly spice the soft, flaky scones.
This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. For additional information, please view the site Disclaimers here.
Irish soda bread is a type of quick bread that does not require yeast to rise. Baking soda when combined with buttermilk creates tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide, causing the bread to rise. Traditional soda bread includes raisins and caraway seeds. This recipe contains orange zest, which brightens the scones and is a perfect compliment to the raisins.
Scones are so flaky and crumbly! Tiny pockets of butter heat while baking, releasing steam and creating a fluffy, crumbly texture. Buttermilk helps create a rich and dense crumb. Crisp sweet outside, tender and soft inside.
Scones are a simple recipe to make, success really comes from the technique! Perfect scones are easy to achieve, with a little effort and the right tips!
Ingredients!
Cold butter is key to the proper texture for your scones. Use cold butter, or even frozen and do not skip on the step to chill the flour and butter mixture prior to adding the buttermilk. These tiny chilled pockets of butter are what helps create that perfect scone texture. For added measure, you can even chill your scones once shaped and placed on the baking sheet.
Buttermilk is the key to your scones rising to puffy goodness! The acidic qualities of buttermilk helps to tenderize the gluten in the flour, creating a softer texture and better body.
Use aluminum-free baking powder to prevent a metal taste in your scones! If you do not have this, you can create a substitute using a 2:1:1 ratio of cream of tartar, baking soda, and cornstarch, respectively.
Orange zest is my secret ingredient in this recipe! Not overpowering but just the perfect marriage with the sweet raisins.
The Right Tools!
Scones take a little elbow grease and having the right kitchen tools will make the job easier. A pastry cutter makes cutting the butter into the flour mixture a breeze. Using a fork will be exhausting! It is hard to know when the butter is properly incorporated into the flour mixture. I look for there to be no large lumps of butter remaining and the flour mixture to resemble course meal.
A trick to tender, fluffy scones is to not over mix the dough. Overworking the dough will result in more dense and tough scones. Kneading too much will result in the butter melting into the dough and alter the texture of the finished scone. To prevent this, I love my dough whisk! This cool tool will bring together all of the ingredients quickly and without too much mixing or kneading! Don’t fret if you don’t have one, a wooden spoon will do the trick!
When cutting the scones, press the biscuit cutter firmly down without any twisting action. This will ensure the scones rise evenly.
The easiest mistake to make when baking scones is allowing the ingredients to get too warm. For the flakiest scones, really cold ingredients are necessary. Allowing the butter to reach room temperature will adversely affect the texture of the scones. For best results, chill throughout the preparation process, after cutting in the butter and again after shaping the scones.
Baking scones in a hot oven will give the best rise and lightest crumb. Some recipes recommend a temperature of 450 degrees Fahrenheit, however I have found the bottoms are too done for my taste. I recommend preheating the oven to 400 degrees and then increasing to 425 once the scones are put in the oven for a good blast of heat.
Big fan of breakfast food? Check out my recipe for the most delicious Braided Jam & Cheese Bread!
The Perfect Topping
Scones are best served warm, slathered with butter and jam! My favorite however is a generous dollop of clotted cream. So delicious, the creaminess of the clotted cream on the warm scone pulls together all of the flavors perfectly.
Irish Soda Bread Scones
Ingredients
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- ⅓ Cup Sugar
- 1 TBSP Baking Powder Aluminum Free
- ½ TSP Baking Soda
- ¾ TSP Kosher Salt
- 4 TBSP Butter Cold, cut into ½ inch cubes
- ¾ Cup Buttermilk
- 1 Large Egg
- ⅓ Cup Raisins Packed
- 1 TBSP Orange Zest
Egg Wash
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 TSP Butter Milk
- 2 TBSP Course Sugar
Instructions
- Move the baking rack to upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk together.
- Cut cold butter into ½ inch cubes. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are no remaining large chunks of butter and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Place in freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
- While this chills, in a large measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Zest the orange and toss orange zest and raisins in a teaspoon of flour until lightly coated. Set both aside.
- Prepare the egg wash, beating together an egg and the buttermilk in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Remove flour mixture from the freezer. Add raisins and orange zest in and mix.
- Create a small well in the flour mixture and slowly pour the buttermilk and egg into the well. Using a dough whisk or wooden spoon, mix the dough together until just combined.
- On a floured surface, knead the dough about 5 times folding it over itself, until it comes together. Do not over-knead.
- Flatten out the dough to about ¾ inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out scones by pushing firmly down without a twisting action.
- Space scones evenly on prepared baking sheet and generously brush with egg wash. Sprinkle tops with sugar.
- Once scones are placed in the oven, immediately increase the temperature to 425°F. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the tops are a golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool briefly. Serve warm with butter and jam or clotted cream.
Live fully. Eat well. Bake scones.
