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How To Make Light And Fluffy Cheese Scones With Plain Flour
Delicious homemade cheese scones that’s light, fluffy and packed full of cheddar cheese. Serve with garlic butter for the best afternoon tea ever.
Who can resist a soft, light and fluffy cheese scone? I can’t, these cheese scones are pretty much the best ever: full of flavour, cheesy goodness and don’t get me started on the smell!
It’s really easy to make, you’re simply mixing ingredients together to form a dough, rolling it out and baking it in the oven.
I’ve played around with this recipe multiple times and I’m so happy with the final result, I’ve added my own twist with the addition of black pepper and chives for a slight peppery and oniony taste. These additions are optional, you don’t have to add them into your own scones when you’re making them.
Ultimately, you’ll create tasty cheese scones that have a nice gentle rise as this recipe uses plain flour with the addition of baking powder.
My Top Tips For Making Cheese Scones With Plain Flour
The most important rule is to not overwork the dough! Handle the dough with care and work it just enough to bring the dough together. Over working the dough can make the scones tough, preventing the scones from turning out fluffy and light.
If you’re not a fan of cheddar cheese, then you can pick a different type of cheese and strength. Cheeses like parmesan, red Leicester, and other hard cheeses are great alternatives to use. You could also mix a variety of cheeses together.
Make life so much easier by flouring your work surface, rolling pin and cookie cutter. This will help prevent the dough from sticking and making a mess.
Grating extra cheese on top of the scones just before placing them in the oven adds extra cheesy flavour and colour- don’t miss this step!
My expert tip to get your cheese scones soft and fluffy is to keep your ingredients cold. Use butter and milk straight from the fridge. Make sure your oven is hot and preheated before putting the scones in. With a hot oven the scones with rise rapidly, small pockets of air will arise due to the cold butter used.
Watch How To Make Easy Cheese Scones
Recipe Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make cheese scones. If you’re wondering whether you can make cheese scones with plain flour, the answer is YES!
- Plain Flour: This recipe uses plain flour with the addition of baking powder, this combo is a great self-raising flour substitute.
Can I Use Self-Raising Flour To Make These Cheese Scones?
Yes, you can use self-raising flour to make cheese scones. Mixing together plain flour and baking powder is a homemade version of self-raising flour. If you do choose to use self-raising flour don’t add in 1 tbsp of baking powder as shown in the recipe card, there is already sufficient baking powder in self-raising flour already.
- Baking Powder: This is what gives the scones its volume and light texture.
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter; I like to use salted butter for more flavour but this is up to your preference.
- Cheese: I used Mature cheddar cheese for its sharp and strong flavour. The pack I brought was already grated. You can buy a block of cheese and grate it yourself at home. It’s usually cheaper to buy a block of cheese then buying it grated.
- Milk: I used whole milk because that’s usually what I have at home. You can use semi-skimmed milk but it’s best to avoid skimmed milk because the fat content is lower. The higher the fat the better!
- Seasonings: I added black pepper and salt (if you’re using salted butter, you might not want to add extra salt). I also added chopped chives, it adds extra flavour and a nice contrasting colour.
How To Make Cheese Scones With Plain Flour
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make easy cheese scones, this is my best cheese scones recipe ever! Full instructions are on the recipe card at the bottom with a video.
Step One:
Add plain flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl and mix together until the baking powder is evenly distributed. Add cubes of butter to the mixing bowl, using the ‘rub-in-method’ use your fingertips to combine the butter and flour together until combined and resembles crumbs.
Step Two:
Add salt, black pepper, chives and grated cheese into the mixing bowl and mix together until evenly distributed.
Step Three: