I make - Cheese Scones

Four weeks on since the lockdown, I increasingly find it hard to have a regular/usual dinner. We now have a bigger lunch because, well, we are at home and just come back from exercise. The lunch is still soup based but with bread and some ham (for hubby), and cookies for me (one can never have too many cookies). We normally finish with a piece of fruit each by 15:30. I guess it makes dinner at 20:00 more difficult as there is not enough time to digest. I can push the dinner time by 30 minutes late but need to think about the amount and type of food we eat. Hence, a savory cake (cake salé) with some ham and salad serves us well the other night. Tonight I am thinking that cheese scones with cream cheese and onion chutney and sweet chili sauce may just do the trick.

Gluten-free cheese scones, adapted from Felicity Cloake's recipe

200 g gluten-free flour blend of your choice*

1/2 tsp xanthan gum
3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (or 1 tsp English mustard powder)
50g cold butter
85g grated mature cheddar, split into 70g and 15g
1 tbsp finely chopped green onions (or dry onion flakes)
120ml cold yogurt/buttermilk
1 egg, beaten and save 2 tbsp for brushing the top

A large piece of cling film

Put the flour, baking powder, salt and mustard powder into a large mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth and well combined.

Grate in the butter, then rub it in with your fingertips until it looks like wet sand. Mix in 70 g cheese and the green onions (or dry onion flakes), and then stir to combine.

Mix yogurt/buttermilk with all beaten egg except 2 tbsp. Drizzle first the 100ml of liquid into the flour mixture until the dough just comes away from the edge of the bowl; don’t handle it any more than is necessary. If the dough seems dry, drizzle in the remaining liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time. 

Lay a large piece of cling film on the work surface and tip the dough on it. Use cling film to gently work the dough into a rectangle about 2.5cm high. Rest the dough in the fridge, at least 30 minutes up to a few hours. This allows flour to hydrate better. 

Heat the oven at 200C. Remove the dough from the fridge. Unwrap the dough and cut out individual scones with a fluted cutter on the cling film. I prefer smaller savory scones so I use a 5cm wide cutter. The number of scones can range from 9-12 depending on the thickness of the dough, reshaping as necessary with the help of the cling film.

Lay the scones on a baking tray and brush the top with the saved beaten egg. Scatter the remaining 15 g cheese over the top and bake at 200C for about 15 minutes until golden. I put another tray under the scone tray as my oven runs a bit hot from below. Allow to cool slightly on a rack before splitting open.

*I sometimes use 175 g GF flour + 50 g porridge oat for more texture.