My emergency bread <3. I love scones because you can make them quickly, easily and they don’t need yeast. Because let’s face it: it’s more likely to have baking powder than yeast at home! These ham and cheese scones are perfect for breakfast, tea time and brunch. You can eat them alone, with a bit of butter or even with scrambled eggs.
If you like savoury scones you might also be interested in my savoury scones with seeds which have the same recipe base as this recipe. To either recipe you can also add spices and chopped fresh herbs. They’re really easy to modify with those. However, if you prefer a sweet, more classic scone refer to these recipes:
I love these ham and cheese scones for breakfast. They’re the kind that both kids and adults love because they have ham and cheese which we all like. You can also make them with only cheese or only ham is you prefer, who am I to judge ;). Scones are the bread that I always make whenever I have a breakfast or brunch programmed with friends. It’s perfect for that because the dough can be left overnight in the fridge and then on the day of the breakfast you just roll it out and bake. Ta-dah! Freshly baked bread for everyone.
It’s important that you choose a firm and melting type of cheese such as Mozzarella, Edam, Mantecoso, Gouda, Parmesano, Cheddar. Also, if you feel creative, you can even use a mix of the cheeses you have available. I don’t recommend using blue cheese, brie or camembert because they go too liquidy when they melt. As for the ham, you can use any type. I used turkey ham because it’s the kind we eat at home but it could be pork, chicken, etc. I would not recommend though to use something like serrano ham because it would be too overpowering for such a delicate little bread. The other thing that would work really well is bacon! You would need to cook it, cool it down and chop it up before incorporating.
Ingredients
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 80 g unsalted butter cold and cut in cubes
- 120 ml milk regular, skimmed, lactose-free, vegetable milk or it could even be water
- 100 g chopped or grated cheese it needs to be a melting type such as Mozzarella, Cheddar, Gouda, Parmesan, Edam
- 100 g ham chopped
Instructions
- Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl. Pinch the butter with your fingers mixing it with the rest of the ingredients until you get a texture that looks like wet sand and there are no large lumps of butter left. If you feel that your hands are always really warm, you might want to hold an ice cube for a while before you do this. This step can also be done in a food processor.
- Add the ham and cheese and mix them in.
- Add the milk and mix in using a spatula until it doesn’t help anymore. Finish to incorporate the ingredients by mixing with your hands. Don't knead it though, only mix enough to incorporate or it could go tough.
- Flatten the dough and wrap it. Let it rest in the fridge for 30min or up to 2 days.
- Take it out and roll it out on a floured surface until it’s 2cm or 3/4in thick.
- Cut them however you like: triangles, circles, hearts, etc. When you’re bringing the scraps of dough together to stretch it again make sure you mix it nicely. It helps if your hands are damp when you do this. This dough is quite flaky so it’s a bit stubborn when you’re trying to mix it and wants to divide up again.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C / 350°F on a baking tray lined with baking paper or silpat for 20-30min or until golden.
