Tasty and Healthy Wholemeal Cheese Scones

I seem to be on a bit of a wholemeal crusade at the moment. I first made these for a work meeting - one of my colleagues is on a whole food diet. In reality it does none of us any harm to eat less refined food. The wholemeal flour lends a nutty flavour to the scones and compliments the cheese really well. The scones are just as light as the refined flour version. I made this batch for Little Miss to take to her riding teacher and all the staff at Arion Riding Centre today. 

Wholemeal Cheese Scones

2 cups wholemeal flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
half a teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mustard powder
80g cold butter
2 cups grated cheese - loosely packed
1 egg - topped up with milk to make 1 cup of liquid

Preheat the oven to 200deg. C. and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and mustard powder in a large bowl. 

Grate in the cold butter and toss with the flour to separate. Using your finger tips rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles bread crumbs. 

Stir in the grated cheese. 

Using a fork, mix the eggs and milk together. 

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Using a table knife, stir until only just combined. 

Tip the dough out onto a floured sheet of baking paper. Sprinkle the top with flour and press the dough into a rectangle about 4 to 5cm deep. 

Use a sharp knife to slice into squares, and transfer the scones onto the lined tray. 

Bake for 12 minutes depending on the size of the scones. 



They should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. 

Our Little Miss, all ready for riding, and none too impressed I'm holding her up from getting to the ponies in the yard by taking her photo.  

The staff at Arion are always super grateful for home baking. 

Enjoy your week! 

Cheese Scones on the last day of term

Having just had a few days away with the family, this post comes to you a little delayed...

Anyway, the last day of term is clean up day in the school Food Room. Every class does their share and is rewarded with a fresh baked (frozen pre-made) chocolate chip cookie and a Milo. My Level 3 class, having already sampled a few cookies in the past few weeks were not interested in any more. On a whim I offered to make them cheese scones. They were stoked with the idea.

Cheese Scones

4 cups plain flour

8 teaspoons baking powder (yes, really eight)

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dried mustard powder

ground black pepper

about 150g butter

2 to 3 cups grated cheese

2 eggs

enough milk to top the eggs up to 2 cups liquid

Preheat the oven to 200deg. C and line a large tray with baking paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and mustard powder into a large bowl. Grind in the pepper. Grate the butter into the flour mixture. No need to measure the exact quantity, just use the increments on the butter paper to estimate how much to add. Toss the flour through the butter, then use our fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles crumbs.

Stir the grated cheese through the mixture. Into a measuring jug or two cup measures crack the eggs and top up to a total of two cups of liquid. Use a fork to blend the eggs and milk.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and egg mix. Use a table knife to gently stir the mixture to combine. Do not over mix or the scones will be hard and will not rise properly.

When the mixture is only just combined turn it out onto some lightly floured baking paper and gently flatten and shape into a rectangle. The mixture should be quite wet. Sprinkle a little flour on top if required. Do not knead!

Use a sharp knife to cut the scone dough into squares and place onto the lined baking tray.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until nicely browned. Test the scones for doneness by tapping on the bottom - it will sound hollow if properly cooked.

Allow to cool a little before breaking open as required. Don't try to cut open a hot scone with a knife or it will appear doughy inside.

Add lashings of butter and everyone is happy. I've been making this recipe for years and it never disappoints. Add fresh chopped herbs  to the mixture if you have them. Finely sliced bacon is also a favourite. Happy baking!