I love scones. They’re super fast to make, can be flavored with either sweet or savory ingredients, and make a quick “bread” option for dinner (they go especially well with soup, stew, or chili). I’ll never get tired of trying new flavors (check out Lemon Blueberry, Chai Spice, and Strawberry White Chocolate). While Cheddar Scallion Scones aren’t a new flavor combo, it is one of those classics that will never, ever get old. I know it’s getting warm out, but I’m dying to dip these scones in a big bowl of chili!
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For this recipe I took my basic scone recipe and made it savory by reducing the sugar and adding just a touch of garlic powder. I also stirred in some sliced green onions (scallions) and a handful of sharp cheddar cheese. Cheese is the most expensive ingredient here, but you’d be surprised at how little you need to flavor the whole batch. Just one half cup of shreds was plenty to give that sharp, cheesy flavor to every bite!
Cheddar Scallion Scones
Servings 8Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour ($0.20)
- 1/2 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 2 tsp baking powder ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 5 Tbsp cold butter ($0.65)
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar ($0.45)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.26)
- 1/3 cup milk ($0.09)
- 2 large eggs ($0.46)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, garlic powder, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 5 cranks of a pepper mill).
- Cut the cold butter into chunks, then add to the bowl with the flour mixture. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry cutter until the texture of the flour resembles damp sand and no large chunks of butter remain. Stir the shredded cheddar and sliced green onions into the flour mixture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs until smooth. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until a ball of sticky dough forms and no more dry flour remains on the bottom of the bowl. Use your hands to form the dough into a cohesive ball.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press it into an 8 inch diameter circle (about 1-inch thick). Cut the circle into 8 wedges.
- Place the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated 400ºF oven for about 18 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown. Serve warm or allow to cool to room temperature.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Cheddar Scallion Scones – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 1/2 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, and a little freshly cracked pepper (about five cranks of a pepper mill). Stir until these ingredients are well combined. Add 5 Tbsp of cold butter to the bowl. Work the butter into the flour mixture either with your hands or a pastry cutter. When the butter is fully worked into the flour mixture, it will look a little like damp sand. The goal here is to make the particles of butter very small without “melting” them into the flour. That’s why it is so important to use cold butter. If it melts into the flour, you won’t get that nice flakey texture in the final product.
Now stir 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese and about 3 green onions (sliced) into the flour mixture. If you want, reserve a pinch or two of cheese to top the scones just before baking.
In a separate bowl, whisk together two large eggs and 1/3 cup of milk until smooth.
Pour the egg and milk mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients.
Stir them together until it forms a ball of dough. The dough may be slightly sticky. That’s okay. Use your hands to help the dough come together into one piece, so that no more dry flour remains on the bottom of the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into an 8-inch diameter circle (about 1 inch thick). Cut the circle into 8 wedges.
Place the scones on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake in the preheated 400ºF oven for about 18 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.
They puff up quite a bit while they bake and take on a nice flakey texture. YUM.
❤️ Scones!
A question:
Can these be made with the cheese in the dough rather than on top?
Yes. Note that most of the cheese is mixed into the dough in the directions. But you are welcome to use all of it in the dough. XOXO -Monti
Can these be made ahead of time then reheated?
Also, did you use unsalted butter?
Yes they’d be delicious!
Made these early this morning, and they were super easy and very tasty! My roommate and I agreed that next time one of us makes these that we should add some jalapeños for a kick. These are so good warmed up with an extra smear of butter.
I needed something to go with my Minestrone soup and these were an absolute hit! I did find them a little too salty, but that might have been due to the Old Cheddar I was using and my butter is fairly salty. When I make them again I may try using a touch less salt. However, my boyfriend liked the saltiness of them and has requested them again!
Would it work if you grated frozen butter into the flour mixture?
Yep, but you still may want to work it in a little bit after that.
Another awesome recipe. So good. Even if I generally have very little confidence in my baking ability. Thank you for this!!
I made these gluten free and vegan by subbing almond flour, vegan butter, Daiya cheese, almond milk and flax eggs. Totally delicious! No one would ever guess they weren’t full of dairy cheese and wheat.
Oh dear lord, I just made these for breakfast and there’s a good chance that by lunchtime they’ll be gone. I grew up eating cheese scones/muffins and these are perfect!
SO DELICIOUS and simple!
I grated a little extra cheddar and sprinkled on top of each scone before I put them in the oven.
There’s no such thing as too much cheese :)
Wish I had one (or two) to go with my dinner salad! I’m at the beach, so not on-line much. Just saw you posted this yummy recipe on Facebook.
I have made these several times and they’re very good as is, though I like them best when I double the amount of cheese and scallions, and use 1/2 C whole wheat flour and 1.5C all purpose. Bit hit at a potluck brunch and fun to make. Thanks!
I’ve always been apprehensive about making scones, but this seemed simple enough…and they were delicious! The hardest part was waiting while they baked. Caution… they smell HEAVENLY!
I love this recipe :) trying it for my second time and still yummy. First time I added ham and sundried tomatoes. I couldn’t taste the ham too much but the sun dried tomatoes are a welcome addition. And lovely colour addition too! :D
These were not hard to make and super good. My husband said they reminded him of Red Lobster’s cheesy biscuits but better <—huge compliment!
I just made these, and they are so good! I had two pieces of bacon left over from making Monterrey Chicken last night so I crumbled those up and threw them in with the cheese and green onion. Next time I might swap out the green onion for a jalapeno. I think I may have found a solution for my unhealthy obsession with fast food bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits.
Do you think the ingredients be mixed together to form the dough and then refrigerate before cooking? I’m dying to try these tonight, but have a little logistic problem. I’d like to do as much prep work beforehand as possible.
In general, I’ve tried several of your recipes and have loved them. This is such a wonderfully simple, yet useful website. I feel like by using it, I am finally learning to cook. Thanks!!!
Yes, I think that might work. I haven’t actually tried it, but my instincts say yes. Let me know how it turns out!
I made these the other night and they turned out perfectly ! Thank you for the easy to follow instructions and great recipes !
I’m considering adding (canned) green chiles to this recipe. Do you think they should be stirred in with the wet ingredients?
Yes, and I would try to drain off as much liquid as possible first. :)
I just tried the recipe (with margarine because i don’t have butter) and it is DELICIOUS! So easy to make :)
We made these for brunch the other weekend and brushed them with some garlic butter once they were done. They tasted like the cheddar bay biscuits from Red Lobster. Thank you for this.
Thanks for posting this recipe! These were a HUGE hit with my boyfriend. He loves the savoury taste.
Thank you so much for this website. I’m not the most skillful cook, so finding simple beginner friendly recipes that come out amazing are hard to find. I read your site frequently and have tried quite a few of your recipes. All of them have come out really well! Starting to make me look like I know what I’m doing! Lol. Thanks!
I appreciate your simple recipes!
I followed this to make scones but with a couple Quaker Simple Harvest Hot Cereal (vanilla, almond, and honey) packets because that’s what I had around the pantry that I thought would be simple and delicious! and it was! Thank you.
Great recipe! I made it last weekend with some ham added to it and it was quite good, but lacking something. Today I added ham, sundried tomatoes and a roasted red pepper and garlic seasoning. Absolutely scrumptious :D
This is a fantastic recipe! We used basil instead of scallions, and it turned out fantastic. I was surprised how easy it was, too! Thanks for posting it!
Delicious! I made these as a side to a crunchy black bean salad…so yummy! Thanks Beth!
I made some today to serve with my vegetarian chili tonight. It’s the perfect addition. It’s not too cheese and the green onion gives it a nice flavor. I totally had one after they cooled down to taste test. Amazing. The guys are going to love it. I can’t wait to try more of your stuff.
We recently joined a CSA and I had green onions that I wasn’t sure what to do with. I have two small children (under 5) who can be picky but they LOVED these. We had them with an italian main dish and they were wonderful. I’m going to have to try making sandwiches with them like Eileen suggested. Super GOOD! Thanks for sharing.
Thoughts on substituting garlic, or roasted garlic, for the scallions, these sound great as is, but I sort of have a small obsession with putting garlic in things…
You could mince some and add it to the batter, or just add more garlic powder than I called for in the recipe :)
Thanks for this wonderful blog. I made these today at morning. Just half of it and It was perfect. Also, Just in case somebody wanna know I use all purpose floor gluten free (bob’s mills) instead regular flour and truvia or stevia instead of sugar! Delicious! You made me love cooking!
I made these today and they were absolutely delicious!
A great hit with the family.
I just made this today AMAZING!
Scones are pretty much the bomb diggity. I’m a huge fan of the savory and the sweet and in my scone making hayday, which may or may not have been last month, I learned a quick and easy way to incorporate the butter and flour:
1. Freeze your butter, trust me, it’s awesome.
2. Bust out your cheese grater, make sure its clean.
3. Grate the frozen butter into the flour. Now I like to use the bigger grater side (I have a box grater), but I’m sure the wee side would work well too.
4. Dig in. Seriously, I like to do this with my hands now that its all itsy slices of butter happiness. I just rub it into the flour like I’m scouring my hands with sand, palms only.
This process, takes me maybe 3 minutes tops now, so anytime my roommates or I want some delicious sconey goodness, it happens.
I tried this recipe last night and it was great. It was the first time I’ve made scones, I didn’t know they could be so easy; I’m about to do another batch now. Great website, I appreciate the clear instructions and photos. I can’t remember how I found your site, but I’ll keep checking in.
Yum! I’ve never tried savory scones before! These sound fantastic!
I think I’m in love with these. And I love the other comment about adding jalapeños! I’m definitely going to give these a shot.
What about subbing the scallions with jalapenos bits? Think it’d work (for dipping in chili)?
PS – anytime you want to supply us with more scone flavors to try is JUST FINE by me! :D
OMG, yes. I want jalapeño cheddar scones now!
Ok, so I just pulled some of your sandwich bread out of the oven (it’s a staple at our house), I have some of your homemade marinara simmering on the stove, I’m about to start some chicken & rice soup for dinner and make these to go with it. My family LOVES your recipes!!! :)
These look wonderful! Like Laura, I would freeze these before baking and bake a few more minutes.
Love a cheese scone. What about adding mustard to the mix? A cafe near me serves their cheese scones warmed with butter and spicy tomato chutney relish
That sounds unique and delicious!
Just made these and topped with smashed avocados and poached eggs. Delish!
I just made these and was very underwhelmed. The flavor is bland and they were not flakey. I made sure to use cold butter. Maybe I just suck at making scones.
Any chance you could offer a gluten-free version of this one?
I wish I could, but I’m not knowledgeable about baking gluten free bread products all all. :P Check out Gluten Free on a Shoestring, though, because she does a lot of baking and seems to do a really good job of it! :)
Hello – can I substitute almond milk in this recipe? I have unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Or, would plain almond milk be okay? I just started buying it and I love it!
Yes, I think that will still work okay. You’d probably want to use the plain flavor, though. :)
Unsweeted almond milk for savory is best, but that vanilla-flavored milk would probably be delish for sweet scones!
This is such a great flavor combo! I love savory scones. I make something very similar, but with the addition of bacon!
I made these for lunch today as an accompaniment for a mushroom & leek soup. They were great, thanks!
Trying to cut out wheat, etc. to see if it stops my tremors (from Dr. Perlmutter, neurologist). How about almond or coconut flour? I miss bread and these look so delicious..and, of course, smothered in butter.
Honestly, I’ve never baked with those types of flour before, so I’m not sure how it would work out. If you try it, please report back about the results! :)
These guys sound fantastic! I bet they’d be good split and filled with a couple slices of turkey and some lettuce for a quick lunch, too.
If I wanted to freeze these, would it be better to freeze them before or after baking? And if before, do you bake the raw dough straight from the freezer or thaw it first?
For items like this, I like to freeze after baking. Just make sure they are fully cooled to room temperature before putting them in a freezer bag and transferring to the freezer. They can then thaw at room temperature for a few minutes or with a brief zap in the microwave.
I freeze homemade biscuits a lot. They work really well toasted right from the freezer. I think these scones would be good in a toaster oven too.
I freeze things like this pre-baking. It makes it easy to cook 1 or 2 to yo with dinner. I cook them straight from the freezer. Same temperature as unfrozen, but expect them to take a few minutes longer. For these, maybe 5-7 minutes more (my biscuits I usually give 3-4 minutes more, and the standard bake time on just-made dough for them is 10 minutes).