Scones are a lovely comfort food which are so easy to make. They are best served warm with lashings of butter which makes them the perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea.
The trick to making scones is to be very light to the touch i.e., not be heavy handed. When making scones self raising flour is used plus an extra bit of baking powder. This helps the scones to rise that little bit further and can make all the difference. Another bit of advise which I have found with lots of practice is to cut the scones a little bit thicker than normal, have the temperature of the oven hot so the scones don’t spread out as much, don’t add too much milk or if the mixture is too soggy the scones spread out too much. I always use butter in my scones as the soft spread is too soft for making scones with. The important point to remember when making scones is that the total amount of liquid has to be equal 150ml and that includes the egg. I have made this mistake too, so it is a very good thing to remember.
Scones can be many different flavours it all depends on what you like. I have made scones with cheese and leeks, bacon and onion. Also I have eaten apple and cinnamon, Turkish delight, and cranberry and orange flavoured scones. All of these have been good to eat but my favourite flavour scone is the good old fashioned treacle scone – which we don’t see that much of any more. 🙁
When I make cheese scones I add them to vegetable broth and reheat them in the oven till they are golden brown. This makes a nice change from dumplings.
[lt_recipe name=”Cheese Scones” servings=”8″ prep_time=”10M” cook_time=”15M” total_time=”25M” difficulty=”Easy” print=”yes” summary=”Nutritionally, one scone contains 219 calories, 10g total fat (13% daily total fat), 23.2g total carbohydrate (8% daily total carbohydrate), 0.8g fibre (3% daily fibre) (based on a 2000 calorie diet).” image=”https://www.love-to-bake.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/cheesescones2.jpeg” ingredients=”8oz self raising flour;0.5 tsp salt;0.5 tsp mustard powder;1tsp baking powder;1oz butter;5oz grated cheddar cheese;1 egg;milk;;” ]Preheat the oven to gas7.;Line a baking tray.;Weigh the flour, salt, baking powder, mustard powder into a bowl.;Rub the butter into the mixture until resembles breadcrumbs.;Add the cheese and mix thoroughly.;Mix to a soft dough with 150ml of liquid (1 egg plus milk).;Flatten down with hands to required thickness.;Cut out scones and transfer to tray.;Brush with milk and sprinkle with cheese.;Bake for 15 minutes till golden brown .;[/lt_recipe]
If I make cherry or fruit scones I tend to freeze some of them and reheat them to defrost them if I need to feed an unexpected guest. Reheating them from frozen involves wrapping them in foil which prevents the top from burning. It only takes about ten minutes to defrost the scones this way and the final product tastes like it has just been made fresh that day.
Scones can be made with gluten free flour if required. I have never tried this but I am sure they will work just as well. If the butter, cheese and milk are substituted with lactose free ingredients then the scones would be suitable for a lactose intolerant consumer.