As many of you may know, I’m a Minnesota girl through and through. I didn’t really know I was a nut about “the land of 10,000 lakes” until I moved out of state for the first time to Michigan in 2018. In my 20s, I moved around the Twin Cities a lot during undergrad and dental school, but I was always within 30 minutes drive of everything I’d ever known.
I started to miss the little familiarities I knew I could count on if I needed a little boost in my day – walking around Lake Calhoun (aka Bde Maka Ska), popping into my favourite coffee shop in Northeast, riding my fixed gear on the Greenway, and going from impromptu nights out watching live music at the nearest hole in the wall to going all-out-fancy to a Broadway.
Photos by Aaron Huber, Brandon Cormier, Conor Sexton, and Weston MacKinnon
There’s just something about home.
One of my favourite bakeries was a little place called Honey and Rye Bakehouse in St. Louis Park. Every weekend I would look forward to my little routine of waking up excessively early on a Saturday to be one of the first in line for a black Americano and a cheddar and chive scone. Uff-da, those scones were my little piece of heaven! Huge mounds of cheesy bliss with the flakiest crust you can imagine. Every week, I would try to chat up the bakery associate to try to get hints as to what the ingredients were, or even better, to meet the baker that was responsible for all that amazingness. I would always get a smile and a short answer, “Oh! It’s just cheese, fresh herbs, and some other ingredients.” So, it began. My quest for the perfect cheese and chive scone.
I was initially inspired to create this recipe after an impromptu purchase of Trader Joe’s cheddar and gruyere mélange cheese. After all, how can you go wrong with that combo? Since we aren’t all so blessed to have a TJ’s nearby, this scone calls for a combination of shredded gruyere and extra-sharp cheddar to get that extra cheesy flavor. If you can’t find gruyere, just add extra of your favourite cheddar cheese instead. I promise, it will still be just as mouth watering!
So what’s the key to making a golden-crusted, flaky, buttery scone? You want to keep your ingredients as cold as possible before putting them in the oven! Once that cold butter hits the hot oven, it will melt and create those beautiful flakey layers that make a scone so desirable. Don’t be intimidated. The best way to do this is put your butter in the freezer a few hours or the night before, and keep the eggs and cream in the fridge until you are ready to make the dough. Easy as that! If you really want to get crazy, you can chill your mixing bowl too.
Another cool trick is to grate your frozen butter with a box grater prior to mixing it into the flour mixture. Then combine the grated butter with the flour mixture using a pastry cutter until you have pea-sized chunks. This will minimize warming up the butter. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, you can use your fingers to rub the butter into the dry ingredients. This will warm the butter a bit, so just throw the butter/flour mixture in the freezer for 15 minutes before proceeding.
The dough will feel crumbly, which is normal for a scone dough. Knead the dough a few times to form a cohesive ball, then form an 8-inch disc with your fingers. Cut the disc into 8 separate wedges. It’s OK if it isn’t perfect!
Separate the wedges slightly to allow room for rising. Brush the scones with remaining cream to allow browning and sprinkle with all the goodies!
Trust me, you need to stop what you’re doing and make these immediately. These scones will make your day amazing! Enjoy <3
Bacon Chive and Cheese Mélange Scones
Course: BreakfastDifficulty: Easy20
minutes24
minutes8
scones44
minutesThe perfect scone recipe for when you want to indulge a little in melty, cheesy, flakey, savoury goodness! These little guys are the perfect crowd pleaser for your next gathering or weekend brunch extravaganza.
Ingredients
313 g (2.5 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for hands and work surface
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
115 g (8 T or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, frozen
4 oz (1 cup) extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated (I used Cabot extra-sharp), plus 3 T for garnish
2 oz (1/2 cup) gruyere cheese, grated
24 g (1/2 cup) chives, finely chopped
360 mL (1.5 cups) heavy cream, plus 2 T for brushing
3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter with a box grater and add to the flour mixture. Combine the flour and butter with a pastry cutter or with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly with pea-sized lumps of flour/butter (see photo and description above – if you combine the butter with your fingers, the butter may soften. If this happens, place your mixture in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before proceeding.)
- Add the chives and grated cheese to the flour/butter mixture, reserving 2 T of cheddar for garnish. Loosely stir.
- Add cream and mix until evenly combined. The dough will be crumbly and dry.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured, clean work surface. Knead the dough a couple times to create a cohesive ball. Form an 8 inch disc with your fingers (see photo above).
- Cut the disc into 8 wedges and transfer to the baking sheet, slightly separating the wedges. Brush wedges with additional heavy cream, then top each scone with crumbled bacon and reserved cheddar cheese.
- Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 22-24 minutes, or until tops of scones are light golden brown. Best served immediately after 15 minutes of cooling.
Notes
- *If you can’t find gruyere cheese, just omit the ingredient and increase the cheddar cheese to 6 oz. I prefer extra-sharp cheddar, but any cheddar will work just fine! Milder cheddar will give you a milder tasting scone.
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