Cheddar Rosemary Scones | Baking Partners June

It was very long since I baked scones. That too savoury. So for this month's Baking Partners challenge, thanks to Swathi and Archana, I finally baked simply yummy cheddar rosemary scones. Cheese and herb definitely do wonders to your appetite. So munching on the scone, lets see the recipe.

Ingredients:

Self Raising Flour: 225gms: ~ 1.8 cups 

                      OR 

All Purpose Flour 225 gms + 1.25 tsp of Baking Powder + 1/4 tsp salt

Mustard: 1.5 tsp

Salt & Pepper: a pinch each

Butter: 4 tbsp or 50 gms cold cubed

Cheddar cheese: grated : 50 gms + more for topping

Fresh Rosemary chopped: 1/4 cup

ButterMilk: 150 ml 

                  OR 

Yogurt: 100ml + water: 50 ml whipped together

Preparation:

Whip yogurt and water together to make 150 ml buttermilk.Keep aside. 

In a bowl whisk together self rising flour, salt, pepper and mustard. Incase you don't have the said flour, you can use all purpose flour mixed with baking powder and salt as in 1 cup self raising flour = 1 cup apf + 1 tsp 

baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt. 

To the flour mix, add in cubed cold butter and pinch and fluff till you get sand consistency. Mix in cheese and chopped fresh rosemary. You can go with your choice of cheese and herb and even use dried herbs.

Make a well and add in buttermilk starting with half or three fourth of the quantity and gently bring together to get a dough. Transfer this to a lightly dusted surface and continue kneading till you get a smooth dough. 

Roll out the dough into a circle with radius 3". Transfer to a greased or lined baking sheet and cut the dough into quaters and each quarter into half getting a total of 8 pieces.

Brush the top of each piece with remaining buttermilk and top with grated cheese (I went slow with this) and more fresh/dried herbs.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C (rather than 220c as mentioned in the recipe ) for about 15-20 minutes or more till the scones are slightly risen and turn brown on the top. You can see the cheese browning (as it is cheddar) and inhale the heady aroma of rosemary.The bottom should sound hollow when tapped.

Take out and serve warm with optionally more  cheese and if needed with a dip. Perfecto for tea time and snack time at school.You can try various other seasonings and even go with half wholewheat flour.Just remember to increase the amount of baking powder in this case. 

Lets see how others have enjoyed their scones and tarts at Swathi's.