Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Bacon-Cheddar-Chive Scones

I served these scones from King Arthur Flour for breakfast on Saturday.  Ordinarily I like a sweet scone, and had gone to the KAF recipe website to search for something to serve with a little butter and jam, but these looked so good with bacon and cheese that I couldn't resist.

Usually at the first whiff of bacon frying, Ole Sweetie-Pi is wide awake and at my side, relieving me of the "granny" fork and taking over the bacon.  This time, he slept through and I had everything in the oven, smelling wonderfully savory and delicious, when he came downstairs.  "WhatamI smellin'," he asked, still half asleep.  "Scones," I said.  I scrambled some eggs and by the time they were done, the timer was going off for the oven.  I served up the eggs and gave him a scone, and he glumly sat down at the table.

Wordlessly, he ate the eggs, and the scone was pushed about on his plate, as he desperately tried to ignore its presence.  I was nearly done eating, when he split is scone open and buttered it and put it away.  "Do you want the rest of mine," he offered, dejectedly.  "No," I said.  "Don't you like it?"

"No."

"Well just leave it.  I'm surprised you don't like them."

"What's in them?"

"Half a pound of bacon, cheddar cheese, some chives from the herb garden." (Herb garden is a huge overstatement, but it makes me happy to say it.  I only have chives and mint, grins.)

He visibly brightened and took another bite.  "You know, I do like these.  Why don't you save the rest and I'll work on those, too. I thought maybe you put dates or something in these."

I suppose this is a lesson to me as I'm often putting new foods  into something I think he'll like and won't discover the hidden ingredient.  (He is most anxious about the sauerkraut and anchovy paste that he found when he last helped me unpack the groceries and checks the pantry to see if they're still on the shelf.)  However, I just don't understand how he can confuse the flavor of bacon with dates.  And that's all I'm going to say.

These scones are delicious. We had them for breakfast, but they would be equally good with a nice soup and salad.  Whatever time of day you try these, I hope you like them, too.

Bacon-Cheddar-Chive Scones

2 cups  all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt **
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold  butter, diced
1 cup very coarsely grated or diced cheddar cheese
1/3 cup  snipped fresh chives

1/2 pound bacon, cooked, cooled, and crumbled (about 1 cup) **
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons  heavy cream or whipping cream, or enough to make the dough cohesive**


 Preheat your oven to 425*F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper; set aside until needed.


In a good-sized bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar, and mix to combine the ingredients well.  


Add the butter to the dry ingredients using your fingers to rub the butter into the flour, or use a pastry blender, or two knives to cut in the butter.  The mixture will be rough and crumbly.  


Add the cheese, chives and bacon, mixing well to distribute.


Add 3/4 cup of cream to the mixture, stirring to combine.  Squeeze the mixture together, to see if it stays together in a ball.  If not, add additional cream, in small amounts until the dough comes together.**


Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface and pat into a 7" round disc.** about 3/4 inch thick.  Transfer disc to prepared baking sheet.


Cut the disc into 4th's and then cut the 4th's in half, making 8 wedges. Using a spatula, separate the wedges from each other, allowing enough space between the wedges for the dough to spread and rise.  (I made two rows of 4 wedges.)


Brush the scones with a bit of cream to help them brown while baking.  Bake for approximately 22-24 minutes** or until golden brown.  Remove from oven.  Allow to cool on the pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature.


**The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of salt. I reduced the salt to 1/2 teaspoon and found it to be adequate. There's a lot of salt in this recipe from the cheddar cheese and bacon, plus the butter I used was salted.More than than would have been too salty for us.

**One-half pound of cooked bacon yielded somewhere between 3/4 and 1 cup cooked.

**I needed to add additional cream to make the dough cohesive.  As I mentioned, take care to add the cream in small amounts because it's easy to add too much.

**I found that the inside of my dinner plate was 7 inches in diameter.  I molded the dough on my dinner plate to obtain an nice symmetrical disc and then transferred it to my baking sheet.

**The cream really does aid in browning nicely.  At the end of 22 minutes, the minimum suggested cooking time, I felt that the scones looked too brown, however.  I think I would check the scones for doneness and color starting at perhaps 18 minutes or so.  It's easier to add time because I certainly haven't figured out how to take it away.

33 comments:

  1. Seriously unfair, I need one of those in front of me pronto!! Looks just amazing :)

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  2. Oh wow, those look so good with chive in them. Yummy!

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  3. Man, those look and sound amazing. It's a good thing we don't have any cheese in the house right now or I'd be making those now instead of typing! I love to have bread with my soup and I think I'll give these a try next time I get a soup craving.

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  4. Those are the most beautiful scones! Sweetie-Pi always makes me smile. I do a little maneuvering of ingredients in my meals too. LOL

    These would be a fabulous addition to any meal!

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  5. Katy, these cheesy scones look scrumptious! Love the last picture!

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  6. Men are so funny! You should make these again, somehow infusing dates into them, and see whether or not he can tell the difference. They look delicious!

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  7. Those look yummy Katy! I've never made scones-in fact, I don't think I've ever eaten scones. Methinks that might change soon. How can you go wrong with cheese and bacon?

    Oh and anchovy paste in the cabinet? Don't get me started on what Bob did when I bought the stuff...eesh........

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  8. Haven't taken this savory scone for a long long time! Yes, I have to agree with you that savory scone goes very well with scrumbled eggs. Just imagine those aroma running around your kitchen...yummm....
    Enjoy & have a great time, Katy!
    Blessings, Kristy

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  9. I used to wake up my kids by cooking bacon. The aroma always got to them! I actually prefer a savory scone or muffin - this is jammed pack with goodly, tasty ingredients and I could sink my teeth into them. had to laugh at the mix-up of dates and bacon. Hmmm, some trust issue going on?

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  10. Katie did it again but King Arthur helped. Without the bacon, I would like to make these. Delicious.

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  11. Those look incredible. You could slice them open layer in the scrambled eggs and have a great portable breakfast.
    I made your no knead bread yesterday and I must say it was easy and delicious.
    Mimi

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  12. YUM! Bookmarked to make soon!

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  13. hee hee! i could see my hubs doing the same thing!

    these look delicious! bacon? cheddar? fantastic!

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  14. Your table has made me so hungry. And I can't eat until 8 pm because I'm meeting friends! Oh dear!

    Love your blog; love your recipes.

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  15. Ah, but I bet bacon and dates would be really good together... Oh Katy these just look so good. What a nice crumb they have.

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  16. My goodness those sound delicious!! I had to laugh at how Ole Sweetie Pi acted. :O)

    You got your herb garden going -- HORRAY!

    Hugs,
    Lisa

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  17. Oh Katy I am chuckling at your Ole Sweetie Pi and his 'glum look'. He was smelling bacon but not seeing any! Dates??..hmmm:)
    These scones look delicious but you know the ingredient that I'm going to omit:)

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  18. Poor ole sweetie pie sounds like he doesn't trust you Katy! :)
    I've not seen savory scones like these before, but I sure want to make them now! My mouth is watering at the thought of these gorgeous bacon and cheddar treats!

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  19. I really love this savory scone! Chives and mint sound like like a great herb garden to me! Bacon always get everyone out of bed at my house too. I loved picturing Ole Sweetie-Pi pushing the scone around on his plate. So funny! :)

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  20. What a funny story about Ole Sweetie-Pi. He sounds a little like my husband who is very resistant to me trying to sneak in healthy ingredients. :) The scones look mouth wateringly delicious!

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  21. The scones look beautiful. I love KAF. Someone recently posted one of their pizza recipes using their pizza dough seasoning. I'm ordering it; thought you might want to too. Ole Sweetie-Pie is spoiled! LOL.

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  22. Looks delicious Katy. I'd love one with some melted butter!!! The eggs look pretty good too!

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  23. Your breakfast scones look sinfully deliicous. I would love them.

    Your conversation with your husband made me smile.

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  24. Im a biggggg KAF fan too ,but honestly these Scones are the best have seen ,so gorgeously good:-)

    Am having my 1st ever giveaway:-))
    http://brightmorningstarsfoodie.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-1st-sunshine-giveaway-thanxxx-aton.html

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  25. Katy, what a hilarious post, and I SO relate! :)

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  26. Gorgeous coloring.. they surely do sound delicious!

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  27. What a wonderful, beautiful, savory scone. I'm glad that ol' sweetie pie decided to give them a try. Dates? lol. Too funny. I'd love these!

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  28. What a funny story about sweetie pi! The scones sound like a real treat with all those delicious and flavorful ingredients. My Mom is quite suspicious of my cooking too - always asking what's in this before tasting.

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  29. Yum! Loving all your recent posts, definitely going to try that bread in the previous post! Sorry I haven't been by lately, life keeps getting in the way of my blogging lately ::sigh::
    Hope all is well in your world :-)

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  30. What a great sounding recipe....always nice to have a switch up for breakfast... :)

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  31. Katy, your scones look wonderful! I would be happy to have these on my table and wouldn't question anything you put in them! ;o)

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  32. Ol' Sweetie Pie is too funny! :)
    I was like that growing up. Leery of everything in case my mom was trying to sneak something by me.
    ~ingrid

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  33. I can't eat the bacon but the rest of this looks delicious. I think it will be just fine with just the cheese. Where does one get the time to make everything s/he wants to make and to EAT?

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