Irish Scones

    
     My Irish ancestors would be proud, these sugary, light scones baked wonderfully in my 10 inch dutch oven.  I don't think I will ever bake them in my conventional oven again. The butter needs to be ice cold and it helps to slice it into small cubes before cutting it into the flour mixture.  The batter is quite wet, I dusted the counter with flour then patted it out before cutting it with a biscuit cutter.  Just a tip, dip your cutter into a little flour to keep the batter from sticking.  You could also drop them by large spoonfuls into your oven.  To raise the temperature quickly I encircled the bottom of the oven with 10 coals then covered the lid with as many as it would possibly hold, roughly 28 coals.  They tops were crispy and golden in 20 minutes, I would suggest giving them a peek after 15 minutes to make sure they aren't browning too quickly. This recipe is from the Kerrygold website, it comes from Mary Burns, a dairy farmer in County Cork, Ireland.  The recipe makes 6 good sized scones, make sure you have plenty of your favorite jam or marmalade on hand to serve with them and thank you Mary for sharing this excellent recipe!

Irish Scones
1 3/4 cups (about 8 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling over tops
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) cold butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup whole milk
1 large egg, plus additional beaten egg for brushing over tops

     Spray or line 10 or 12 inch dutch oven with parchment paper. 
     Sift together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt into large bowl.  Using fingertips or pastry blender, rub or cut butter into flour mixture to form coarse crumbs.  Add raisins. 
     Whisk together milk and 1 egg.  Make a well in the flour mixture; pour in milk mixture.  Using fork, stir just until soft, moist dough is formed.
     Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; gently knead 1 or 2 times to incorporate loose pieces of dough.  (Do not over knead.)  Pat dough to 1 1/2 inch thickness.  Using well-floured 2 1/2 biscuit cutter or bottom of a glass, cut out about 6 rounds, recombining scraps as necessary.  Place rounds on lightly buttered baking sheet.  Brush tops with additional beaten egg; sprinkle with additional sugar. 
     Bake in dutch oven at 425 degrees until brown and golden, about 18-20 minutes, rotating lid halfway.

Brush scones with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar

Light and golden after 20 minutes

Slather on some butter and your favorite jam, pure heaven