easy-peasy cheesey scones

From my many afternoon teas, it is well known that I do love a good scone – smothered in clotted cream and jam (in that order), and I have a recipe for plain scones here.

However, that is not where my scone love ends.

In fact, when I was still living with my parents, my dad (a huge cheese eater) used to love cheese scones, so this is something that I learned to make very young. This really is the easiest recipe in the world – and is a great way to use up the last bits of any hard cheeses you have clogging up the fridge.

I haven’t made them for years, but made them yesterday, and The Girl immediately fell in love with them!  I have to admit, I couldn’t remember how thick to roll them out to, so experimented to gauge – hence why mine are varying heights in the photo!

Yummy cheesey goodness

Ingredients (makes about 8 scones)

220g self-raising flour
50g butter, cubed (at room temperature)
80g mature cheddar, grated (although you can use up any hard cheese you have)
150ml milk
1 tsp mustard powder (or slightly more if you prefer it!)
pinch of salt
a little extra grated cheese for the tops!

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
2. Put the flour into a large bowl and rub in the butter until there are no lumps of it left.
3. Add the salt, mustard and cheese and stir well  before adding about 3/4 of the milk. Add the rest of the milk slowly until it comes together as a soft dough – you may need a little more than 150ml, but you may need a little less!
4. Dust your surface with a little flour and roll the dough out to about 2cm thickness.
5. Use a plain cutter and don’t wiggle it when you press the scones out – this tends to stop them from rising properly.
6. Lightly flour your baking sheet before placing the scones onto it. You don’t have to leave much space between them – they should grow up rather than out!
7. Sprinkle your extra cheese onto the tops of the scones and put into the top of the oven for about 12-15 mins – they should be well risen and a lovely golden colour.

I love them about 5 minutes out of the oven, split open with some naff spread like Dairylea or Seriously Strong and a bit of ham.  But they do keep OK in an airtight container to have the next day (if you have any left over!)

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