450 g(3 3/4 cups) self-raising flour (if you can’t find self-raising flour, then replace with plain (all-purpose) flour plus 2 level tablespoons of baking powder and an extra ¼ tsp salt), plus extra for dusting
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C (fan) and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Place the flour, salt, and butter into a large bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.
450 g (3 3/4 cups) self-raising flour, ¼ tsp salt, 100 g (7 tbsp) cold butter
Add the sugar and raisins and give it a quick mix.
85 g (1/2 cup minus 1 tbsp) golden caster sugar, 150 g (3/4 cup) raisins
Break the egg into a small bowl, give it a quick whisk with a fork, and then pour it into the flour mixture – reserving 1 tbsp of it for glazing the scones later.
1 large egg
Add in the ¾ of the buttermilk and the vanilla extract and use a round-ended knife to work the mixture together. Add the rest of the buttermilk and work in gently until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. Don't overwork, or you'll get tough scones.
285 ml (1 cup + 3 tbsp) buttermilk, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Tip out the dough onto a floured surface and flatten it out with your hands so that it's about 1” (2.5cm) thick. Use a round cutter (mine was 3” (8cm) in diameter) dipped in flour (to prevent it sticking) and cut out your scones. Make sure you just press the cutter down rather than twist it - otherwise, you'll get scones that rise a bit wonky. Gather the leftover dough, gently rework, and cut out the rest of the scones until all the dough is used.
Place onto the prepared baking tray. Mix the reserved tbsp of egg with the splash of milk and brush the tops only (brushing the sides will impair the rising of the scones) with this mix and place in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
splash of milk
Remove from the oven, leave to cool, and serve sliced in half with clotted cream and jam/jelly.
Notes
Nutritional Information is per scone, based on getting 9 large scones from the recipe.