How to-sday - Making Cheddar Scones

I love scones.  I like them for breakfast, for an afternoon snack, for a side with a soup or stew meal, and especially with my evening tea while watching mystery.  I experiment with scone recipes and scone ingredients.  This time I am going to demonstrate how to make a quick and easy savory scone, Cheddar Cornmeal Scones. 

This scone can be served with tea or with a meal.  It is great with a beef stew or chili and for breakfast a great accompaniment to Huevos Rancheros.  It is perfect with a stronger flavored tea, like Irish Breakfast.  Although the recipe makes 6 nice sized wedges, I think I would cut it into 12 pieces to make them easier to handle. Oh and by the way, you don’t need a full sized food processor to do this, as you can see I don’t have one!

Cheddar Cornmeal Scones

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal

2 tsp. sugar

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Dash of cayenne

3 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces

¾ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 large egg, separated

1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Into the bowl of a food processor add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, cayenne and salt.  Pulse on and off to combine. 

Add the butter bits and process for approx. 10 seconds or until the mixture is like course meal. 

Add the grated cheese, milk and egg yolk.  Process for a few more seconds, just until the dough forms.

Turn out the dough onto the floured bread board. 

Knead the dough about 10 times. 

Pat the dough out with your hands to form an 8 inch circle.  

Using a knife, dipped in flour, cut the dough into 6 wedges.

Place the wedges onto a greased baking sheet.  Brush tops with a beaten egg.  Sprinkle with a little additional grated cheddar cheese. 

Bake for 17 minutes or until golden.

I have done other listings with herbal scones and the process to make those is about the same.  If you want to see my other recipes check out "Scones" in the search.  If you are looking for scone mixes or scone mixes with tea recommendations , see our website for all the newest mixes:  http://www.backyardpatch.com/.

I love Scones!

Recently I have been infatuated with making scones.  I think they are a great breakfast food and it is simple to make savory as well as sweet scones.  I have to admit I prefer the sweet scones.

As a result of my infatuation I have made mixes for scones that I market at the Backyard Patch.  I have also created Tea and Scone partnerships which I market on my Etsy site.  With these you get a pairing of the perfect tea (herbal or otherwise) to accompany a scone mix.  It makes a great gift for the tea person in your life as well as introducing you to the linking of flavors that can happen in a meal as simple as scones with breakfast tea.

Today I will share a few recipes that I could not turn into mixes but thought were darn tasty anyway.

SWEET SCONES

Nut & Raisin Sticky Scones

4 cups unbleached flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 T baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

1 egg

4 T butter, cut into pieces

1 1 /2 cups buttermilk

½ cup raisins

1 cup pecans

4 T butter melted

¾ cup brown sugar

1 T honey

1 T molasses

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a large mixing bowl add flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, baking powder and soda.  Stir.  Add the egg and butter pats and beat at low speed with an electric mixer for one minute.

Slowly add the buttermilk to the bowl and continue to beat just until the dough is formed.  Do not over beat

Turn out the dough onto floured bread board and lightly press out the dough to form a rectangle, approx 1 inch thick.  Sprinkle with raisins and nuts.  Roll up the dough from the long side, to form a log.  Cut into 8 to 10 slices.

In a small bowl mix together melted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, honey and molasses.  Pour this mixture into buttered 9 x 13 baking pan.  Place the sliced rolls into the baking dish.  Bake for 28 minutes.

SAVORY SCONES

Cheddar Cornmeal Scones

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal

2 tsp. sugar

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Dash of cayenne

3 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces

¾ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 large egg, separated

1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Into the bowl of a food processor add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, cayenne and salt.  Pulse on and off to combine.  Add the butter bits and process for approx. 10 seconds or until the mixture is like course meal.  Add the grated cheese, milk and egg yolk.  Process for a few more seconds, just until the dough forms.

Turn out the dough onto the floured bread board.  Knead the dough about 10 times.  Pat the dough out with your hands to form an 8 inch circle.  Using a knife, dipped in flour, cut the dough into 6 wedges.

Place the wedges onto a greased baking sheet.  Brush tops with a beaten egg.  Sprinkle with a little additional grated cheddar cheese.  Bake for 17 minutes or until golden.

COFFEE SCONES

For those who like coffee, I found this recipe at the Herb Companion and adapted it just a bit.

These scones are both sweet and savory and need no adornment. They are best served warm with a pot of your favorite tea or a good, strong cup of joe.

Pumpkin Scones

2 cups unbleached flour

1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup 2 percent or whole milk
1/2 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh minced thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and stir to blend. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it is in pea-sized pieces.

Combine the milk with the pumpkin puree and thyme and blend well. Stir the milk and pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients until the dough starts to come together. Add a little more milk if the dough seems too dry. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gather it together, and knead ­lightly. Don’t overwork it.

Flatten the dough into a round about 1 inch thick. Cut it into eight to twelve pie-shaped wedges. Sprinkle them with the remaining teaspoon of sugar. Place the scones on a baking sheet and place it in the center of the oven. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the scones are golden on top. Cool them on a baking rack for a few minutes and serve warm.

You may wrap any leftover scones in foil and reheat them at 300 degrees F for about 10 minutes.

Enjoy your scones and if you want tea to go with them, look here

Thank you!