Cheese scones
- Prep: 10m
- Cook: 10m
- Serves: 15
Scones are the perfect picnic food: small, transportable and very, very English. These savoury scones are made with strong cheddar and need nothing more than a thick layer of butter to serve. They are best baked on the morning of your picnic as they don’t stay fresh for long, but since they are the work of mere minutes, it is no chore.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C / 210°C fan / gas mark 7.
- Weigh the flour out into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles sand. Work with light and fast hands to prevent the butter getting warm and greasy.
- Add 100g of the cheddar, all of the parmesan and salt. Mix together.
- Add the milk gradually and use a knife to cut the flour into the liquid to create a soft dough. The dough should just come away from the sides of the bowl to form a sticky clump.
- Tip the dough onto a floured surface, dust the top and roll out to 2-3cm thick. Use a 4cm cutter to cut out 15 scones from the dough. You can squish the off-cut dough back together and keep re-rolling it until you have none left but handle it lightly or you risk tough scones.
- Arrange the scones on a baking sheet, brush with a little milk then sprinkle the remaining cheddar on top. Bake for 10 minutes and watch them rise and turn golden brown.
Ingredients
All to be sourced organic where possible
- 230g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
- 50g butter, cold and cubed
- 120g cheddar, grated
- 20g parmesan, grated
- ½ tsp salt
- 120ml milk, plus extra for brushing
