Cakes & Bakes: Hazelnut & chocolate chip scones

Which do you prefer, sweet or savoury scones? My favourite has to be a classic Devon (or is it Cornish?) cream tea scone with butter, jam and clotted cream. I wanted to try another sweet version that was a little bit different, so came up with hazelnut & chocolate chip scones.

As they contain lots of filling chocolate and nuts, I used a smaller cutter than normal to make the scones. The recipe quantities made 18 of this size. Needless to say, if you use a larger cutter, you’ll probably get about a dozen instead.

Sweet scones are usually split in half and spread with butter, jam and cream. These really suit being smeared with Nutella.

Click here or on the image below to save my hazelnut & chocolate chip scones recipe to Pinterest

Hazelnut & chocolate chip scones

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Cook Time 15

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Servings 12

Ingredients

375 g self-raising flour
½ tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt
20 g cold butter cubed
50 g caster sugar
300 ml buttermilk
50 g hazelnuts roughly chopped
50 g milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 225ºC/440ºF/gas mark 7
Grease & line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Into a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar and salt
Rub in the cubes of butter
Stir in the sugar
Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk
Bring the mixture together until it forms a ragged ball of dough. Don't over mix
Fold in the chopped hazelnuts and chocolate chips
Turn the mixture out on to a well-floured work surface and flatten the dough to about 5cm high
Use a circular cutter to form the scones. Bring together the remaining bits of dough to form a solid ball. Gently flatten again so that you can cut out more circles
Put the scones on the prepared baking sheet and brush the top of each with a little milk or egg-wash
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are a lovely golden brown
Allow to cool completely on a wire rack

Halve & spread with Nutella to serve

Keyword chocolate, hazelnut, scones

Cakes & Bakes: Almond & lemon scones

In the past, we’ve published a round up of our best scone recipes – and these almond & lemon scones need to be added to the top of that list.

The recipe produces scones that are delicious, light and airy. Perfect as part of an afternoon tea.

Also, I think I’ve nailed the method for achieving scones with maximum lift. Make sure you’re using self-raising flour that hasn’t been hanging around for ages, getting a little stale. Chance would be a fine thing, in these Covid times! In addition, don’t overwork the pastry; it needs to just about hold together.

And another thing, don’t press the dough down too firmly or thinly before you begin cutting the circles; you want it to be about 5cm tall. When pressing the (floured) cutter down into the pastry, don’t twist it side to side; you want a clean, even cut.

Follow all these steps and you’ll have tall, well-risen scones!

Our serving suggestion: butter, clotted cream and a fruit preserve such as a blueberry conserve or mixed berry jelly. Of course, lemon curd would be absolutely perfect too!

Click here or on the image below to save this almond & lemon scones recipe to Pinterest

Almond & lemon scone with butter, jam and mug of tea

Almond & lemon scones

Waitrose Food

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Cook Time 12

Course Tea

Cuisine British

Servings 6 scones

Ingredients

30 g/1oz golden caster sugar
grated zest of a lemon
310 g/11oz self-raising flour plus extra for dusting
¼ tsp fine salt
40 g/1½oz ground almonds
100 g/3½oz unsalted butter diced
120-130 ml/4-4½ fl oz whole milk plus 2 tbsp to glaze

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas mark 7
Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl
Stir in the salt, almonds, 15g/½oz of the sugar and lemon zest
Rub in the diced butter until the mixture resembles soft sand
Use a blunt knife to quickly mix in 120ml/4 fl oz milk, bringing it all together with cool hands once a shaggy dough forms. (Add the extra 10ml/½ fl oz milk, if needed, to form a dough that's soft but not sticky)
Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until uniform. Bring together into a disc and roll out to about 4cm/1½" thick
Flour a 6-7cm/2½" cookie cutter and stamp out 6 rounds, gently reshaping and re-rolling the dough as needed
Brush the scones with milk, scatter with the remaining 15g/½oz caster sugar and swiftly transfer to the hot baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and risen
Cool on a wire rack

Serve with butter, clotted cream and fruit jam or jelly

Keyword almond, lemon, scones

Cakes & Bakes: Goats cheese and nettle scones

I’ve made a few different things in the past with stinging nettles; pesto, soup and bread. This week, I made some goats cheese and nettle scones.

I’ve been eyeing up all the nettle patches in our garden and around the village here where we live. I’ve made a point of not clearing it from around the garden because I know I was going to put it to good use.

In the past week, much of it is just about to come into flower, so time is running out for foraging the tasty stinging tips. I donned a pair of gardening gloves and, with a zip-lock bag at the ready, got to work picking off the young, hairy green leaves.

If you set of on a wild nettle hunt, remember, only pick the leaves that are over two foot high; dogs passing by enjoy cocking their leg and giving them a shower! Pick them like you’d pick tea leaves, only the growing tip and top pair of leaves… and don’t forget your gloves! When you get them home, put them in a colander and give them a quick rinse under a cold tap, tossing every couple of seconds.

The only pair of kitchen gloves I have are covered in shoe polish – I didn’t want to use them to bring the scone dough together. I had to handle the stinging nettle with a couple of dough scrapers… not ideal!

If you don’t have goats cheese, most hard cheeses make good alternatives; cheddar, red Leicester, Parmesan etc. Similarly, if you don’t have any natural yoghurt, you can use buttermilk or sour cream. The recipe is very flexible.

They were really delicious; the flavours of the goats cheese and nettle work really well together. Slice in half while still warm and give each side a generous swipe of butter… lovely!

Like my recipe? Click here to save it to Pinterest!

Goats cheese and nettle scones

2020-05-14 15:32:12

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

20 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

20 min

Ingredients

500g self-raising flour
½tsp salt
1tsp cream of tartar
50g cold butter, cubed
300ml natural yoghurt
125g goats cheese, cut into ½cm cubes
20g nettle tips, chopped
1 egg, beaten

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas mark 7
Grease or line a baking sheet with baking/parchment paper
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and cream of tartar
Add the butter and rub together using your fingertips until you get a fine breadcrumb consistency
Stir in the cubed goats cheese and chopped nettles
Make a well in the centre and pour in the yoghurt
Bring the dough together with your (gloved) hands, being careful not to knead or the dough will become tough
Dust a work surface with flour and press the dough out to the thickness of about 2cm/1in
Cut out the scones using a circular cutter and place onto the prepared tray
Bring the offcuts together gently, again being careful not to knead and cut out as many circles as possible until there's no dough remaining
Brush the tops with the beaten egg and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden and well risen
Allow to cool for a few minutes on a wire rack

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

A round-up of our top 5 sweet and savoury scones recipes

A quintessentially British afternoon snack, scones are quick & easy to make. They can be sweet or savoury, eaten plain or sliced & spread and are the perfect size to pack for a picnic or other al fresco meal. We’ve brought together a round-up of our top 5 sweet and savoury scones recipes.

1. Buttermilk scones

Possibly the quickest and easiest scones on the planet to make. Flour, buttermilk, pinch of salt… bish, bash, bosh… mix, shape, cut out, in the oven… done! They can be served with either sweet or savoury fillings – whatever you prefer!

2. Red Leicester scones

This is a recipe I borrowed from Nadiya Hussain, winner of Great British Bake Off a few of years ago. Cheese scones are usually made with cheddar however, red Leicester gives these a beautiful amber glow!

3. Afternoon scones

These dinky-sized scones are perfect for popping into your mouth. Slice horizontally and spread with butter, fruit jam and clotted cream… in your preferred order!

4. Sourdough cheese scones

This is one of the best scones recipes if you like to make use of your sourdough discard rather than throw it away. I used an extra mature cheddar, but you could try it with any other hard cheese such as Parmesan, Emmental or Manchego.

5. Cheese & chive scones

A classic cheese combination in scone form. Fill with a soft cream cheese and a slice of tomato and/or cucumber… or more cheese!