CHEESE SCONES.
This is my favourite treat after a long day.
It might seem at first like too much work to make scones when you are tired but they are ridiculously easy, barely any washing up and just SO good straight from the oven with cold butter and nice cup of tea - 100% worth the effort.
Ingredients...
8oz self-raising flour
1.5oz butter
pinch salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
50g mature cheddar cheese (or whatever you have)
150ml milk
Method...
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/160 fan/gas 5. Line a tray.
Place the flour in a bowl and add the salt and sugar. Add the butter in smallish pieces and 'rub together' (this simply means to rub together the butter with the dry ingredients between your fingers and thumbs until the mix ends up looking like breadcrumbs).
Grate in the cheese and give it a quick stir. Then pour in the milk bit by bit until the mix comes together to form a dough (you might not need all of the milk so go steady).
Sprinkle your work surface with a bit of flour and tip out the dough. Gently pat out so its a bit less than 1 inch thick and cut with a round cutter, placing the scones onto the tray.
I usually don't bother with all the above though - I simply break the dough into pieces and place on the tray.
Brush the top with a little milk (or pat it on with your hand if no brush/cant be bothered to find a brush..) and place into the oven.
Bake for something like 15 minutes until golden on top (the bottom will sound 'hollow' when you tap it too).
Makes 4 large scones.
Tips...
Don't knead the mixture much at all (otherwise it can get tough and dry)
If your dough is too wet, just add a little more flour.
This is a very forgiving recipe so don't worry all that much about being completely accurate - often my butter just gets chucked in and I rarely measure the cheese or milk out.
You can add any extras you fancy... like chopped olives, sun-dried tomatoes, cooked bacon pieces...
Half of the above recipe is enough for one hungry person for dinner and works well served with a peppery salad.
Enjoy!
