Cheese & Onion Scones

In my house, these are known as scones for Bernie. Bernie—my mother-in-law—loves cheese scones, so I made her a batch for her birthday. They’re not the kind of thing I usually gravitate towards, but when I made them, I wondered why not. A little savoury treat. Great for breakfast with sautéed veg and an egg, or for lunch with a bowl of soup and a dollop of hummus.

Another “in defence of American food” moment: it makes more sense to cut scones into triangles than rounds. The gravest error you can make when baking scones is overworking the dough, which develops too much gluten and leads to a tough bake. You avoid this entirely when you slice a disc of dough into wedges—but not when you reach for a cutter, re-roll, cut again... maybe even re-roll again. Whoever decided scones should be circular was clearly prioritising presentation over flavour. Not for me, thanks.

Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

200g plain flour

50g wholemeal flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 tablespoon onion granules

2.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp fine salt

110g salted butter, finely sliced

100g cheddar cheese, grated

50g spring onions (green parts), finely sliced

1 egg

160ml buttermilk

flaky sea salt

Place the flours, sugar, onion granules, baking powder, paprika, and fine salt into a mixing bowl. Whisk to remove any lumps.

Place the butter slices into the flour, toss to coat, ensuring every slice of butter is dusted in flour. Then place the bowl into the freezer for at least 10 minutes. (I like to use this time to grate my cheese, slice my onions, and line my baking tray).

Remove the cold butter and flour from the freezer and rub the butter into the flour, in between your thumbs and middle and ring fingers, until the butter is largely incorporated, with some pea-sized pieces remaining.

Add the grated cheese and sliced spring onions and stir to coat.

Whisk together the egg and buttermilk. Remove about 1 tablespoon to use as a glaze.

Make sure you have a clean, dry, work surface. Add half of the liquid to the dry mix. Use your hands to gently incorporate. Tip out the wettened mixture onto your clean work surface, then add the remaining liquid to the rest and gently incorporate. When done, it should look lumpy and resemble cellulite. If you have any straggling dry bits at the end, add a little bit of your reserved buttermilk and egg mixture to help bring them in. (The aim is to incorporate without overworking. For what it’s worth, I have never overworked my scones but have underworked plenty out of fear. So go delicately, but be unafraid).

Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Roll out into a 20cm disc.

Slice into 8 equal wedges. Place onto your prepared baking tray. Brush with the reserved buttermilk and egg mixture, and lightly sprinkle with flaky sea salt.

Chill in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 200°C.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until risen, deeply golden, and fragrant. Allow to cool a little before slicing. (They don't have to cool aaallll the way - a warm scone, with a little salted butter melting into it is a very nice thing to eat).