Week Four - Cheese and Herb Scones

I realised last night at 7pm that I hadn't made the school snacks, so grabbed my latest foodie mag and had a quick skim through to see if there was anything I could make. Luckily for me this month they had a section of 5 recipes specifically for lunch boxes that are freezer friendly, so I'm going to try them all out eventually.


Settled on the Cheese and Herb Scones this week because I know I can make scones without screwing them up and I was really too stuffed to put too much effort into anything else!


Nice simple recipe and one that I hope you'll enjoy.


CHEESE AND HERB SCONES


Ingredients
3 1/2 cups of Self Raising Flour
1tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
60gm butter, chopped
2tbsp dried mixed herbs
1tsp paprika
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 cup grated tasty cheese
1 1/2 cups of milk


extra cheese for on top
extra milk for brushing


Method
1. Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan forced. Grease a 18cmx28cm base slice pan.
2. Sift flour in large bowl, add sugar and salt. Add chopped butter and use fingertips to rub it in until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add herbs and cheese to flour mixture.
4. Make a well in the centre and add milk. Use a butter knife to mix through until it forms a dough.
5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly until it comes together and then roll out to a 3cm thickness.
6. Use a 6cm cutter to cut rounds out of the dough, roll and repeat. Place them in the tray just touching each other, you should get 12 to the pan.
7. Brush scones with extra milk, sprinkle finely grated cheese over the top. Bake for 15-20mins or until light and golden and hollow when tapped.
8. Turn out onto a wire rack immediately after cooking, and separate while hot. 


Notes
Scones are best done with minimal handling. Use your fingertips to rub the butter in, and try not to let the heat from your hands melt the butter too much. Fairy fingers is what my mum says!


Same goes for the kneading process, keep it to a bare minimum so the dough doesn't become stretchy and tough. 


Variations - you can add whatever herbs you like, fresh or dried doesn't matter.  Chopped fresh chives always go well with cheese scones, add a bit of nutmeg to bring out the flavour a bit more. 


I also sprinkled the top with parmesan cheese as well as the tasty. It doesn't matter if the grated cheese goes between the scones in the pan as they puff up and the cheese helps them stick together. You could add more cheese to the mix if you wanted as well.


If you wanted to sneak more vegies in there, you could add a bit of grated carrot too.


Reviews
Scones always freeze and defrost well, and while they are served best warm and with loads of butter, these are tasty enough to be eaten on their own straight out of the lunchbox.


These scones are really quick to make, it took me literally 10mins from start to pan and that was with my two youngest 'helping' me by eating all the cheese when my back was turned, and all the other helpful things a 4 and 2 year old do while baking!