Feast & Lore

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scone

Bacon Cheddar Green Onion Scones

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A savoury scone with melted cheese, bacon and green onions

Savoury, crisp, buttery and melt-in-your-mouth—this is an excellent scone I love to serve with my fav butternut squash soup. These really hit the spot served warm with a little extra butter served on the side, because you can really never have too much butter! The green onions round out the bacon and cheddar and add something a little unexpected to these scones that really takes them over the top.

Based on Emeril’s Bacon Cheddar Cheese Scone recipe, I follow the original pretty closely except I typically use half-and-half cream rather than heavy (whipping) cream. I also prefer to cut in the butter first, as I find when trying to do this with the cheese and the onions at the same you aren’t able to blend the butter with the flour as well as I would like for optimal dough cohesion.

Cheddar and onions are cut into the dough

Above you can see the cheddar and green onions going in to the dry ingredients—you can see how the butter has already been cut in. Once the cheddar and green onions are well integrated, I add the bacon which will break up a bit more as you mix it in, which is just fine.

Closeup of bacon added to the dough

Once you’ve added the bacon, the cream is added and you can lightly work this into a dough. You need to knead the dough enough that you can’t see any more areas of flour and it’s just holding together. You don’t to overwork it. Then you divide the dough into two even halves. Either on a floured countertop, or directly on the prepared parchment, press each half into a flattened disc about 7″ wide. The disks need to be placed onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Dough is flattened into 2 equal size disks

Cut each disc of dough into eight wedges, making 16 scones. Brush on some additional cream to create a lovely golden colour on the baked scones.

Each disk of dough is cut into 8 wedges and brushed with cream

Warm out of the oven, the scones are crisp, buttery and flakey. At the same time they aren’t too heavy and I find the texture to be somewhat light for a scone. This recipe is a real keeper, I hope you’ll give it a try and let me know how it turned out!

Cheddar bacon scones, warm from the oven

A savoury scone with melted cheese, bacon and green onions
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Bacon Cheddar Green Onion Scones

Savoury, crisp, buttery and melt-in-your-mouth—an excellent scone I love to serve with my fav butternut squash soup.

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 52 minutes
Servings 16 scones

Ingredients

  • 4 slices bacon
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 1 cup half-and-half cream plus 2 tbsp

Instructions

  1. Prepare a large baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400°.

  2. Cook bacon strips until they are crisp (I like to place bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 400° for 15 minutes, flipping half-way through). Drain on paper towel dabbing off excess grease. Roughly chop and set aside.

  3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and pepper. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until the texture consists of fine lumps. Add cheese and green onions, cutting the cheese into the flour mixture. Add bacon and combine. Add 1 cup of cream and work with your hands to mix into a sticky dough. Combine just until flour isn't visible and the dough holds together, don't overwork it.

  4. Split dough into 2 equal halves. Flatten each half into a circle on the parchment lined baking sheet, about 7" in diameter. Cut each circular disk into 8 wedges. Spread out the pieces to leave a 1/2" space between them. Brush the tops lightly with the remaining cream.

  5. Bake until golden brown, 20–22 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve warm.

Savoury scones with melted cheese and bacon
Savoury, crisp, buttery melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

Whole Wheat Cranberry Apple Scones

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Apples, cranberries and flour in a bowl

Ever purchase some specialty flour like cake or whole wheat, only to have it sit there for a year and never have any need for it again? Determined not to let that happen to my recently purchased whole wheat flour, I decided to try out this recipe for scones. While this scone is not the buttery, crisp on the outside, melt-in-your-mouth scone of my dreams, they were a great mid-day snack and would be a lovely addition to any brunch. Bonus: unlike their buttery brethren, these will actually leave you feeling good after you eat them.

scone broken apart showing juicy cranberries on a red rimmed china plate

Based somewhat on a recipe from Epicurious, I changed things up by using fresh apples and cranberries rather than dried. I also substituted fresh pressed apple cider for the frozen concentrate, and I didn’t have buttermilk so went with the traditional substitution of milk and vinegar (1/2 cup milk with 1/2 tbsp milk). I also didn’t want to add yet another type of flour to my pantry so used rolled oats instead of oat flour.

Upon following the recipe I found the dough was very sticky and the scones lost their shape in the oven. To minimize the loss of shape, I suggest chilling the shaped dough on the baking sheet in the fridge for 20 minutes before popping them into the oven.

If you don’t want to make 12 all at once, these also freeze quite well—place shaped scones onto a baking sheet and freeze in a single layer; remove from sheet and wrap in plastic or a ziplock freezer bag.

scone broken apart showing juicy cranberries on a red rimmed china plate
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Whole Wheat Cranberry Apple Scones

A healthy take on scones with whole grains and fresh fruit, a great snack or addition to brunch.

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 12 scones

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter chilled, cut into cubes (1 stick of butter)
  • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
  • 1/2 cup diced fresh apple
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup half and half cream for glaze
  • 1/4 cup fresh apple cider
  • 1 egg (large)
  • coarse sugar crystals

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prep work surface with plastic wrap to roll and shape dough onto.

  2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl, blend. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cranberries and apples and toss together.

  3. Whisk 1/2 cup buttermilk, cider and egg in a small bowl to combine. Add buttermilk, tossing until evenly moistened. Knead 2–3 turns in the bowl, then turn out onto the prepared plastic wrap, shaping into two 6" disks. Cut each disc into 6 wedges. Arrange scones onto baking sheet, spacing 1" apart. Place baking sheet in fridge for 20 minutes.

  4. Remove baking sheet from fridge, brush with half and half, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until puffed and golden, and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.