I truly consider bread, butter, jam, and salt my holy quadrilateral. If you put enough of any of those things in a recipe, it is going to be delicious, and this Irish soda bread scone is no exception. There is a bakery in New York that made quite a few headlines this year for its Irish soda bread scones (and the giant line that forms outside to get them). These scones are my homage to those gorgeous scones.
Is an Irish Soda Bread Scone the same as Irish Soda Bread?
Honestly, yeah. It is the exact same recipe. If you want, you can shape this into one big loaf, but I prefer individual portions (mostly, so I can add more jam and butter). If you go to an Irish bakery, you might notice that soda bread really comes in every possible form. There are loaves, wedges, and sometimes these soft, muffin-tin scones. Mary O’s version became known for its buttery tops and tender interior, baked in a tin so every piece gets a golden crust.
What Is Irish Soda Bread?
Irish soda bread is a traditional Irish quick bread made with just a few simple ingredients: flour, buttermilk, baking soda, and salt. Instead of yeast, the bread rises through a chemical reaction between the baking soda and the acidity in the buttermilk. In this recipe, we also add a bit of heavy cream, which gives the crumb a bit more moisture. The bread is known for its dense yet tender crumb, lightly tangy flavor, and crisp crust, but who doesn’t want their scone to be moister?
Over time, many versions (especially Irish-American recipes) have added ingredients like butter, sugar, or raisins. These Irish soda bread scones follow that richer variation, creating a softer, more tender bake while still keeping the spirit of soda bread.
Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day recipes?
Check out my Lucky Charms cereal bars or, for something green, my pistachio Rice Krispies or pistachio ricotta cake.
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour 500 grams
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter 74 grams, melted and cooled
- 1 cup buttermilk plus more if needed
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup raisins optional
For egg wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
For serving
- Jam or preserves I prefer strawberry, but black currant would be delicious!
- butter
- flakey salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and butter a large muffin or cupcake tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the melted and cooled butter, buttermilk, heavy cream, and egg (do not use the ingredients listed for the egg wash here, just the scone dough).
- Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients by pushing the dry ingredients away from the center. Add the whisked liquid ingredients into the middle of the well and stir with a nonstick spatula or wooden spoon to form a thick dough. It will be thick; you may have to knead it a bit with your hands to make sure there are no dry spots. If the dough does feel dry, drizzle in just a bit more buttermilk and mix again. If using raisins, add them now.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop heaping mounds of the dough into the greased muffin tin. In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and heavy cream to create the egg wash. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the raw scone dough with the wash.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. If you find temperature helpful, use an instant-read thermometer to check if the inside of the scone is cooked; it should read 185°F.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm with lots of jam, butter, and flaky salt.
So Easy and so delicious! Thank you for giving me my very first scones (that I actually baked) recipe!
This was soooo good! I made it for St. Patrick’s Day to have with Corned Beef and Cabbage. My husband absolutely loved it! Thanks for a great recipe!!!
Delicious! Followed the recipe exactly, loved it! Used my biggest scoop and filled 12 muffins, then divided the rest of the batter and added to the tops of each. Loved the crunchy tops and soft sweet centers. Amazing warm with butter and jam. Perfectly complimented our st Patrick’s day meal. Only change: we used salted butter. Next time I’ll add raisins to some and see how that goes
Sounds easy and delicious! Will be making today!!
I plan to bake this beautiful recipe. Thank u
Thanks for the recipe! Step 2 currently says to combine the “butter, buttermilk, heavy cream, and egg,” is this supposed to read “butter, buttermilk, *milk*, and egg”? The 1/3c whole milk isn’t referenced anywhere in the instructions and the heavy cream is only listed as a component of the egg wash.
These were phenomenal and so easy to make! Perfect scone for a brunch