Sunday Breakfast: Irish Scones

April 10, 2016john barry

Hi. My name is Michelle and I am married to Paul Barry, son of Paddy and Linda Barry who opened the Irish Boutique and Paddy's on the Square in Long Grove about 40 years ago. My husband's brother John, my brother-in-law and uncle extraordinaire to our two (plus one due in June) children now manages the three family stores in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. Today we are blogging about Irish Scones and baking with kids. You can find all of the products we are using today at the Irish Boutique in Long Grove and Crystal Lake.

Yesterday we took a trip to the Irish Boutique (AKA "Ireland" or "Uncle John's House", according to my three-year old son Emmett) and picked up this scone mix. Perfect for breakfast on a cold day in April that feels more like a winter morning than a spring one.

Emmett was excited about being the chef. Once we washed our hands and put on his apron we were more than ready to get started.

The beauty of making these scones is that there' s not too much preparation to take care of before you get to the fun part of kneading, shaping and baking. Just pour 3/4 cup water in the biggest bowl you can find (if you happen to be doing this with a three-year old, otherwise any bowl will do) and add the mix.

We set the bowl on the floor when we added the mix because the stool we were using wasn't tall enough for Emmett to get to a comfortable chef height. Then we wised up and brought a chair over to the counter.  Much better. — We set the bowl on the floor when we added the mix because the stool we were using wasn't tall enough for Emmett to get to a comfortable chef height. Then we wised up and brought a chair over to the counter. Much better.

Once a shaggy dough has formed, turn it out onto a countertop lightly dusted with flour (or not so lightly, I am only the sous-chef here). If I am being honest, there was a teensy tiny part of me that worried about getting too much extra flour in the mix and making the scones tough but they came out just fine. Note to self: baking with children is NOT the time to give into your Type A tendencies.

Shape into scones. We don't have a biscuit cutter but we did have this nice "B" cookie cutter that worked just fine.

All that's left to do is pop them in a 400F oven - we threw a tray of bacon in there for good measure - and wait 15-20 minutes. Just enough time to clean up and make a cup of tea.