Cheese Scones

One of my favourite recipes, and easy to adapt. One of my friends over in Australia has asked for this and so I thought I would pop it on here rather than just emailing it over to him. Cheese Scones.

Sift 250g self-raising flour with 2tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, cayenne, paprika and nutmeg (pepper also works well) into a large bowl. Grate 150g cheese and add to the dry ingredients. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Beat together one egg, 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 75 ml milk. Pour wet into dry and mix very well. Start with a wooden spoon but then work with your hands. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface and push out until 1/4" thick. Fold dough over on itself, push down a little and use a cutter to make rounds. Add a little extra grated cheese to the top of each (optional but highly recommended). Place onto a lined baking sheet and pop into the oven for 20 minutes. This will make 5/6 large scones.

The folding of the dough is the important bit of this recipe because when you then bake the scones they will open out and give you the lovely split that makes cheese scones look so lovely. This can be as healthy or naughty as you like - low fat cheddar and skimmed milk, plus smaller scones will make it a bit better (if you only have one). Or full fat cheese (I love using Tickler cheddar) and whole milk makes it all the more luxurious. Toppings also can be a lot of fun to play around with, tomato, cream cheese, or flavoured butters.

Vick. vclinde@gmail.com www.vclinde.co.uk @vclinde