Once you master the art of a good basic scone recipe, you have a world of flavour and texture possibilities at your fingertips. Using my basic recipe, I'm able to create flavoured scones to match whatever mood I'm at that time. Today, I was craving the heartiness of oatmeal with the sweetness and chewiness of raisins. This scone is best smeared with butter and served with a hot tea!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and butter, to a mixing bowl. Use a hand-held mixer to beat the butter into the dry ingredients until the combined ingredients resemble course sand. Set aside.
Add the raisins and quick cooks oats and stir into the mixture with a spatula.
Next, in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla extract.
Pour in the milk and egg mixture into the butter and flour mixture. Use a spatula to fold ingredients together. Don't overmix - the dough will form quite quickly and shouldn't be one complete, perfectly round ball of dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your hands to push the dough together, gathering up the bits into a mound. Next, sprinkle the top lightly with a little flour and push the dough down into a round shape about 1 inch thick.
Use a large knife to cut the dough into 8 wedges and transfer the wedges to the baking sheet with about an inch of space in between each wedge.
Use a pastry brush to lightly dust off any excess flour.
Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on your oven, until the top is just slightly golden in colour.
Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack immediately.