You will love my light and fluffy cheese scones.
Ingredients
- 420 grams (3 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 3 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 150 grams (2 and 1/2 cups) cheddar cheese, finely grated (loosely packed)
- 115 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cubed, COLD
- 1 large egg, COLD
- 240 ml (1 cup) full fat buttermilk, plus 1-2 tablespoons extra (as needed)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten, for brushing
Instructions
- Line two large baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt and grated cheese. Give it a quick mix.
- Add the cubes of cold butter. Use your finger tips to squish and flatten the butter pieces. Work quickly until you have coarse crumbs and there are no more large lumps of butter – but long flat ones are ok.
- In a separate bowl, add the egg and 240 ml (1 cup) of buttermilk. Whisk with a fork for 20 seconds or so until combined. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and gently mix together using a butter knife until shaggy – don’t worry if it looks dry.
- Turn the mixture out onto the bench. Use your hands to gently bring it together into a round disc. If it is too dry, add an extra tablespoon or two of buttermilk. The dough doesn’t need to be wet, but it should come together. (See my step-by-step photos above)
- Gently divide the disc into four – I like to use my dough scraper to do this. Then stack quarters of scone dough on top of each other to make a tower. Use the palm of your hand to gently press the dough down until it is at least 3 cm (1-inch) thick.
- Use a round 5 cm (2-inch) cookie cutter to cut out 14-15 scones. Don’t twist the cutter. You can press leftover scone dough together once and cut out an extra scone or two. Discard any leftovers.
- Place scones on prepared baking trays, ensuring they’re not touching. Chill scones in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 220 C (430 F) standard / 200 C (390 F) fan-forced.
- Brush the tops of the scones with beaten egg. Bake scones for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown on top. Enjoy scones warm from the oven with a generous smearing of butter.
Notes
Cheese: You can use any cheese you like in this recipe. I’ve tested it using cheddar cheese, but you could use a sharper or aged hard cheese like gruyere or parmesan or if you prefer, or you could do do half, half.
Buttermilk: I love using buttermilk in my scones. It helps create a light scone that’s not too dense. However, if you don’t have access to buttermilk, you could try the DIY buttermilk by using 1 cup of regular whole milk and adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar. However, this substitution will be more runny, so keep that in mind and add it gradually to your scone mix.
Egg wash: You can brush the scones with leftover buttermilk if you prefer – they won’t go quite as golden.
Storage: Scones are best eaten on the day they are made. You can keep leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature once they’ve cooled. To enjoy warm, simply microwave scones for 10-20 seconds.
Freezer instructions: You can absolutely freeze any leftover scones. Simply wrap them in plastic wrap and pop them in a ziplock bag or airtight container and place them in the freezer. To enjoy, defrost at room temperature or pop them in the microwave until warm again.
