How to make really easy, and deliciously cheesy scones. Then once they’re made, why not turn them into yummy scone-wiches, perfect for a picnic on a summer’s day.
They’re a variation on my traditional afternoon tea scones, removing the sugar (otherwise they’d taste oddly sweet) and adding plenty of strong cheddar cheese.
Usually I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to cheddar and I tend to go for medium strength. However I find for baking you need stronger cheese otherwise the flavour gets a bit lost. There’s little point in making a cheese scone if you can’t really taste the cheese is there!
A selection of cheesy summer scone-wiches
In the past I’ve always gone all traditional with my cheese scones, making them round and serving them with a decent slathering of butter. However, recently Vicki at Free-Free Fairy told me that she often uses gluten-free scones as an alternative to bread for sandwiches and it got me thinking about what else I could add to my scones to make them a little more interesting.
- Smoked salmon and cream cheese – I also really like this with the garlic and herb cream cheese.
- Goats cheese and roasted peppers.
- Ham and wholegrain mustard – it would actually work with any type of mustard but wholegrain is by far my favourite.
- Hummus and marmite.
I know, I know, hummus and marmite – not your everyday combination. However, I recently read a post by Cate at Cate in the Kitchen where she described it as her favourite flavour combination so I had to give it a try. I’ll admit it’s not my absolutely favourite flavour combination (I don’t know what is but I’m pretty sure it would be something sweet, probably involving ice cream), but it did go together surprisingly well and really complimented the cheesiness of the scones so I’d definitely recommend you give it a try.
Can you think of any other flavours that would go well in my scone-wiches?
Shaping your scone-wiches
The recipe below outlines how to make “traditional” round scones. The dough is flattened until it is about 1½ inches thick before cutting out the circles. This gives you quite a tall scone, perfect if you’re keeping it plain but not much space for filling if that’s what you want.
If you’re making scone-wishes then I’d suggest patting the dough flatter (about ¾-1 inch thick) so that they end up thinner and wider once baked. That way you can fit more filling in. I’ve made mine square (because it’s more sandwich-y) by simply patting the dough flat and cutting them out with a sharp knife, but you can make them pretty much any shape you fancy.
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Cheese Scones
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g self raising flour
- 100 g butter
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 275 ml full fat milk - + a little extra for glazing
- 100 g strong cheddar cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC fan.
- Grate the cheese (100g) using a coarse grater.
- Lightly grease a baking tray with butter (if you’re using a non-stick baking sheet then this isn’t necessary).
- Put the self-raising flour (500g) into a large bowl. Cut the butter (100g) into cubes and add it to the flour.
- Gently rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs.
- Add the baking powder (1 tsp), salt (1 tsp) and grated cheese and mix to spread it evenly throughout the flour/butter.
- Make a well in the centre and add the full-fat milk (275ml) – I like to keep a tablespoon or two back to add at the end to help collect up any stray flour.
- With as little action as possible, mix the milk into the dry ingredients using your hands until it has come together into a ball of dough. If there’s any flour left at the bottom, add a touch more milk to help collect it up – your dough should be slightly sticky but not too sloppy.
- Place the dough onto a work surface and pat it flat to a thickness of about 1½ inches (don’t use a rolling pin). Use the cutter to cut circles and place them onto a baking tray. After cutting out the first set, quickly ball up the dough, pat flat and repeat until you have used all of the dough.
- Glaze each scone with a little milk and place into the oven for 12-15 minutes until they are cooked (I tap them on the bottom to see if they sound hollow as you do with bread).
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a cooling rack.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free-From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Egg-Free
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Fish-Free
- Crustacean-Free
- Mollusc-Free
- Celery-Free
- Mustard-Free
- Lupin-Free
If you’re after gluten-free scones then I’d suggest you take a look at these gluten-free tomato and herb scones by Vicki at Free-From Fairy.
Susan G says
Made these scones recently, turned out perfectly and tasted amazing, only thing I did was add some mustard powder.
janet baker says
so easy to make
Kev says
Made these today they tastes great, crisp on the outside soft and fluffy inside. I put a little cheese on the top and a bit of cayenne on top of that. Will definitely be making some again.
Jess says
These taste and look incredible! Although I somehow managed to make 18! I’m certainly not disappointed though cheese scones for breakfast lunch and dinner in this house!
Gayle Price says
Delicious & easy to make. I use warm milk as it mixes better (50 seconds in the microwave does fine). Freezes well & makes a fab alternative for a quick savoury snack.
Becky Dawson says
I’ve never made scones before, think I over worked the dough as they didn’t really rise but don’t know how else to improve on technique. Taste lovely, though will use either a blue cheese or double the cheese as not cheesy enough for me! I do love my cheese!!
Judy says
These cheese scones are fabulous. Haven’t baked scones for a long time but with lockdown and being confined to the house I thought I would give them a try. I’m so glad I did.
Anne says
Made these today. Amazing considering my track record with scones. Lovely and crispy on the outside with a fluffy centre! Really nice and cheesy too. Used semi skimmed milk as we don’t use full fat. Also they took 25 to 30 minutes to cook on the inside.
Miriam says
Just made these and house smells lovely. I sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top for added treat ( needed using up).
Have you ever tried adding a little lemonade instead of some milk to scones- my mother swears by it and I agree it adds to the lightness of them?
Charlotte Oates says
I have tried lemonade, but I have tried other liquids such as coconut milk and gin (in sweet rather than savoury scones). I know carbonated drinks can help to add “lift” to cakes to I’d imagine that it would also work well in scones. I’ll definitely give it a try sometime.
Anne says
Thank you for this delicious recipe, I just made them this morning and they are divine 🙂 have you ever tried them with wholemeal flour? I am trying to eat more healthily! Trying to stick to wholemeal rather than white flour 🙂 I had also run out of cheddar so used parmesan 😉 but they worked out well and I can wait to make some more 🙂 thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe.
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t but I’d imagine they’d work well with either wholemeal or spelt flour.
Jen and Emily @ Layers of Happiness says
Cheese seriously makes everything better… these look soo yummy!
Charlotte Oates says
I’m not sure about “everything” (cheese and merignues?) but it definitely tastes delicious in these scones 🙂
Jasmin Charlotte says
Yum! I haven’t had a good cheese scone for ages. I used to sell them at a cafe I worked in when I was at uni in NZ so they always remind me of home too! x
Charlotte Oates says
I’ll love food that remind me of happy times in the past 🙂
To be honest, I hadn’t had one for a while until I was starting to think about something to make for picnic week. However, I’ll definitely be making these again as they’re really quick and easy (much quicker than waiting for bread to prove) and they taste really good. They’re be great for buffets and packed lunches too.
Vicki montague says
Oh gosh how I love a cheese scone! I rarely make them because my daughter is dairy free but they are the best. Thank you so much for the link back. I’m glad you enjoyed my idea!!! Since I am grain free now I can’t enjoy them!
Charlotte Oates says
Well thank you very much for suggesting it. They make a brilliant alternative to bread.
How’s the GAPS going? I really hope it’s working x
Angela - Patisserie Makes Perfect says
Cheese scones are one of my ultimate favourite foods. I absolutely adore them and these look really great.
I’ve never made a scone-wich, but I definitely will now.
Charlotte Oates says
You should definitely try it, they’re really yummy.