Adjust the oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375�F. Grease and flour a large baking sheet.
Sift the dry ingredients (except the brown sugar) into a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, shortening, egg, and buttermilk and beat with an electric mixer until the batter is blended and smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in raisins.
Drop the batter by the heaping tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle each mound with half tsp. sugar.
Bake about 15 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield 18 Typed in MMFormat by cjhartlin@msn.com ----