CHEESE & CHIVE SCONES, higher-fibre indulgence, low salt/preservative, easy, make ahead option

A rich, flaky cheesy biscuit makes an ambrosial mouthful...

Half-recipe Cheese and Chive Savoury Scones
'Oh. My. God. These are absolutely gorgeous. Another one, please.' Taster.

These flaky tender scones flavoured with cheese and chives are quite frankly heavenly. They are great as an accompaniment to chunky soups or stews or at mid-morning.

There's no need to be fussy about the shape.  Use a biscuit cutter or go 'free-form' as above.  The smell of these is so divine, the crumb so tender and the tops just the right side of crunchy, no one will care what form they take.  

Best served warm on the day, any leftovers will freeze well.  Re-heat in an 180c/350f/Gas Mark 3 oven for 5-10 mins.  

Beware: with all the butter and cheese, the scones can scarcely be considered healthy but some of the flour is replaced by wholemeal, adding heart-healthy fibre.  As ever, portion control is the key.

Cost: £2
Makes: 12-14

Ingred:

250gm/9 oz plain flour
100gm/3 1/2oz wholemeal flour 
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

5 oz/150 gm cold, cubed butter
4-6 oz/115-170gr mature reduced fat cheddar*, grated 
4 tbsp finely chopped chives
(or 4-6 oz/115-170gr grated cheddar & chive cheese)
2 eggs, well beaten
7 tbsp very cold milk


Method:

1.  Preheat oven to very hot -- 220c/200 fan/425f; Gas 9
2.  Sift dry ingred. into a bowl; rub in butter until mixture resembles peas
3.  Add cheese and chives, stirring, until strands are well coated with flour
4.  Make a well in the centre; pour in eggs & milk.  Stir lightly with a fork until mixture just holds together.
5.  Turn out onto a lightly floured board and press lightly into a rectangle about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick.  Mentally divide the rectangle into three, lengthwise.  Fold the left hand side onto the middle; and the right hand side onto the middle & left sides.

6.  Repeat twice, pressing lightly with your hands between each folding 

Tri-folding of dough

7.  Roll it out to just under 1inch (2 cm) thick.  Cut into 2 1/2 inch/6cm rounds with a floured biscuit cutter.  Or, divide the rectangle into 12-14 smaller rectangles (As you can see from the top photo, you can go pretty free-form)
8.  Brush tops only with milk or egg beaten with a little water or milk
9.  Bake on an ungreased baking sheet 12-15 min until well-risen and richly golden.

*Davidstow M&S

Comments:
'I would never have known these have wholemeal flour in them; they are so light and the crumb is so tender.  They are perfect with Beef & Dark Beer Stew.' Retired writer.


Tips:  

• for make ahead option, mix dry ingredients, cover and set aside; grate cheese and chop chives, refrigerate; on the day prepare liquid ingred and proceed as normal
• for herb scones, add couple of tablespoons of finely chopped mixed herbs into the flour-butter mix before adding liquid

A version of this recipe was posted in February 2015

This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  It may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.