Easy Cheesy Scones with Chipotle and Clotted Cream
I love making scones, alchemy is a scone dough, and you can add just about anything to a scone dough, personally here at home we all love savoury scones and these chipotle and cheese scones are a cracking combination. These scones are easy to make and once you have the knack, you’ll soon be off making your own combinations. Crucial advice - do not overwork the dough, for this is the route to perfect, light and fluffy scones.
INGREDIENTS
450g self-raising flour, plus extra to roll the dough
120g clotted cream (or use cold cubed butter)
1 egg, beaten
150ml milk, plus extra to dip the scones to bake
100g cheddar cheese
½ - 1 tbsp chipotle chilli paste, optional, or use mustard
Salt and pepper, to taste
METHOD
In a bowl add the flour. Add the clotted cream. Use your fingertips to rub the fat into the flour to form a fine, sandy crumb.
Beat the milk, eggs and chipotle together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Make a well on the flour mix. Add the egg and milk mix and use a fork or knife to briefly and swiftly bring the mix together in the bowl. Add a splash, no more than 1 – 2 tsbp of milk if you need to incorporate all the flour, though I am always left with a little bit of flour in the bowl in a bid to not overwork the dough. Add the grated cheese and using a knife chop and slice the cheese into the dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and very briefly knead to bring a rough dough together. Do not over work it.
Use a 8cm cookie cutter to stamp out the scones, try not to overwork the dough each time you need to stamp out more, just scoop the dough together roughly to stamp out more, you will ALWAYS have a last scraggy, scruffy amount of dough to shape the final scone and this is fine.
Dip the tops of the scones each in a splash of extra milk and place a on a lined tray to bake.
Bake at 190C/170C fan for around 20 – 25 mins until crisp and golden and hollow sounding when tapped from beneath. Cool on a wire rack.