Oh these scones. I’ve been making them since the 90s and had perfected them even back then but after three or four moves in the space of a few years, I couldn’t find my recipe and had been searching for them relentlessly. Every other recipe I tried paled in comparison so I was resigned to never tasting these again until one day while flipping through another cookbook, I found my original recipe tucked into one of the pages. I certainly think it was the luck of the Irish in finding it so I’ve created a soda bread version in honor of St. Patrick’s Day!
My basic scone recipe can be made as is without the addition of caraway and raisins (traditional in soda bread) and I always used to make them simply with nuts as I have a raisin adverse partner but this is an especially tasty version. Caraway is a seed used mostly in rye bread and although I enjoy the flavor, I don’t enjoy crunching on them or getting them stuck in my teeth. I used ground caraway but you can also grind whole seeds in a small processor or by using a mortar and pestle or simply leave them out.
Good ingredients are key in any recipe but especially important here. Use a good dense vegan butter here. One in stick form is usually indicative of a dense variety and you’ll need one stick plus two tablespoons. Also, keep the butter cold. It’s essential when making a biscuit or scone to keep it very cold so clumps of butter remain in the dough before baking.
A note about vegan buttermilk. Buttermilk is usually very thick and a bit acidic so I use a vegan heavy cream or half and half to make mine by adding some lemon juice but you can use a fatty plain vegan milk as well. Oat would probably be ideal.
These need to be super cold before baking so they need to freeze for at least two hours or preferably overnight. I brushed mine with more vegan cream and sprinkled with sugar before baking for a crunchy crust. I hope you enjoy these! I will definitely be making different varieties of these and posting so stay tuned!
Vegan Irish Soda Bread Oat Scones
8
servings30
minutes30
minutesThese are the best vegan scones ever. You can customize these and make them any way you’d like!
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup vegan granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
10 ounces vegan butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2/3 cup vegan cream, milk or half and half
1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar
1/3 cup raisins or currants
1 tablespoon vegan cream (for brushing the tops, optional)
sugar for sanding the tops, optional
Directions
- Mix the lemon juice into the vegan cream or milk and set aside to thicken. Using a stand mixer or food processor, combine all the dry ingredients and whisk or pulse to combine. If using a food processor, you can add the oats with the buttermilk so they’re not finely chopped. Add the cold vegan butter and mix or pulse until small pea sized pieces of butter remain and it resembles a coarse meal. Add the buttermilk mixture (and oats if using a processor) and raisins and mix until just combined. Tumble out into a clean counter or a large piece of parchment and using your hands gather the dough together. Don’t knead it but make sure it’s all moistened and clumped together.
- Pat the dough into a rough 16×3.5 inch rectangle that’s about 1.5 inches high. Cut the rectangle in half then cut each half into 4 triangles.
- Wrap the dough well and freeze for at least two hours or preferably overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Remove dough from the freezer, and leave scones 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with vegan cream or milk then sprinkle with vegan sugar. Bake until golden brown for approximately 30 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes then enjoy!
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