Savory Scones

September 1, 2010

Some people love breakfast.  Other people only eat breakfast because they know they are supposed to and they know that if they don’t, they will inhale an entire table’s worth of food for lunch.  I put myself in the second category.  I never feel hungry in the morning and, consequently, I eat one of the same three things every single day.  Having a rotation of three things is actually fairly recent.  Up until this year, I ate a Luna bar every day for nine years.  Nine years.  Now I alternate with thrilling things like yogurt and cereal.

Sweet scones are all well and good but how about a savory scone?  I made these with a combination of dill and aged Cheddar but there are many other combos that would work.  Roasted red pepper and feta, scallion and chèvre, thyme and Gruyère all sound good to me.  I like the idea of serving these with some soup on a fall day in addition to offering them to friends for breakfast.

For this basic recipe, you use a (homemade) scone mix.  After I made the blueberry ones, I had just enough left over for another batch.  I kept the mix in the refrigerator and was so happy to have some on hand so I could make treats for my guests.


Scones previously on Dana Treat:
Almond Praline Scones, Classic Currant Scones|
One Year Ago:
Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes
Two Years Ago:
Fresh Summer Rolls with Tofu

Savory Scones

Adapted from With Love & Butter
Makes 12 scones

For this recipe, you will need approximately half the Scone Mix.  Or if you want, you can double the Savory Scones and freeze half of them.  Lots of options.

4½ cups Scone Mix
½ cup coarsely grated Cheddar cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh dill
1 large shallot, chopped
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup cottage cheese

Preheat the oven to 375ºF with the rack in center position.  In a medium bowl, toss together the Scone Mix, cheese, dill, shallot, and pepper.  Drizzle the buttermilk over the surface and blob in the cottage cheese.  (DT: “Blob” is Holly’s word!)  Stir until mixed.  If the dough is too dry to stick together when pressed, add a bit more buttermilk.  You want to be able to make a nice firm shape.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into two disks about 1½-inches thick.  Cut each disk into 6 wedges and arrange 1-inch apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake in two batches if they don’t fit on one sheet.  Bake 15 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until the scones are light brown on top and darker on the bottom, and no longer soft and doughy in the center.  When judging doneness, don’t rely on the color of the tops alone.  The tops can look quite light and undone while the bottoms are getting quite brown.

Scone Mix
4½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1½ tbsp. baking powder
1¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
2¾ sticks cold butter, sliced

Place all the ingredients except the butter in a large bowl and mix.

Fit your food processor with the steel knife blade.  Put half the butter in the bowl and top with half the dry ingredients.  Pulse until the butter is reduced to pearl-sized bits.  Don’t over process or it will turn into a dough, you want a dry mix.  Pour the processed mixture into another large empty bowl.  Repeat this process with the remaining dry ingredients and butter.  Be sure to break up any large lumps of butter and, when through, toss thoroughly with your fingers.

Transfer the scone mix to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 months, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.



26 Comments »

  1. I count myself as one of the rare people who love breakfast but not breakfast food (the idea of eating pancakes for dinner makes me queasy). Part of it is that I don’t much like sweet stuff in the morning, and so much breakfast food is sweet. These are great though — I love cheddar dill scones.

    Comment by Kate @Savour Fare — September 1, 2010 @ 11:20 pm

  2. I love sweet and savory scones. These would be great for brunch or with a salad for lunch. I followed the IFBC tweets, so sad I missed out:(

    Comment by Maria — September 1, 2010 @ 11:52 pm

  3. Nine years! Dana, Luna should pay you to be a spokesperson or something! Talk about a product endorsement! These scones look nicer to me, though. :)

    Comment by Shannalee — September 1, 2010 @ 11:55 pm

  4. Oh. Yum. I am a breakfast eater, but always looking for a savory option – since I work with chocolate all day, I don’t crave sweets in the morning! Savory scones are fabulous, somehow I’ve forgotten about them. I used to make some with pesto which were super tasty – although green, not the most appetizing color for pastry! These sound deeelightful!

    Comment by Stephanie - Chocolate and Toast — September 1, 2010 @ 11:57 pm

  5. I’m actually a breakfast lover, although I do have the same thing every day. I think I love it so much because that’s when I do most of my blogging. It’s just such so refreshing to wake up early and sit around with my cup of coffee and my oatmeal and catch up on my blogs. I might have to add scones to my rotation though. Savory ones. Like these. Delicious.

    Comment by Joanne — September 2, 2010 @ 1:00 am

  6. I love scones but never really experiment with savory flavors and I don’t know why. They always sound so good, especially these!

    Comment by Katie @ goodLife {eats} — September 2, 2010 @ 1:31 am

  7. Oh thank god you posted these!! I was dreaming of them the other day! Love those shallots in there! I’m also gonna make the almond white chocolate chip cookies! Although I don’t have any white choc chips. Wondering if a chopped up block of white chocolate will work….I guess we’ll see!

    Comment by tracy — September 2, 2010 @ 2:37 am

  8. Being one of those guests who got to nosh on these delicious scones, I can tell you they were delicious! A must to make!!

    Comment by Chez Us — September 2, 2010 @ 4:12 am

  9. I really hate breakfast food! Anything savory is much preferable – thanks for the suggestion. I prefer savory soup, spicy hot scones, or any left overs to traditional breakfast. Thanks for the options!

    Comment by Dawn — September 2, 2010 @ 4:48 am

  10. There are definitely mornings when a savory scone is preferred! This sounds delicious.

    Comment by Joseph's Grainery — September 2, 2010 @ 4:56 am

  11. Roasted red pepper sounds like a great addition, and I’d say there are very few cheeses which wouldn’t work in a scone!

    Comment by Southern Elle — September 2, 2010 @ 11:10 am

  12. I love savoury scones! And savoury muffins. Basically put cheese and herbs in something and I will be a happy camper. These look awesome and I’m totally a breakfast person…

    Comment by Angharad — September 2, 2010 @ 1:58 pm

  13. I love that you have a scone mix on hand! I love savoury things & I’m shocked that I haven’t made savoury scones ever. These look awesome.

    Comment by kickpleat — September 2, 2010 @ 6:34 pm

  14. Honestly I never made scones, but like the sweet one so I am sure that would love the savory one as well, and they sure looks yummie!

    Comment by Juliana — September 2, 2010 @ 9:01 pm

  15. Lovely scones! I make a lot of sweet scones, but I have not made nearly enough savory scones. I’m especially fond of the scone mix idea, too… My mind is spinning with all of the ideas of how to put that to good use!

    Comment by Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction — September 2, 2010 @ 11:37 pm

  16. Oh thank you for this recipe Dana! I’ve never been a fan of sweet muffins, but I love a decent savoury one. I just know this is going to become a favourite.
    Robyn x

    PS: Devouring my copy of Plenty. I feel like a kid at Christmas – I don’t know which recipe to start with, i want o make them ALL!

    Comment by Koek! — September 3, 2010 @ 10:00 am

  17. PS: What can you recommend if I don’t have ‘scone mix’?

    Comment by Koek! — September 3, 2010 @ 10:19 am

  18. I am definitely in that second category too. Granola Bars every morning for me! BUT if I ever make breakfast, it is always of the savory variety. These look awesome!

    Comment by fresh365 — September 3, 2010 @ 1:47 pm

  19. I am mostly impressed that you ate a Luna bar for 9 years! Wow! These look great, I’d grab one of these before a sweet scone for sure.

    Comment by Sara — September 3, 2010 @ 4:01 pm

  20. Savory a cones are a brilliant idea. I am a lover of all things breakfast :)

    Comment by Redmenace — September 5, 2010 @ 3:33 am

  21. […] available), put us up in her gorgeous abode with warm beds, and kept us full (and punchy) with {dana} treats from her kitchen and cellar. [We're also grateful for Dana's husband who was a good sport […]

    Pingback by Girls Re{treat} at Hotel Dana Treat and a Weekend of Eating | Gourmeted.com — September 7, 2010 @ 8:24 pm

  22. […] Savory Scones [recipe] […]

    Pingback by alist-20100908 | Gourmeted.com — September 8, 2010 @ 4:56 pm

  23. Savoury scones are one of my favourite things to eat! I love that there’s cottage cheese in these.

    Comment by Ashley — September 9, 2010 @ 1:20 am

  24. […] I got the recipe from Dana, and for me they are Dana Treats even if they adapted from Holly Bower‘s (aka Holly B of Holly B’s Bakery in Lopez Island Washington) recipe. Mmmm…scones […]

    Pingback by Dana Treat Scones: Savory Cheese-Dill | Gourmeted.com — September 12, 2010 @ 4:50 am

  25. […] decided to try making savory scones.  I had never made scones of any type before, but this recipe really caught my eye, so I tried it out.  I didn’t use fresh dill because I couldn’t […]

    Pingback by Astranoir » Food Night 06 October 2010 — October 7, 2010 @ 3:53 am

  26. […] Dana Treat Savory Scones […]

    Pingback by Chez Us » Savory Parmesan and Black Pepper Scones (with buttermilk) — October 19, 2010 @ 6:15 pm



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