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.