Scottish Cheese Scones

I was in Scotland for the first time in my life. Went on holiday with my hubby. We managed to go during the most magical time, which was end of September, beginning of October. Conclusion: Scotland is so extremly beautiful, I want to go back immediately! Of course we tried lots of Scottish classics such as haggis. It took very little time to realize that every tiny (“wee” in Scottish) café would offer a soup of the day. I mean, it probably comes as no surprise, it was windy, it was chilly, and I can imagine the winter months to be long in Scotland. A nice soup is perfect to warm up. Usually this soup was served with thick (!) slices of sourdough bread or cheese scones made with cheddar. I believe in the US and Canada these would be considered “biscuits” as they were also cut round and also had a lot of layers. The best cheese scones I tried in Scotland were the ones from Bad Girl Bakery in Inverness (I was not paid to say this). Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, I was so busy enjoying this super delicious cheese scone, I completely forgot. You can get a peek on the Insta of Bad Girl Bakery if you want. Regardless, I was determined to reproduce this delicious cheese scone.

As soon as I was back in Munich, I got to work. Theoretically speaking scones are simple, few ingredients, short baking time. But alas, I had to make them several times until they finally turned out the way I remembered them. Luckily, there is the recipe of scones from Bad Girl Bakery in the Internet, I had a wonderful starting point. But as is often the case with simple recipes, to really get them properly, this becomes an art. Below I have summerized the points for sucessful scones, tall and with a high rise:

Tips for Perfect Scones

• The butter should be cold and quickly worked into crumbs.
• Buttermilk is magic, if you can, please use buttermilk and not milk or cream, they will be so much better!
• You will need quite a large amount of baking powder for this recipe. In the UK you can buy “self-raising flour”, which equals flour which was mixed with baking powder. Be sure to use fresh baking powder that lifts your scones.
• Don’t overwork the dough, if it still feels a bit crumbly, that is fine. Rather underwork than overwork it.
• There are three reasons for flaky scones: #1, you will fold the dough over so that you have many layers, #2 don’t twist the cookie cutter, but only press it firmly down when cutting out scones, #3 scones need to be baked at a pretty high temperature so that the baking powder is immediately activated and they get a nice rise.
• Originally I cut them out too thin, 3-4cm is about right.

I served these cheese scones with “tattie soup”, which is Scottish potato and leek soup

Print Recipe

Scottish Cheese Scones

Serves: About 6 scones, depending on size

Prep Time: 20min – Cooking Time: 15min – Total Time: 35min

These Scottish cheese scones are made with buttermilk and folded so that they rise high and are super flaky.

Ingredients

• 130 grams of strong cheddar
• 250 grams of all-purpose flour
• 1 package (16 grams) of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt, pepper to taste
• 50 grams of cold butter
• 130-150 grams of cold buttermilk

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Grate the cheddar.

2

Mix flour, baking powder and salt/pepper in a large bowl. Add the cold butter in small chunks. Work into crumbs quickly, then add about 100 grams of the cheddar and mix in briefly. Pour about 130 grams of buttermilk in the middle and mix with a fork. Then knead with your hands briefly, you want a cohesive dough, however, if it still is crumbly, it is OK, rather underwork than overwork this. If needed, add a dash of additional buttermilk. Now put on a lightly floured surface and press into a rectangle. Using a rolling pin, lightly roll out slightly bigger, but be gentle. Now you want to fold it like a business letter into three parts. Again roll lightly with a rolling pin and fold into a buisness letter again. Do this another last time. Roll into a rectangle with about 4cm height.

3

Using a cookie cutter with about 7cm in diameter (you can also use a small bowl) cut out scones. Be sure to cut down without twisting the cookie cutter, you want a clean cut down. If you have nothing at hand, you can also just cut into squares with a knife. Roll out the remaining dough, you should have enough for 6 scones, I had a little left I threw into the oven for the last ten minutes. Place the scones side by side, almost touching. Only brush the top with additional buttermilk and sprinkle the remaining grated cheddar on top. Bake for 15min or until golden. Serve warm.