THE Cheese Scone

Makes : 8 large or 12 small scones

Golden buttery scones full of cheesy flavour.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• A heaping cup (120 grams) grated tasty cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup (20 grams) grated parmesan cheese
• 3 ounces (85 grams) very cold butter
• 3/4 cup (185 mls) very cold milk

– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients – 

Equipment:

• Bowls and spoons
• Electronic scale
• Clean baking sheet
• Box grater

Directions:

Heat the oven to 220C (425F). Put a baking sheet in there to heat up as well.

In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder and cayenne. Grate the cold butter straight into the bowl using a box grater.

Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until it’s mostly combined. There will still be a few flakes here and there.

Grate the cheeses into the bowl. It’s much easier to weigh out the chunk you need and grate it into the bowl than measure volume amounts of grated cheese.

Mix the cheese in and add about 3/4 of the milk. Use your fingers or a knife to start bringing the dough together. It should start to clump but not well. Add the rest of the milk and gently pat it together some more. It should be holding mostly together in a soft mass.

Tip the dough out onto the bench and pat it down. Fold one side into the middle and then the opposite side over it like a letter. It will be a crumbly mess but persevere. Pat the dough down a bit and do the same folds in the opposite direction.

Repeat a few more times until the dough is a neat lump of dough.

If you like wedges as I do pat the dough out into a circle about 2 inches high. If you want squares pat it out into a rectangle 2 inches high. Cut into wedges or squares as you like.

Get the hot baking sheet out of the oven and pop it on a rack. Quickly transfer the scones to the hot tray. They should sizzle when you put them down. Pop the tray back in the oven and bake until well risen and dark golden brown on top. 8 wedges will take about 15 to 18 minutes, smaller squares about 12 to 15 minutes. Try not to crowd the tray too much or the scones will take longer to cook.

Let the scones cool slightly before slathering with butter and gobbling them up. They’re mighty good cold the next day so make a few extra….

Cook’s Notes:

• Add herbs, cracked black pepper or other spices to these simple scones to suit your tastes
• Try a little finely crumbled blue cheese instead of the parmesan for an extra cheesy indulgence.

 – These scones are best the day they are made, but are also awesome cold the next day or two – keep them in an airtight container or bag at room temperature. For longer keeping freeze the scones in a zip lock bag – 

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