Tea Time Raisin Scones with Strawberry Jam

Scones in the UK are different from scones in the United States. They're smaller, less sweet, and typically served with butter and jam. A perfect snack at tea time!*

1 ¾ cups self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp Earth Balance, or other vegan margarine

2 tbsp caster sugar

½ cup soy milk, plus a little extra for glazing

½ cup raisins (optional, you could substitute nuts or other fruit)

Jam and vegan butter to serve

Grease your baking sheet. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the Earth Balance. Using your hands, rub the fat into the dry ingredients, making a sandy mixture of small clumps. Slowly add the milk, stirring with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture is an even consistency, mix in the raisins. 

Dust your work surface with all-purpose flour and roll out the dough to a thickness of 1 inch. Cut out your scones using a circular cookie cutter and glaze them with milk using a pastry brush (if you don't have one, you can just dip your fingers in milk and glaze them by hand). Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes. Let cool and serve with jam (strawberry is most traditional) and/or vegan butter. 

When I made this recipe, I rolled the dough a little too thin, and I got 11 ½ scones. You should roll yours thicker, about 1 inch, and it will yield 8 scones.

* “But what time is tea time?”, I hear you cry. Experts vary in their opinions on this matter. “High tea” involving scones, cake, biscuits, cucumber sandwiches and a fancy tea pot is usually served at 4pm. However, in the North, “tea” might also be used to refer to the evening meal, which is eaten quite early, around 5pm.