Cheese scones

5 from 45 votes

Recipe video above. As much as I love traditional jam and cream ones, these savoury cheese scones have my heart…. does it surprise anyone that I make mine extra cheesy? 🙂 This recipe is adapted from my classic scones recipe. See FAQ above for creation notes! :)

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Course: Baking, Snack

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: cheese scones, savoury scone

Servings:

Calories: 275cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups plain flour / all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or tasty cheese (packet shredded ok, tightly pack the cups!) (Note 1)
3 tsp baking powder (Note 2)
1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
100g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1 cm cubes
3/4 cup milk , cold, plus a little extra for brushing (preferably full fat)

Topping / serving:

1/2 cup shredded cheese , for topping
Butter , for spreading

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Abbreviated recipe:

Pulse dry ingredients once, butter 4 times, cheese once. Add milk while pulsing 8–10 times. Shape into 3cm / 1.2" thick disc on baking paper, brush with milk, top with cheese, cut into 6 wedges. Space 5cm/2" apart on tray. Bake 20 min at 200°C/390°F (180°C fan), rest 5 min.

Full recipe:

Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan-forced).
Blitz dry - Put flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor with a standard "S" blade. Pulse once. Add butter, pulse 4 to 5 times until the largest butter pieces you see are pea size. (You can also do this by hand - see Note 3)
Add cheese, pulse once just to mix through a bit.
Pour milk through the feeding tube while pulsing 8 to 10 times until the flour is just incorporated, then stop straight away. The dough will be shaggy rather than smooth, and it should be a bit sticky but can be handled.
Bring dough together - Scatter a work surface with 1 tsp flour. Scrape the dough out of the food processor then bring together into a ball with your hands. Try to avoid using extra flour, but dust with more if needed (I don’t).
6 wedges - Put it on a sheet of baking paper, pat and shape into 3cm / 1.2" thick round disc. Brush with milk (top and sides), sprinkle with cheese, lightly press in. Cut into 6 wedges. (Note 4 for rounds)
Bake - Transfer to baking tray. Pull each wedge out a bit so they are 5cm/2" apart. Bake 20 minutes until the surface is golden.
Cool 5 minutes on the tray, then enjoy warm with a smear of butter!

Notes

1. Cheese - Any good melting cheese works here—just avoid mozzarella (not enough flavour). For punch, use sharp vintage cheddar, for milder, try Swiss, for premium I splurge on gruyere. Pre-shredded is fine (rare endorsement!), I like Devondale’s 3-cheese blend (mozzarella, colby, parmesan).

2. Baking powder - Better to use this + plain flour rather than self raising flour as the scones rise better (recommended when we have cheese weighing the dough down!). Also note, I’ve specified 3 teaspoons instead of 1 tablespoon for consistency. That’s because Australian tablespoons are sometimes 20 ml, whereas the standard in most other countries is 15 ml. Teaspoons, on the other hand, are consistently 5 ml worldwide.

3. To make this by hand, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour, or use a flour cutter if you have one.

4. Round scones - Pat dough down to 2.5cm/1" thick then cut 5- 6cm / 2 - 2.4" rounds. Bake 15 minutes.

5. Different cup measures in different countries - Cup sizes differ slightly between the US (1 cup = 236ml) and the rest of the world (250 ml). This has been factored into this recipe and it will work whatever country cups you are using (except Japan, please use the weights). See FAQ accordion above for more information.

Leftovers will keep 3 to 4 days though best served warm to freshen them up.

Nutrition per scone. Not including butter you slather on - because I don't know how generous you are!

Nutrition