After the piss-pouring rain put a damper on my pottering about in the garden, I decided to do a spot of baking. I don’t have much in the way of ingredients so I made scones, which are about the simplest thing you can bake. I found the original recipe in the Vegetarian Student Cookbook — which is brilliant even for non-vegetarians, but that’s a topic for another post — and adapted it to suit my needs.
Ingredients
- 250g plain flour (plus some for the surface)
- 50g butter
- 2-3 handfuls grated cheese
- 4 (slightly heaped) teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 200ml milk
Instructions
- Turn oven on at 230°C (446 fahrenheit) / gas mark 8
- Mix the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl
- Add the butter bit by bit, working it into the flour-mixture with your fingers
- Add the cheese to the mix
- Create a well in the middle of the cheese/flour mix, pour in the milk
- Stir it all up to create a dough, dust a work surface well with flour
- Knead lightly then roll out the dough evenly until approx. 1-1.5cm thick
- Cut into round portions, or do what I did and use the rim of a glass to create evenly sized shapes
- Cook on a baking tray in the middle of the oven for 7-10 minutes
That’s it! You can serve with a variety of dipping sauces or my personal favourite: chopped in half and spread thick with butter. If I hadn’t run out of flour, I think I’d have tried another batch with a touch of garlic in the mixture just to make them really savoury.
29 Jun at 4:10 pm
Now then… Scone. Pronounced Scohne (as in ‘cone’ with an s on the front) or sconn (as in gone but with a sc instead of a g)?
I vote for the latter but I am told I am majorly wrong. Tsk.
29 Jun at 4:46 pm
That sounds yummy. Maybe I would make them if I could actually cook, which I definitely can’t.
29 Jun at 4:49 pm
@Amelie: Scone as in con, ftw.
29 Jun at 5:10 pm
I always pronounced it s with a cone. *learns* I’ve never made any, but one day I’ll try :P
29 Jun at 5:40 pm
Hmmm.. This sounds simple enough. Perhaps I’ll be able to make it with my limited domestic skills!
29 Jun at 6:21 pm
@Chien: Both ways of pronouncing it are correct, but I prefer scone as in con (that’s a better comparison than the gone one). Scone as in cone sounds posh and wrong to me :P
29 Jun at 7:15 pm
I love scones! Will have to try out this recipe.
Also I pronounce it scone as in con as well. ;)
29 Jun at 7:33 pm
You mean to tell me you made cheese scones and didn’t bring me one? Right! not saving you any of my home made steamed treacle pudding with custard now :p
29 Jun at 7:55 pm
mmm, I love cheese scones
(also, scone as in gone, obviously)
29 Jun at 8:18 pm
Mmm, sounds delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
(I say sconn too.)
29 Jun at 8:50 pm
Hmm, I don’t think I’ve ever tried that. But “cheesy scones” sounds really yummy! Especially the cheesy part! :D
I’m definately going to have to try that recipe out!
29 Jun at 8:58 pm
I never got cheesy scones, I explained it to the next possible Mrs. Wynne (yes, a little exclusive for your blog), and she couldn’t understand it. They don’t have a sweet flavour and taste a little odd.
29 Jun at 9:14 pm
Do you think you could use whole wheat flour? I’m not much of a baker so sorry if that’s a dumb question….
29 Jun at 10:19 pm
Mm, tasty. *drools*
It sounds really easy AND tasty, I think I will try it out!
29 Jun at 11:21 pm
Con.
I made a batch of shake and bake scones the other weekend when I was away with the girls, but promptly forgot about them baking in the oven and went away to play pool. Came back only when the smoke alarm started beeping, to find a charred and blackened mess in the oven. LOVELY!
The recipe sounds great though, I might have to give it a try. I’d assume you can substitute other things as easily – cinnamon for instance, or any herbs one might have on hand…
30 Jun at 12:08 am
I pronounce it “cone”, “con” sounds weird to me.
30 Jun at 12:59 am
Unfortunately for me, this would be slightly more difficult as I would have to convert the measurements for USA Stupid. I honestly don’t know why this country insists on using different measurement systems that the rest of the English-speaking world.
30 Jun at 4:49 am
I pronounce it as cone with an s.
Oh well. Cheese sounds yummy! I’ve never tried scones with cheese.
30 Jun at 8:26 am
I think you can chuck pretty much anything you like in there, although if you aren’t making them cheesy, use less milk. (150-170ml would be fine)
30 Jun at 8:52 am
it sounds good, but I don’t like cheese so I won’t make them. I love regular scones though, with jam and clotted cream
30 Jun at 10:05 am
Thanks, I’m at work and you’ve seriously made me hungry with at least 2 hours to go to lunch :(
They sound delicious. If I ever bake again I might give these a go.
And it’s scone as in con/gone.
30 Jun at 8:01 pm
Scones!! *drool*
Your domesticity amuses me :D I wish my oven worked; I’ve always had a secret passion for baking.
01 Jul at 1:47 am
Oh! The epic scone pronunciation argument, it never ends.
Jem, I recommend, next time you make a batch, that you add some fresh parsley to it. I find that it’s a really nice but subtle touch of flavor. :)
01 Jul at 2:10 pm
That sounds delicious! I must give it a whirl the next time I’m at the grocery store and have time to do some baking.
01 Jul at 2:53 pm
I love making scones, I didn’t realise until recently that I could actually bake.
Have you tried adding chives to your cheese scones? It might sound weird but they are lovely.
30 Oct at 10:16 am
I usually have a raisin scone first thing in the morning with my hot tea as I’m waiting for the 05:58 train to London. I must try and cook some myself!
I always think “now you see it now you don’t! One minute it was there now it’s gone (It was a scone)”
Yay for diversity!!!