Spotted Dog Scones (Irish)

Irish Spotted Dog is a quick and easy soda bread made with raisins or dried fruit. A quick bread is made without yeast and can be made with minimal preparation and time. These little gems are small, barely sweetened scones spotted full of raisins and currants. The texture is a lot like Irish Soda Bread. Fresh out of the oven, they are warm and perfect for pulling apart and eating with butter, honey or jam.

3⅔ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
⅔ cup golden raisins
½ cup currants
1 large egg
1 ⅔ cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C/210°C fan, Gas Mark 8). Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and the dried fruit.

In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Use one hand stretched like a claw to mix the dough and combine until all is moistened (don't try to knead it or it will be too heavy). The dough should be soft but not too wet and sticky.

Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface and bring together a little more, as needed.

Transfer the dough to the floured baking sheet and form a long, flat rectangle - about 1" high. Cut into mini scones (triangles) using a pizza cutter or a knife.

Pull each scone a little bit away from the others. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden and baked through.

Let cool a bit, then serve warm with butter and jam (re-heat as needed).

Makes 14-15 small scones.