Cheese Scones

This is one of the first recipes I ever mastered on my own, and now I make around three batches a week, all of which are demolished by the three people who live in my house within 24 hours. I've made a couple of mistakes when making these in the past, but it was completely down to my distrust of the recipe. The first time I made these, the dough seemed too wet, but adding too much flour completely ruined it. The second time I made these, the dough seemed too dry, but adding too much milk ruined it. Basically, whatever the dough ends up like, as long as you've used the right amount of everything stick with it, because I've never used the right amounts and had a bad batch. The original recipe is from "Bake Like The Best". 

This makes around 8 decent sized scones, but I tend to make around double that by cutting them a bit smaller, because then I don't feel so bad eating 6 in one sitting. Not that I often do that. The recipe itself is surprisingly easy and that's probably why I make them so often. Chuck 225g of self-raising flour, 1 tsp of baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Rub in 50g of butter until it forms a breadcrumb like consistency (be sure to be quite thorough though, or you end up with chunks of butter through your dough and that's a pain to fix any later in the recipe.) Add 125g of mature grated cheese, 1 tsp of mustard powder and 150ml of milk, then mix together to form a soft dough.

Like I said, the dough can come out very different each time, sometimes it seems too wet (which remedies itself during kneading) or sometimes it seems to dry, but the end is always a good result in my experience. Do gradually add the milk though, as it makes it easy to get all the flour from the bottom, otherwise you have to sort of fold it into the dough once all the milk is in. Knead gently on a floured surface, press out the dough with your palm to the desired size and thickness and then cut. You could use cutters, but I don't bother I just cut it by hand into squares, and then in half again to create smaller triangles, pressing the excess dough out again until there's none left. Stick on a greased baking sheet, top with pepper and cheese (I use low fat, which tends to burn less and keeps a better texture). I don't tend to bother with a milk brush, mainly because you wouldn't be able to see it anyway. Bake for about 15 minutes at Gas Mark 7, but check after about 12 just to be sure they aren't burning.

They should feel soft to the touch on top when you take them out. Turn them out onto a cooling rack, and serve with butter (although I prefer without!)

Have you ever made cheese scones? How did yours turn out?

S xo.