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!
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
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!
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).