Yesterday, I wrote a post about my new friends Emma and Pat, owners of Oak Forest Mills. Emma and Pat grow and mill a few kinds of wheat here in Ireland (spelt, barley and einkorn). They were gracious enough to gift me a 5-kilo bag of their spelt flour. It’s gorgeous stuff and I decided to make scones with the flour. Here’s the recipe, get yourself a bag of spelt, and give it a go, I’m pretty sure even if you don’t have Irish spelt, some good old fashioned (and it really is an ancient grain) variety, it’ll be delish.
These spelt scones are:
- a snap to put together
- no special equipment necessary
- have a nutty, nutritious flavour (okay, I am in Ireland, hence the spelling:)
Irish Scones with Spelt Flour
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 12-15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 scones 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Irish
Description
Spelt flour is wonderful for these scones, but if you only have white and whole wheat, use a mixture of the two, and increase the brown sugar to three tablespoons. This will help off-set the bitterness in the whole wheat. Enjoy these scones with lightly whipped cream, butter or some lovely jam.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 (450g) cups organic spelt flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (affiliate link)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 oz. butter, cold and cut in small cubes
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk, cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper (affiliate link).
- In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and brown sugar) and mix well to combine.
- Using a food processor (affiliate link), pastry cutter or your fingers, blend the butter into the flour until if looks like sand with some pebbles (small chunks of butter).
- Add all but 1/2 cup of the buttermilk and combine with hands, adding more buttermilk if needed (be sure to get all the dry bits at the bottom of the bowl).
- Pour onto a floured surface and gently knead until the whole mixture comes together in a large mass. Do not overmix, this dough is very soft you only need to make it cohesive.
- Using your hands, press out into a circle about 1″ thick (it’s the height that matters at this point, not the circumference of the circle).
- Using a 3″ biscuit cutter, flour the cutter and (without wiggling the dough) cut as many circles as you can (probably around 4).
- Combine remaining dough and press out for the remainding two scones.
- Place scones on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and serve right away or cool on a wire rack (so they won’t get soggy).
Enjoy with some Grandma’s Gourmet jams, lovely!
Will you please come home and make them for me?? 🤭
Soon, baby doll!
Can’t wait to try this. I’ve never used spelt before but if you recommend it, I know it will be tasty. Yum!
Try to get local organic if you can. And maybe half and half to start. Good butter makes a world of difference too! xo
Wow, even though I’ve just consumed a healthy bowl of oats for breakfast, now I’m really jonesing for a scone, with a side of marmalade and clotted cream!!!
Scones can be healthy too! All food is healthy! xo
Can I just use milk instead of buttermilk?
Hi! Great question. You can create buttermilk by adding one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice or vinegar to one cup of milk. But yes, you can replace with milk, I’d use whole milk (not skim) if you can. Let me know how it goes! Thanks!
Thank you, I really appreciate the quick reply! One more question before the baking starts, I’m a bit confused about the amount of buttermilk written, what does 2-1 to 2 cups mean?
Hi, not sure what you are referring to? But the amount of buttermilk all depends on how thirsty your flour is. All flour is different. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk, so add 1.5 cups first, mix and if there are dry bits in the bowl add a little more until it forms a dough. Does that help? Let me know!
It means two to two and a half. 😀
Just made these scones and I’m here to tell you they are the best I’ve ever made. I used 2 and 1/2 cups of spelt and 1 cup of whole meal flour. Organic full cream Guernsey milk and two teaspoons of fresh lemon juice, as 8 had no buttermilk. They were absolute perfection. I’d always thought that spelt would have been to dense but no. You learn something every day. Thank you.
So glad you’ve explored the world of spelt flour. I really love the stuff too! It will keep longer if you store in the freezer. I take it as a huge compliment coming all the way from the UK!
Thanks for the comment, enjoy!
So I’m an American (my last name is Irish and I have Irish genes but that’s besides the point lol)
I’m wondering are these basically just biscuits? Could I make biscuits and gravy with these?
Hi Jada! Absolutely, make some biscuits and gravy. Not only will you be adding deliciousness, but extra nutrition too! You can’t go wrong with these!
Enjoy!
Lovely little recipe which will now replace my usual white self-raising flour version. Had to up the sugar level to 4 x tbsp but it was very balanced. Looked and behaved exactly like a scone with a hint of a nutty taste.
These turned out amazing! I used half spelt and the other half wholemeal flour and used 3 tbsp of brown sugar as suggested. Instead of buttermilk, I used 375 grams kefir because I had a glut on hand. I accidentally made them quite thick (1.5 inches) so poked holes in the middle with a fork (like a shortbread) to let the steam out and had to bake them for 18 minutes. It came out so soft and moist! Will definitely make again!
Terrific! So glad you enjoyed them, and so happy you make substitutions as needed. I love these scones! Thanks for the comment!
Shelagh