Cheddar Garlic Savory Scones
I love these scones. They are tender, cheesy and full of garlic flavor. They are great for breakfast, lunch, dinner and, of course, teatime. Because these are drop scones, they are super simple to make and there's little mess. Make a double batch, portion out scoops and freeze. Pull out what you want and bake straight from the freezer. This recipe is one you’ll be happy to have in your collection.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup butter, chilled or frozen
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set to the side.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, garlic powder, salt and baking soda.
- Cut butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Toss Cheddar cheese into flour mixture and mix until cheese is evenly distributed and completely coated with flour.
- Slowly, add 1 cup buttermilk and mix lightly. Add another 1/2 cup of buttermilk and mix into the dough. Add more as needed to achieve a soft dough. Do not overwork the dough. Mix gently until the buttermilk and the flour mixture come together.
- Scoop dough into 2" mounds on prepared baking sheet about 2" apart. For consistent portions, use an ice cream or large cookie scoop.
- *Note: dough may be frozen or baked at this point. To freeze dough, simply allow dough to freeze on the baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer to freezer storage bag removing as much air as possible. Label and date. When ready to bake, remove scones from freezer and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Bake following the recipe directions below.
- Bake 14-15 minutes or until scones are lightly golden brown.
- Serve warm.
Notes
These Cheddar Garlic Savory Scones are among my favorite scone flavors. I make these often as a dinner side. The fragrance of garlic wafts from the kitchen and draws my family to the table just a little more quickly than usual. As with all my scone recipes, this recipe is easy to make and quite versatile. The amount of garlic I listed in the recipe can be adjusted more or less to suit your taste. I sometimes even replace the garlic with dried dill and, let me tell you, they are crazy good! Cheddar Dill Savory Scones are great with brunch as well as spring and summer suppers. For this post however, we are going garlic…and that’s always a delicious direction in my book.
I have two important techniques to making excellent scones. First, make sure your butter 
and buttermilk are cold and I mean very cold. I store sticks of butter in the freezer for impromptu scone making. Rather than busting out the food processor or that darn pastry blender, I grate frozen butter using a sturdy box grater. It’s a super easy way to “cut” the butter into the dry mixture. Frozen butter grates perfectly and makes the most adorable little curlicues. This technique is lightning fast and using it I can make a batch of scones in less than 10 minutes. And, if you’re wondering about the quality of these scones. I promise there is no sacrifice of
texture for the convenience. In fact, the resulting crumb in these scones is light, tender and absolutely superb.
The second technique I employ is using the right tool to measure the flour. This way I never over measure the amount of flour called for in any recipe whether I’m making scones, cookies or breads. Here’s exactly what I do to ensure an accurate measurement. First, I use a fork to fluff the flour to get some air back into it. Second, I only and always use a dry measure cup (the kind that nest) and, third, I never “tamp” the flour down after I measure some out. Instead, I scoop my measuring cup into the flour—that I fluffed— and level off the excess with the back of a knife. Why do I do this? Easy answer. Flour is so fine that it easily compacts causing fluctuations in measured amounts. Weighing flour is the most reliable method for achieving an exact measurement, but most of the time as a busy mom and business owner…and busy mom…I’m looking for ease and simplicity when I bake. I’m not keen on whipping out the kitchen scale and fumbling around Google for cup to weight exchanges for all-purpose flour. Being mindful of this simple technique saves me time and helps prevent baking failures. Using too much flour in a recipe is a common culprit when baked goods go wrong. So remember: fluff, scoop and scrape. No more tamping your flour. (That sounds so odd.)
Having said that, let’s start our scones! If you choose to grate your butter, which I highly recommend, go ahead and get one a half sticks of butter in the freezer if you haven’t already done so. (Tip: keep a few sticks of butter in your freezer, at some point your future self will thank you.) Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set to the side.
Next, find your favorite dough bowl and a 1-cup nesting measuring cup. Fluff your all-purpose flour and properly measure three cups into your bowl (scoop then scrape). As accurately as you measured the flour, measure the baking powder and add to the bowl. Add the salt, garlic powder (as much or as little as you like) and the baking soda. Mix these together well.
Using your preferred method, cut the butter into the flour mixture. Again, I recommend grating frozen butter into the dry ingredients. A pastry blender or sharp knife will accomplish this as well–but, not as easily. (A food processor is also a good tool for cutting butter into the flour mixture. Rather than measuring your flour into a mixing bowl, measure all the dry ingredients into the bowl of your food processor. Cut very cold butter into 1″ pieces and toss in. Pulse several times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Be careful to not over process the butter or you’ll end up with something akin to piecrust that will never become a good scone.)
Once the butter is cut into the dry mixture, use a large fork to mix it into the flour. Use a light, upward motion to keep the butter pieces from sticking together and becoming globby. (You know what “globby” means, don’t you?) Next, add the shredded Cheddar cheese using the same motion to evenly distribute the shredded cheese throughout the mixture.
Measure the buttermilk and slowly pour half of it into the cheese and flour mixtu
re. Use the same light, upward motions used to mix in the butter and cheese to work in the buttermilk. Push the dough to the side of the bowl and add more buttermilk as needed; pour additional buttermilk over any pockets of dry mixture in the bottom of the bowl. Continue gently mixing the wet and dry ingredients, but stop once the dough has come together. Always be tender when mixing scone dough. Over mixing the dough will over work the gluten in the flour and will result in a tough, dense scone. The finished dough will be sticky and soft, but should easily hold its shape.
Scoop 2″ mounds of dough about 2″ apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake 14-15 minutes or until the scones are lightly golden. Serve immediately. Refrigerate any leftovers, if there are any left that is. These keep for about 3-4 days and can be easily reheated in oven to serve warm. Simply wrap in foil and heat in a 350°F for about 10 minutes. Tip: Baked scones can also be frozen just as unbaked scones can be. Just lay out on a baking sheet and place the tray in the freezer for several hours. Once the scones are frozen through, transfer to a freezer storage bag. Be sure to label and date. Baked scones will keep up to a month while unbaked dough portions will keep for up to two months. Be sure to wrap well and remove as much air as possible to help prevent freezer burn.
These scones make an excellent tea time treat, but in my house we eat these alongside soup and salad and even with eggs for a savory breakfast treat. I encourage you to make a double batch; bake half and freeze half. If you’re ever in a pinch and need to add a little something extra to dinner, you’ll have these little gems on standby!
I hope you enjoy these Cheddar Garlic Savory Scones as much as my family and I do. Please leave a comment in the comment section and share your pictures.
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