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1. I do not have much of a sweet tooth, and I have no patience for making my own bread. Leaving dough to rise for two hours? Uhh… no. Which is probably why my bread never works.
2. I get bored sitting there for ages waiting for something to bake. I’d rather be there stirring it, rather than just twiddling my fingers. I suppose I could go away and do something useful, but then I just forget that I have something in the oven, and it all ends in disaster. So, no.
3. I can never resist opening the oven door too soon (it’s like telling someone ‘do not push this big red button’), which invariably means that my cakes sink. Seriously, every time. There are lots of people who could confirm this.
However, sometimes a recipe just looks too good for me to resist. Like this recipe from Southern Belle as an Army Wife – there was no way I wasn’t going to make these scones.
Cheese… chives… garlic… these are like my perfect food. And they taste as good as they sound. And they look as good as they taste.
I get a lot of my cooking inspiration from the Internet and other food blogs (and not forgetting Pinterest, my favourite timewaster) – but the problem is that the majority of recipes I find are written by Americans. I know that the majority of the readers of my blog are American, and I love you and everything, but… well, your recipe system is really silly. Why is everything measured in cups? If I measure a cup of grated cheese, do I have to push it down at all, or does the cup include all the dead space too? I’m sure that once you get the hang of it it’s fine, but really, why can’t you all just buy weighing scales?
Anyway, the reason for this sudden complaint about American recipes is that this particular recipe included buttermilk, an ingredient that I see mentioned in a lot of American recipes. While I think this is available somewhere in the UK, I have no idea where, and I couldn’t get it at my local supermarket, even though it’s a pretty big one. So I decided to improvise with a mixture of sour cream and milk. Considering I am far from being an experienced baker, it worked surprisingly well! My Googling skills have saved me once again.
Yes, that is a Roses tin. Well done.
When you dollop the raw scone mix onto the baking tray, you want to get it looking as jagged as possible, because these knobbly bits are the bits that end up nice and crispy. The dough should be pretty thick and sticky, so it’s not hard to poke it around until it looks nice and rough. You want it to look a bit like this:
If you want to use the original, American recipe, you can find it here, but I did make a few adjustments. For example, the recipe says to bake your scones at 450°F. I found that this was far too hot, because the middles were not yet cooked by the time the outside was crispy. They cooked far more evenly at a lower temperature. I also added some chives, and obviously used sour cream and milk instead of buttermilk.
300g plain flour 3tsp baking powder 2tsp garlic granules 2tsp veg stock powder or bouillon granules (I used a finely crumbled veg stock cube) 120g cold butter, cut into cubes 100g cheddar cheese, grated 2tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped 2 1/2 heaped tbsp sour cream 150ml semi-skimmed milk + an extra dash if needed For the garlic butter: 1tbsp butter, melted 1/2tsp garlic granules
Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4 / 350°F).
Mix together the flour, baking powder, garlic granules and stock powder. With the tips of your fingers, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the grated cheese and the finely chopped chives, and mix well.
In a mug or measuring jug, mix the sour cream and milk together until smooth, with no lumps.
Make a well in the centre of your flour mixture, and add the liquid. With a wooden spoon, gradually stir it into the mixture until a fairly sticky dough is formed. If the dough seems too dry, add a dash more milk (I needed around another 50ml).
Line a baking tray with baking paper, and use two spoons to scoop the dough into heaps (mine made 8 scones). Leave a couple of inches in between each heap to allow for slight expansion during cooking. The more irregular the shapes of your scones, the better, as these parts will go crispy – use a spoon to add some crevices if needed.
Bake for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, add 1/2tsp garlic granules to 1tbsp melted butter. After 10-15 minutes (when the pointy bits of the scones are just beginning to brown), remove the scones from the oven, brush them with the garlic butter, and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
Once out of the oven, leave to cool for a few minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack for a further 10-15 minutes.
Becca Heyes has been a vegetarian food blogger, recipe developer and cheese eater extraordinaire since 2011. She's been a vegetarian for significantly longer, after having stopped eating meat out of pure stubbornness at the tender age of 9. She spends her life testing recipes, sharing them with fellow veggie-lovers, and trying to think of new ways to say 'cheesy'.
Your scones look so tempting! I’m ready to whip up a batch for lunch today. I love to add chopped veggies to my savory scones, things like red peppers, poblano chiles, black olives, etc. Oh yes, savory scones are the best!
I am American and rarely buy buttermilk b/c I never get around to using the whole carton before it spoils. Just add 1 Tbsp of lemon juice per 1 cup milk and let sit for 10 minutes. Works perfectly, and saves money!
Would you like a set of American measuring cups and spoons? I saw you say your housemates thing has cups on it, but a liquid cup and a dry cup are often different, just an fyi.
Hi Becca! a lot of people tell me “I hate baking, it’s such a waste of time” lololol and I understand… it does take some patience for waiting and baking and we get anxious for checking the results lolol But I like it, and I do something else while waiting, but I set up my alarm clock, or I forget about it too :) I arrived here 2 weeks ago and I didn’t realize we can’t find buttermilk here. I’ll try next time and let you know if I find, but I knew about the vinegar and milk too as a substitute. In Poland was quite easy to find, but I know in BRazil people don’t know much about it when I ask, so I don’t know what they use. But until I lef Brazil, I had never heard of buttermilk. As for the measurements, I never really thought about the “pushing down” lol but it makes sense. My scale broke and I’m hoping to get one soon, if the recipe just calls for cups, I just use my measuring cup and I never count the gaps between ingredients. It seems to work, however, I know it’s never really precise. But tell me, when you have a recipe in cups and use a scale, how do you convert? do you use them a measure cup for weighing and write down the numbers? I can’t wait to get a scale because I go crazy with the cups too. Now speaking of your scones, garlic and chives (husband and I) are our favorite ingredients. I must try it! they look delicious!
Yeah I’ve become pretty good at converting from American recipes to weights – I measure each ingredient in cups (luckily one of my housemate’s measuring jugs has cups marked on the side!) and then weigh that amount in my scales. It’s a bit annoying but it works! :)
I’m so glad you liked them and made them your own! Kudos for the sour cream and milk, I wouldn’t have thought. The substitution that’s common here is 1 tbsp of vinegar plus 1 cup of milk. But I always prefer real buttermilk. However, next time I’m in a pinch, I’m going to try the sour cream and milk :) I definitely understand the measurement issues! I’m a nurse and my husband is military so we use it a lot, however every cookbook and recipe I own, except one, is our insane system :) I’m also glad you mentioned the temp. Placement in the oven is crucial for these. Center rack is where they need to be, but it definitely will depend on the oven.
Your scones look so tempting! I’m ready to whip up a batch for lunch today. I love to add chopped veggies to my savory scones, things like red peppers, poblano chiles, black olives, etc. Oh yes, savory scones are the best!
These look delicious… I love a good scone! :-)
These scones look divine! Lovely pictures too. Also following you on Pinterest now :)
I am American and rarely buy buttermilk b/c I never get around to using the whole carton before it spoils. Just add 1 Tbsp of lemon juice per 1 cup milk and let sit for 10 minutes. Works perfectly, and saves money!
The scones look scrumptious! Bookmarked
Would you like a set of American measuring cups and spoons? I saw you say your housemates thing has cups on it, but a liquid cup and a dry cup are often different, just an fyi.
Ah ok, I should probably get myself some proper ones then! :)
These look so good! Cant wait to make them! Yummmmmy.
I loveeeee Roses chocolates!
Your scones look very delicious!
Hi Becca! a lot of people tell me “I hate baking, it’s such a waste of time” lololol and I understand… it does take some patience for waiting and baking and we get anxious for checking the results lolol But I like it, and I do something else while waiting, but I set up my alarm clock, or I forget about it too :) I arrived here 2 weeks ago and I didn’t realize we can’t find buttermilk here. I’ll try next time and let you know if I find, but I knew about the vinegar and milk too as a substitute. In Poland was quite easy to find, but I know in BRazil people don’t know much about it when I ask, so I don’t know what they use. But until I lef Brazil, I had never heard of buttermilk.
As for the measurements, I never really thought about the “pushing down” lol but it makes sense. My scale broke and I’m hoping to get one soon, if the recipe just calls for cups, I just use my measuring cup and I never count the gaps between ingredients. It seems to work, however, I know it’s never really precise. But tell me, when you have a recipe in cups and use a scale, how do you convert? do you use them a measure cup for weighing and write down the numbers? I can’t wait to get a scale because I go crazy with the cups too.
Now speaking of your scones, garlic and chives (husband and I) are our favorite ingredients. I must try it! they look delicious!
Yeah I’ve become pretty good at converting from American recipes to weights – I measure each ingredient in cups (luckily one of my housemate’s measuring jugs has cups marked on the side!) and then weigh that amount in my scales. It’s a bit annoying but it works! :)
I’m so glad you liked them and made them your own! Kudos for the sour cream and milk, I wouldn’t have thought. The substitution that’s common here is 1 tbsp of vinegar plus 1 cup of milk. But I always prefer real buttermilk. However, next time I’m in a pinch, I’m going to try the sour cream and milk :) I definitely understand the measurement issues! I’m a nurse and my husband is military so we use it a lot, however every cookbook and recipe I own, except one, is our insane system :) I’m also glad you mentioned the temp. Placement in the oven is crucial for these. Center rack is where they need to be, but it definitely will depend on the oven.