Quick cheese scones recipe

I blogged a fruit scones recipe back in January and was reminded as we

Cheese scones 

ate a cheese scone lunch today that I had not yet gotten around to posting this recipe too. Low on health benefits, but high on taste cheese scones make a cheap and filling lunch which is surprisingly easy and quick to bake. They can also be made the basis of a more impressive meal - top a casserole with cheese scones instead of pastry to turn it into a cobbler, or serve warm cheese scones with a dainty bowl of cream cheese and another of that Christmas chutney languishing in the fridge door as a savoury version of the classic Afternoon Tea.

Ingredients
8oz plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
Pinch each of salt and pepper
40g butter
2 tsp dried parsley
50g grated strong cheese like cheddar or 2 tbsp of a grated hard cheese like parmesan
150ml milk

Preheat the oven to 220c and grease a baking tray (or dust it with flour).

Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. I like to use a half-and-half white and wholemeal flour mix. Dave prefers all white flour. Add the salt and pepper, mixing in well.

Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Try to keep lifting the flour as you work it. Ideally it needs to stay as cool and dry as possible, not go into a buttery clump!

Stir in the parley and the grated cheese.

Add the milk slowly, 1 tbsp at a time, then mix it in with a palette knife or similar. You probably won't need all of it. When the mixture begins to come together, use your hands to make it into a soft dough. The dough so be pliable, but not sticky and, again, try not to handle it too much.

Dust a worktop and rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough to about an inch / 2.5 cm thick. If you have one, use a pastry cutter to cut the dough into circles. Re-roll the unused pieces back together to get more circles. (If you don't, improvise with a glass, or just cut the dough into triangles with a knife.)

Lay the dough circles onto the prepared baking tray and brush their tops with the left-over milk.

Bake at 220c for 8-10 mins or until they are well risen and the tops are golden.

Serve warm or cold. Scones are best eaten on the same day (within the same hour!) as they are baked.