Quick & Easy Food Processor Irish Soda Bread Scones

I love homemade bread, but I don’t always have the time – or patience – to wait for dough to rise for a yeast bread. This easy and delicious Irish soda bread is a quick bread recipe transformed into moist scones rich with chunks of butter. It is the perfect treat not only for St. Patrick’s Day, but for any day of the year when you want to relax with a nice cup of tea. Best of all, quick & easy food processor Irish soda bread scones are super simple and totally yummy.

Why You Should Give This Recipe a Try

Looking for an easy Irish soda bread recipe? Quick & Easy Food Processor Irish Soda Bread Scones are what you need! Just toss all of the ingredients except for the raisins in the food processor and pulse for one of the easiest bread recipes you’ll find. No food processor? No worries. Check out the Tips & Tricks for instructions.

Moist twist on a classic: Traditional Irish soda bread can be really dry, but these scones are very moist thanks to plenty of buttermilk. Don’t have real buttermilk? No worries. There is a super easy substitute.

Just the right touch of sweetness: Three tablespoons of brown sugar means these are less sweet than traditional scones, but delicious nonetheless!

Recipe Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter

3 tbsp brown sugar

​3/4 cup buttermilk (light buttermilk is fine)

1 large egg

1/2 cup raisins

4 tbsp heavy cream

sparkling sugar (optional)

Ingredient Notes

Cold butter is key! You want to small chunks of butter in your scones, so make sure your butter is straight out of the fridge. A half an hour in the freezer works well also.

Buttermilk gives the scones a little tangy kick. I use light buttermilk which is normally available in the supermarket around St. Patrick’s Day. Can’t find real buttermilk? Check out the Tips & Tricks below for a way to make a substitute.

The dough will be really sticky, so be sure to have some extra flour on hand for dusting your work surface.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and brown sugar in a large bowl.

2. Cube the cold butter. Try not to touch it with your fingers as that will warm it up.

3. Pour the dry ingredients and the cubed butter into your prepared food processor.

4. Pulse about ten times. Your butter will look like dots. NOTE: Never put your fingers into a food processor to check on the ingredients.

5. Add the buttermilk and egg to the butter and flour mixture.

6. Pulse until the wet and dry ingredients are just mixed. Do not over mix.

7. Dust a work surface, and your hands, with flour.

8. Pour the dough out onto the lightly floured surface. It is very sticky!

9. Add the raisins to the top of the dough.

10. Knead the dough about ten times until the raisins are incorporated.

11. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

12. Form the dough into a round loaf and carefully transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.

13. To form the scones, cut through vertically and horizontally the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. You can also use a bench scraper or a pizza wheel. 

14. Cut each quarter loaf in half to form 8 scones.

15. Spread out the scones on the parchment paper.

16. Place the baking sheet into the fridge for about 30 minutes.

17. Near the end of the chilling time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

18. Remove the chilled scones from the fridge and brush the top and sides of each one with a bit of heavy cream.

19. Sprinkle a bit of sparkling sugar on top of each scone. This step is totally optional!

20. Bake for 24-28 minutes until golden brown.

21. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Check out the printable recipe card below.

Storage

Store the cooled scones in an airtight container (I use a Ziploc bag), aluminum foil, or plastic wrap. The scones should remain fresh for 2-3 days. Enjoying your scones the next day? You can pop them into the microwave for a few seconds before serving.

Tips & Tricks

Buttermilk is usually easy to find around St. Patrick’s Day, but if you can’t find it – or don’t want to head to the supermarket – you can totally make your own. Essentially, you are creating a sort of sour milk, but not the kind that will make you sick. To create your buttermilk substitute, pour one tablespoon of white vinegar into a measuring cup. No vinegar? You can use one tablespoon of lemon juice instead. Top with enough milk to have one cup. Whole milk is always best, but I generally only have 1% on hand and that is acceptable as well. Stir the milk and the vinegar and let it sit for five minutes. You will use 3/4 cup in this recipe.

A food processor is my preferred way of making pie crust, biscuits, and these scones, but if you don’t have one, you can certainly do the work by hand. In this case, you will add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture in a large mixing bowl. Slowly work the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter. You can use two forks if you don’t have a pastry cutter, but do not use your hands as that will melt the butter. Add the ingredients up through the egg and stir with a wooden spoon. The addition of raisins will take place as before, that is, once you pour the dough onto your floured surface. 

FAQs

Can I bake these without chilling them?

The scones look small when you first shape them on the baking sheet but they spread out quite a bit. Chilling keeps the spreading a bit more controlled. 

Can I flavor my scones?

You can add orange zest from one orange. Add it into the food processor with the buttermilk and other ingredients.

How do you serve scones?

Serve warm as is or cut open and spread with butter and or jam.

​Looking for other St. Patrick’s Day treats? Try my recipes for Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Baileys Buttercream, Irish Nachos, or Shepherd’s Pie .