Sun-dried Tomato and Cheddar Scones

sun-dried tomato and cheddar scones

As promised, here’s the recipe for the exquisite savory scones I made for Austin Bakes last weekend. People were RAVING about them (mostly me and Chris, but whatev).

Scones hail from Scotland and are pretty much like biscuits in that they have the same 3 basic ingredients: flour, butter (or some kind of solid fat), and milk or cream. Scones are typically thought of as being sweet, often flavored with dried fruits, and served at tea-time with jam and clotted cream.

But savory scones are a damn tasty snack with a cold beer in the afternoon.

I adapted a recipe from Emeril Lagasse. His called for finely chopped, cooked bacon. I substituted the sun-dried tomatoes. I also had to add more cream than was called for in his recipe. That may have had something to do with how dry it’s been here for the last several months. Gawd, it feels like an eternity since it’s even been humid! Weird.

Here is the recipe as I made it.

Sun-dried Tomato and Cheddar Scones
Recipe Type: Breads
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 35 mins
Serves: 12
Savory scone recipe
Ingredients
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 stick butter, frozen
  • 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup minced sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
  • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream plus 2 tablespoons for brushing over the tops
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
  3. Working quickly with the large-hole side of a cheese grater, grate the butter into the dry ingredients. This is my short-cut way of cutting in the butter with the flour. (I use the same technique when making biscuits.)
  4. Toss the butter shavings around the flour with a large fork.
  5. Add the cheese, onions, tomatoes and stir to combine.
  6. Add the 1 1/4 cups cream and stir together with a large spoon or spatula until it comes together into a soft ball.
  7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in half.
  8. Shape each half into a circle about 7″ diameter.
  9. Cut each circle into 6 triangular pieces.
  10. Use a spatula to move them to a baking sheet, leaving 1/2″ between them.
  11. Brush the tops with the reserved 2 tablespoons of cream.
  12. Bake about 25 minutes until golden.

Serve warm with a soup or stew, or serve at room temperature with a beer.

Click here to see How to Make Biscuits.

21 Comments

  1. Bev Weidner on October 13, 2011 at 9:26 am

    This just sent my day in the most beautiful direction.

    • Hilah on October 14, 2011 at 8:16 am

      I’m picturing you jumping around the sky, bouncing off of scone-clouds.

  2. Great Stone Face on October 13, 2011 at 10:11 am

    Scones and beer. Well, you did live in Australia. Sounds good.

    • Hilah on October 14, 2011 at 8:14 am

      Ha! It’s totally good and very Australian.

  3. Rachael Macry on October 13, 2011 at 10:13 am

    Oh hell. There goes my no-bread rule!! I…cannot…resist… 🙂

    • Hilah on October 14, 2011 at 8:13 am

      Oh noooo! Sorry, Rachel! Just make them and share with your neighbors or something. Good karma plus good snacks!

      • Rachael Macry on October 14, 2011 at 12:29 pm

        oh, no. I am sure I will have to eat some! I cannot stop thinking of these since you posted. I would only break the rules for the best of reasons and I’m saying this is gonna be right up there at the top! Thank you!! [living dangerously through carbs]

  4. Randy on October 17, 2011 at 1:18 pm

    Well, despite the Emeril connection (I made one of his recipes once and it really sucked), the fact that you had to fix his recipe was enough to inspire me to try this. Pretty damned good. It goes great with homemade (actually I think it only comes in homemade) spicy tomato jam!

    • Hilah on October 18, 2011 at 5:20 pm

      Yum! That sounds totally radical, Randy!

      • Randy on October 18, 2011 at 7:24 pm

        Unfortunately, I’ve used up my 20 free NY Times articles for the month so I can’t post the link to Mark Bittman’s recipe for tomato jam. I stole the idea for serving tomato jam with savory scones from a UK program called Perfect: Afternoon Tea. The recipe the chef used is here http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/645064 I haven’t tried it, but it looks hotter than Bittman’s which isn’t surprising since Bittman’s a wimp when it comes to heat.

        • Great Stone Face on October 18, 2011 at 9:22 pm

          Here you go–

          VIDEO: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/08/19/dining/1194817095382/tomato-jam.html

          August 19, 2008
          The Minimalist
          A Sweet Science Without Tomato Cans
          By MARK BITTMAN

          OVER the years, I’d been served what people called tomato jam, but it was never so thrilling that I was motivated to figure out how to produce it myself.

          But more than two years ago, at a notably inventive tapas bar in Barcelona called Quimet y Quimet, I had one that forced my hand. Served plain, on bread, it was sensational; with tuna, meat or white fish, it was even more compelling.

          Good tomatoes (thus the timing of this column) and balance are crucial. You need sugar for the kind of gooey, sticky quality we associate with jam; otherwise, all you’re producing is a tomato sauce, no matter how different the flavor is from the classic.

          Once you add that sugar, however, you need acid, because even though tomatoes are plenty acidic, they can’t counter all that sugar. I tried lemon juice, vinegar and finally lime, deciding that I liked the last best.

          This made me want to include ginger, which I believe is not paired with tomatoes frequently enough anyway. From there it was a simple enough step to include the remaining spices.

          The mixture was pretty much as I wanted it, except for bite. A minced jalapeño took care of that. The process is pretty easy: put just about everything in a saucepan and cook until it’s jammy.

          What they’d think of it at Quimet y Quimet I have no idea, but it’s made tomato jam a permanent part of my summer repertory.

          Recipe
          Tomato Jam

          1-1/2 pounds good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped
          1 cup sugar
          2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
          1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
          1 teaspoon ground cumin
          1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
          1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
          1 teaspoon salt
          1 jalapeño or other peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste.

          1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan, Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
          2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.
          Yield: About 1 pint.

          • Hilah on October 19, 2011 at 10:12 am

            Holy Moly that sounds incredible. I’m so sad peak tomato season is over!!! Until next year…
            Well, I might try it anyway.



          • Randy on October 20, 2011 at 7:52 pm

            I make tomato jam all year long. In my opinion, Roma tomatoes are good no matter what the season. On the other hand, they are never really great, so I wonder at Bittman’s choice.



          • Randy on October 20, 2011 at 7:56 pm

            The Perfect recipe calls for canned tomatoes. I’m going to try it and will probably also try doing a mashup of the two recipes.



  5. Inge Schön-Valdez on October 29, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    Hi Hilah, my mouth is watering! I will so make these scones next weekend! Might add some diced ham to the recipe and see what happens…

    Thank you for all your work and efforts!

    • Hilah on October 31, 2011 at 11:37 am

      Hi Inge!
      That sounds like a great addition. Let me know how they turn out. Thanks for writing!
      -hilah

  6. Lady Lovington on October 30, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    I wrote a comment here last night, but it’s not showing… maybe I did something wrong? Anyway, all I wrote was something along the lines of “Just found your show/site etc… love it…” and that I’ll make these and add some diced ham to the recipe.

    Keep up the great job!

  7. Jackie on November 1, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    Hey Hilah! This scone recipe sounds fucking awesome. I especially love your trick for freezing and grating the butter! Now I can’t wait to make my own biscuits… do you do this for pie crust too? I suppose I could look up the recipe but I’m pretty damn lazy.

    I LOVE YOUR SHOW. Keep up the bad-assness!

    • Hilah on November 1, 2011 at 3:19 pm

      Whattup, Jackie!
      Thanks, girl! I do use this trick for pie crust sometimes, too. But I haven’t made an episode on that yet. I oughtta do that for Thanksgiving or Christmas or something. hmm.
      Thanks for writing! I SHALL KEEP IT UP!!! 🙂

  8. Rachael Macry on January 3, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    Hilah, I came back to this post to report: We made the scones a little while ago, and then, every week since!! I passed the recipe on to my husband, because he is the bread man in our house- I can make bread, I have made bread, lots of bread, in fact biscuits from the Joy of Cooking was one of my earliest recipes I made ‘all by myself’. But, my husband comes from a long line of Italian cooks and breadmakers, and since I am so good at everything else in the kitchen I decided to let him have bread. HA!

    Anyway. Sundried tomato and cheddar scones. They are good. SO good. They are good with a nice steak and simple grilled asparagus. They are good with red beans and rice. They are good with butter… and just as good without. They are good hot right out of the oven, and these sundried tomato and cheddar scones are downright righteous on an afternoon snack spread when you are hungry but have dinner plans scheduled a little later (aka heavy tea. but we don’t drink tea, we drink beer). (Actually we do drink tea, just not in the afternoon!)

    Thanks, Hilah!

    • Hilah on January 4, 2012 at 12:15 pm

      Thanks so much for the report, Rachael! That is kind of you to give your husband the bread duties. 😉

      And it is ESPECIALLY kind of you to remind me that I need to make these scones again, too! I like your “heavy tea” schedule.

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