Bacon, Scallion and Cheddar Scones

I usually associate scones as a sweet food, but I recently tried out a savory scone recipe that was absolutely delicious.  As much as I’d love to whip up a batch of sweet scones for a weekend brunch (this recipe looks especially tempting), my husband doesn’t really like sweet foods much and prefers savory breakfast foods (eggs, bacon, potatoes, etc.).

A couple of months ago, I watched Ina Garten whip up a batch of scones in her stand mixer, with the paddle attachment.  I always prefer using my stand mixer over my food processor, as it’s a lot easier to wash – and I think my body temperature is always too warm for rubbing cold butter in my band.  And I’ve never owned a pastry blender, so I haven’t tried that method yet.  I gave Ina’s method a shot, with a scone recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.  And guess what?  It’s super easy and produced the flakiest scones.  A week later, when it was time to make pies galore for Thanksgiving, I used the stand mixer again to make my all-butter pie crusts, and produced perfect, flaky pie crusts.  This is what works for me – but of course, you should do whatever works best for you!

Even though there are only two of us, I usually make a full batch of these scones.  Then, after I cut it into wedges, I put half of them on a baking sheet and stick it in the freezer.  When they’re hardened, I store them in a freezer bag, and then can bake them straight from the freezer at a later date (just add a minute or two to the baking time) – so convenient!  You can play around with the ingredients too.  I prefer them without meat, just using cheese and scallions – increasing each by just a bit.  Next time, I’m going to try swapping out half the flour for whole wheat pastry flour.

Bacon, Scallion and Cheddar Scones

adapted from King Arthur Flour

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) cold  butter, diced into small cubes (I like to stick the butter into the freezer after dicing for 15 mins)
1 cup (4 ounces) grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely diced chives or scallions
1/2 pound bacon, cooked, cooled, and crumbled (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (7 ounces) heavy cream or whipping cream, or enough to make the dough cohesive

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment.

1) Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.

2) Work the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly.  You can do this by hand, rubbing the butter into the flour with your fingers; in the food processor; or with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  To do the latter, put the dry ingredients into the mixer bowl.  Add the chilled butter and turn the mixer on low.  It won’t look like it’s doing much at first, but after a few minutes, you’ll noticed that the butter is being worked into the flour and are in clumps of many sizes.  Do not over mix – you want the butter in pea-sized clumps – it’s the key to flaky scones!

3) Mix in the cheese, chives, and bacon until evenly distributed.

4) Add ¾ cup of the cream, mixing to combine. Try squeezing the dough together; if it’s crumbly and won’t hang together, or if there are crumbs remaining in the bottom of the bowl, add cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface.

5) Pat the dough into a smooth 7″ disk about ¾” thick. Transfer the disk to the prepared baking sheet.

6) Use a knife or bench knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges, spreading the wedges apart a bit on the pan.  At this point, you can freeze them all or however many you want on a single layer.

7) Brush the scones with a bit of cream and bake the scones for 22 to 24 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan for a few minutes. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

Yield: 8 large scones