Smoked cheese & chive scones

A return to fabulous basics with these simple scones that are packed with flavour, thanks to the smoked cheese and the allium bursts of the chives in there.

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Perfect for a summer’s day – ok, for any day and for any time of the day! – these just need serving warm with a good spread or, if you can have it, salted butter.

Smoked cheese and chive scones

I am currently working back through many of my favourite recipes and putting my stamp on them – not just for the joy of revisiting such “old friends”, but to work some of the recipes into practical lessons at school next year as I take on my new role of Head of Food & Nutrition: so excited!

As a result, these scones popped up on my radar and were begging to be made…….arm easily twisted!

Smoked cheese and chive scones

Dairy-free

I made this batch dairy-free using soya milk, a block spread and dairy-free cheese. Now dairy-free cheese is not a great product by itself, so I oak-smoked it which made such a great difference. However, I have made these before on many occasions using a mature Cheddar or Parmesan.

I did taste-test of these with two of my neighbours: neither of them realised that these scones were dairy-free. As should be the case.

Recipe: smoked cheese & chive scones – makes 8 large ones

Smoked cheese and chive scones

• 220g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 teaspoons mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 50g chilled spread or unsalted butter
• about 2 tablespoons chopped chives, including a few chive flowers if you have some
• 100g smoked cheese of choice, grated, plus a little extra for topping (I used a supermarket “free-from” cheese)
• 80ml semi-skimmed milk (I used soya milk)
• 40-50ml cold water

(1) Preheat the oven to 200C (fan) and line a baking tray with greaseproof.

(2) Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and add the fat. Rub in gently until the mixture resemembles fine breadcrumbs.

(3) Stir in the chives and the cheese and add the milk along with most of the water. Bring it together to form a soft but not sticky dough.

(4) Pat out or roll out lightly to about 1″ thick and cut out rounds using a cutter. Place these onto the baking sheet. Alternatively, pat into a large circle if you want one large scone round.

NB: an inch thich will give you scones with a good height. Rather than measure, I use the depth of a cutter as a guide and have the dough almost the height of the cutter.

(5) Sprinkle the tops with the remaining cheese and bake for about 15 minutes or until well risen.

Smoked cheese and chive scones

Author: Philip

Finalist on Britain’s Best Home Cook (BBC Television 2018). Published recipe writer with a love of growing fruit & veg, cooking, teaching and eating good food. View all posts by Philip