Recipes by Sue Burns, Visalia, CA
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add the chunks of butter and use your fingers or a pastry blender to cut the ingredients together until they are in dime-sized chunks.
Add the cheese, apple, and nuts and blend using the pastry cutter to incorporate them throughout.
Make a well in the center of the mixture.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg and half-and-half together and pour into the dry mixture.
Mix the ingredients until they mostly hold together. Use your hands to gather the dough, incorporating any loose flour mixture.
Flour your hands and, in the bowl or on a lightly floured board, gently fold the dough over on itself a couple of times, just until it holds together smoothly. Try not to overwork it. Shape the dough into a disc.
Bake immediately, following instructions on the next page, or wrap in plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and pat it out into a 9-inch round.
Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 8 wedges.
Place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet; brush the tops with half-and-half and grate a bit of nutmeg over each.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, until golden on the top and browned on the bottom.
Follow the directions for shaping large scones.
Cut 16 wedges instead of 8.
Bake 12-14 minutes, until golden on the top and brown on the bottom.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and pat the dough out into a large round approximately 1/2” thick.
Use a 2” round biscuit cutter dipped in flour to cut out as many as you can before gathering the dough and rolling it out again. (Do not twist the cutter; use a straight up and down motion.)
Place scones on the prepared baking pan, brush the tops with half-and-half and grate a bit of nutmeg over each.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden on the top and browned on the bottom.
Serve warm or at room temperature with apple butter, fig jam, or orange marmalade. Include mini-scones on a charcuterie platter or halved and layered with mayo/mustard and sliced meat.
To make gluten-free scones, substitute 3 cups of 1-to-1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for the all-purpose flour. Some 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blends already contain xanthan gum. Check the ingredients and add ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum if using a blend that does not.
Add any or all to the apple-cheese mixture:
¼ cup crumbled cooked bacon
¼ cup chopped dried apricots or golden raisins.
For a sweeter scone, increase the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon and add 1 teaspoon cinnamon or apple pie spice blend to the dry ingredients.
The scone dough can be shaped into a disc and frozen. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator, then cut and bake in the morning.
Baked scones can also be frozen. Cool, then wrap individually in plastic and store in an airtight bag in the freezer. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and warm in a 325F oven for approximately 10 minutes.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add the chunks of butter and use your fingers or a pastry blender to cut the ingredients together until they are in dime-sized chunks.
Add the cheese, apple, and nuts and blend using the pastry cutter to incorporate them throughout.
Make a well in the center of the mixture.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg and half-and-half together and pour into the dry mixture.
Mix the ingredients until they mostly hold together. Use your hands to gather the dough, incorporating any loose flour mixture.
Flour your hands and, in the bowl or on a lightly floured board, gently fold the dough over on itself a couple of times, just until it holds together smoothly. Try not to overwork it. Shape the dough into a disc.
Bake immediately, following instructions on the next page, or wrap in plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and pat it out into a 9-inch round.
Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 8 wedges.
Place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet; brush the tops with half-and-half and grate a bit of nutmeg over each.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, until golden on the top and browned on the bottom.
Follow the directions for shaping large scones.
Cut 16 wedges instead of 8.
Bake 12-14 minutes, until golden on the top and brown on the bottom.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and pat the dough out into a large round approximately 1/2” thick.
Use a 2” round biscuit cutter dipped in flour to cut out as many as you can before gathering the dough and rolling it out again. (Do not twist the cutter; use a straight up and down motion.)
Place scones on the prepared baking pan, brush the tops with half-and-half and grate a bit of nutmeg over each.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden on the top and browned on the bottom.
Serve warm or at room temperature with apple butter, fig jam, or orange marmalade. Include mini-scones on a charcuterie platter or halved and layered with mayo/mustard and sliced meat.
To make gluten-free scones, substitute 3 cups of 1-to-1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for the all-purpose flour. Some 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blends already contain xanthan gum. Check the ingredients and add ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum if using a blend that does not.
Add any or all to the apple-cheese mixture:
¼ cup crumbled cooked bacon
¼ cup chopped dried apricots or golden raisins.
For a sweeter scone, increase the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon and add 1 teaspoon cinnamon or apple pie spice blend to the dry ingredients.
The scone dough can be shaped into a disc and frozen. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator, then cut and bake in the morning.
Baked scones can also be frozen. Cool, then wrap individually in plastic and store in an airtight bag in the freezer. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and warm in a 325F oven for approximately 10 minutes.