Irish Cheddar & Caramelized Onion Beer Bread Scones.
Beer bread scones are the perfect tender and soft scone, ideal for soup dipping or served as a side with dinner. The flavor is incredible with caramelized onions, sharp Irish cheddar and herbs making these melt in your mouth.
Melt in your mouth buttery beer bread scones are on the menu today!
Oh man. These scones are life changing. Packed with caramelized onions, herbs and sharp irish cheddar cheese, the flavor is out of this world. With the fluffy tenderness of beer bread, these scones are the perfect dipper for soup or side to enjoy with dinner.
I always like to make a festive meal around Saint Patrick’s Day and these babies are going to be on repeat for the next few weeks.
Gosh, I love a recipe like this. I’m combining so many of my favorite things!
Sharp cheddar cheese!
Caramelized onions.
Beer bread!
It.doesn’t.get.any.better. All baked together in a cute little package. Crisp and shiny on the outside. Soft and practically flaky on the inside.
I grew up LOVING the days my mom would make beer bread. That bread is so buttery, so fluffy and savory. I loved dipping it into soup but also just… enjoying it on its own. Maybe toasted with butter. I mean it truly almost melts in your mouth.
The texture of beer bread is unbeatable. It’s so fluffy and bubbly and soft. Perfectly tender, but sturdy enough for dipping or spreading something on top. Which makes it ideal for scones since they can border on dry and crumbly.
I’ve shared a few different varieties of beer bread before, but never beer bread scones. Could there be anything more perfect for Saint Patrick’s Day? I think not!
There have many rambles about this here on the blog, but I grew up hating scones. We would always get them in school for Saint Patrick’s Day and they were so so so dry. All I wanted was a huge glass of water after trying one. They also often had raisins, and let me tell you: just not. I am not a monster.
It left me with a high dislike for scones – but I also was probably expecting something sweet and fluffy since I was a kid.
I finally learned to love scones after finding the perfect recipe and it’s one I’ve switched up many many many times. It’s not dry at all. It’s the perfect base for just about anything! And when made with beer, it becomes a bit fluffy, almost like it has risen slightly like a croissant.
With layers!
These scones are absolutely loaded with flavor. Caramelized onions will do that to you.
Of course, they are a little high maintenance since we’re caramelizing the onions. This will take around one to two hours – we’re dicing them from the start so be sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
I prefer not to add anything to my onions to help them caramelize. I keep it simple: butter, diced onions and salt. However! If you want to add a little splash of beer to these to help them caramelize and intensify the flavor, it’s an option.
Herbs go in too: I like some thyme and chives.
I love a good sharp Irish cheddar, like Kerrygold or even from ALDI. Freshly grating the cheese makes it melt so wonderfully, and between the crumbled butter and cheese, the savory bites are top notch.
These have enough flavor on their own, but I will never pass up a warm scone with some salty butter.
Don’t pass them up!!
P.S. this guinness pot pie with beer bread biscuits?! EVERYTHING.
Caramelized Onion Beer Bread Scones
Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Beer Bread Scones
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 large sweet onions, diced
- kosher salt and pepper
- 3 ¼ all-purpose cups flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon dried chives
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¾ cup cold butter, cut into pieces
- 8 ounces sharp Irish cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 1 ½ cups beer
- heavy cream, for brushing
Instructions
- Heat the 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, until the onions are soft and begin to brown. Turn the heat down to low (or medium-low, if low isn’t cooking them), and cook, stirring often, until the onions are dark brown and caramely, anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, depending on how much you want to babysit them. This will take a while, but the onions are in smaller pieces, so are also more apt to burn. Keep an eye on them and stir often, reducing the heat when needed. Add a splash of water to the pan if it gets dry at any time.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl combine the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, a few pinches of black pepper, baking powder and soda. Stir in the dried chives and thyme. Using your fingers, a fork or a pastry blender, cut in the ¾ cups cold butter until it forms coarse crumbs. Stir in the sharp cheddar and caramelized onions. Stir in the beer. Stir with a spoon until a dough forms, using your hands to bring it together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently.
- Divide the dough in half and pat each into 5-inch round circles. Brush each round of dough with cream.
- Cut each round into 4 or 6 slices, or use a biscuit cutter to make rounds. Bake the scones for 15 to 18 minutes, until the tops are slightly golden. Serve with salted butter for spreading.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Make a freezer stash of these, stat.
6 Comments on “Irish Cheddar & Caramelized Onion Beer Bread Scones.”
Looks fantastic! For caramelizing onions, do you mean 1/2 stick or 1/2 cup of butter??
Is it possible to prep the onions and dough the night before and store in the fridge to bake in the morning?
I would like to make them, a little confused about the amount of butter is it really 1/2 cup for the onions and 3/4 cup for dough?
These were absolute heaven! So good. The Irish cheddar really made a difference . I have to take some to my neighbors stat or I will eat way too many . Thanks for a great recipe and reminding me how easy scones are to make and that I should make them more often .
These look fabulous! Planning to make these this weekend.
Some of my family don’t drink – if I skip the beer, can I subsitute with water, or is the yeastiness of the beer important?
wow. another great recipe!
except for the time to carmelize the onions, these were so simple to put together.
tender, flaky, flavorful, savory scones. yum.
my whole family loved them and the flavor only gets better the next day.
thanks!