Irish Raisin Scones

• 3 ½ cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup ice cold butter, sliced into small cubes
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cold buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 egg, for egg wash
• 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until they are well blended.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Pour the buttermilk mixture all at once into the flour mixture, add raisins, and stir to form a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured pastry cloth or counter, sprinkle with flour, and roll it out to ¾-inch thickness. Use a ruler if needed to measure the thickness. Cut with a 2 ½-inch round biscuit cutter, but do not twist. Transfer the scones to a greased cookie sheet.

Beat the remaining egg and water in a small bowl to form an egg wash and brush it on the top of each scone. Bake 18 to 19 minutes until they are puffed and golden brown on top. Remove them from the oven, set them aside 1 minute to cool, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Serve with seedless raspberry jam and sweetened Chantilly cream.

Yield: 15 scones