Smoked bacon, cheese and apple scones

Well my friends you are in for a treat today. I am sharing one of the most delicious scone recipes I have ever come up with. I saw something similar to these, somewhere a long long time ago and said to myself, that’s a fab idea. So I bookmarked it in my mind and recently, reminded myself to make them (when I say recently, I mean a few months ago during lock-down. Gosh how the months fly by) . I was going through the fridge, doing the clear out and making my shopping list and saw that I had smoked bacon to use up. I also had a few wrinkled mini apples sitting in the fruit bowl and told myself it was time to make something new.

I love making scones. I have a particular fondness for fruit studded ones with a hint of almond or vanilla. But I’m currently bored of those. We have some in the freezer and pull them out every few days. I want something different, a little more savoury. There isn’t a lot to keep us excited these days, so may as well try out a few new recipes. The very first time I made these (back in April)  I felt that they were actually perfect. They smelt amazing, and then when I opened one up, it was so light and fluffy I could not believe it. And boy did they taste good. I decided to see how they were after cooling fully and what effect the fridge and freezer had on them before tweeking the recipe. We have made these every couple of weeks since. Perfect for breakfast, lunch and snacking. Preferably eaten when just fresh out of the oven and still slightly warm. I make 6 large scones out of this recipe, but my mother for example made 12 smaller scones. I think larger ones hold their lightness way better and also keep you from eating a half dozen smaller ones in one sitting. They keep really well in the fridge , I pop them into the microwave for about 20 seconds and then eat. Also they freeze well, taking them out the night before and popping them into the fridge to defrost. An all round winner if you ask me.

SMOKED BACON, CHEESE AND APPLE SCONES

• • 260 g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp coursly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried dill
  • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 85 g cold butter
  • 120 g apple, peeled and finely diced  (2 small, or 1 large apple)
  • 40 g grated cheddar
  • 20 g grated Parmesan
  • 50 g cooked crispy smoked bacon, cut into small bits
  • 120 ml of Greek yogurt
  • 120 ml of full fat milk

THE HOW

Heat the oven to 200 °C. In a large mixing bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, pepper and dried herbs together and gently stir. Using a large grater, grate the butter and add to the flour mix. Either by hand or with a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Mix together the yogurt and milk to form a thick buttermilk like consistency. Add to the bowl. along with the cheeses, bacon and apple.

Mix everything together with a spatula until it has almost all come together. Tip out onto a floured surface and very lightly knead until it has formed a nice pliable dough. Don’t be too rough on it, you want to retain the air from the sifting to keep it light.

Flatten to just over 1 inch in height.  Use a large metal cutter to cut out 6 nice big rounds. I like making big scones, to help avoid eating too many in one go. Feel free to use a smaller cutter and yield 8-10-12 scones. If you make smaller scones, reduce the cook time depending on size.

Place your scones onto a lined baking tray and brush lightly with milk. Pop into the oven for 10 minutes at 200°C, then reduce the heat to 180°C , turn the tray and cook for a further  15 minutes until risen and golden brown. If you made smaller scones then cook for 10 minutes at 200°C and a further 7- 10 minutes at 180°C, or until nicely golden on top and puffy looking.

Cool slightly and then devour. I like mine for breakfast in the morning just slightly warmed and maybe a tinchy bit of butter on them or as a snack during the day with a slice of cheese and some fresh cucumber.