When I lived in London I fell in love with tea time. I think that eating tarts, sweets and sandwiches in the middle of the afternoon is just genius. I’ve eaten a lot of scones and this recipe for raisin scones is my favourite because it’s crumbly (like a scone should be) and yet it’s moist inside. Also I love the sweetness from the raisins but they’re completely optional.
If you like the classic, slightly sweet scones maybe you would also like my orange and cranberry scones or my lemon and poppy seed scones. My favourite way of having these scones is with a bit of butter and a drizzle of honey. I’m addicted to the combo! Of course it deserves also a cup of tea on the side and hopefully a rainy day too.
A good scone has that division at the center that you see in the photo, That makes it so that you don’t need a knife to open them; you can just pull them apart. This division happens because the dough is flaky and so it breaks when the baking powder does its thing. If you want to see a video on how to make them you can check this one out:
For me scones are the perfect bread to make for a breakfast gathering. You can have the dough ready the night before and then in the morning you just stretch it out and bake. They’re really easy to make and there’s no way that your guests won’t like them.
Ingredients
- 500 g all purpose flour
- 80 g sugar
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 160 g unsalted butter cold and cut in cubes
- 70 g raisins
- 240 ml milk you can use skimmed
Instructions
- Hydrate the raisins in boiling water for 10min. After that time remove the water and pat dry the raisins.
- Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl. Pinch the butter with your fingers mixing it with the rest of the ingredients until you get a texture that looks like wet sand and there are no large lumps of butter. If you feel that your hands are always really warm you might want to hold an ice cube for a while before you do this. This step can also be done in a food processor.
- Add the milk and mix in using a spatula until it doesn’t help anymore. Finish to incorporate the ingredients by mixing with your hands.
- Add the raisins and make sure they’re nicely mixed by using your hands. Don’t knead, though! We’re just making sure everything is incorporated. If you knead it will turn tough.
- Wrap in cling film (flatten out the dough, don’t make a ball) and place in the fridge for 30min.
- Take it out and roll it out on a floured surface until it’s 2cm or 3/4in thick.
- Cut them however you like: triangles, circles, hearts, etc. When you’re bringing the scraps of dough together to stretch it again make sure you mix it nicely. This dough is quite flaky so it’s a bit stubborn when you’re trying to mix it and wants to divide up again.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180C / 350F on a baking tray with baking paper or silpat for 20-30min or until golden.
