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! 

Sweet Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam

This is a family favourite that we indulge from time to time when visitors pop by. A light hand makes these sweet scones easy to make in a flash. Get your busy on and these can be made in less than half an hour. The clotted cream is made by Clearwater in Geraldine and has a long shelf life which makes it a perfect fridge staple; I got mine from New World Ilam. 

Sweet Scones

2 cups plain flour
2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
70g cold, salted butter
1 egg
enough milk to top the egg up to 200ml of liquid

jam of any variety and clotted cream

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C. and line a baking tray with baking paper. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients. 

Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. 

If you are not sure if the mixture is rubbed in enough, just shake the bowl and any lumps of butter will float to the top. 





Using whisk combine the egg and milk. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the milk and egg. This is where the light hand is required: Using a table knife gently mix the dough until it is just combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured board or piece of baking paper. Pat into a 4cm deep rectangle shape. Using a floured knife cut into 12 scones. Place on the lined baking tray and bake for 13 minutes until golden brown and well risen. 

The test for doneness is to tap on the bottom of the scone and listen for a hollow sound. 

Allow the scones to cool a little before splitting, creaming and jamming, or as I've done serving them DIY style. 

All done in no time and ready for our afternoon tea visitors. 

Date, Orange and Cinnamon Scones at Tailing Time

There is nothing more delicious than a freshly made scone. Here is another variation of the date scone. Just for a little change, this one has cinnamon and orange zest and juice. I made these for afternoon tea to take 'down the paddock' to the tailing party.

Date, Orange and Cinnamon Scones

1 cup dates
juice and zest of an orange
1 egg, topped up with milk to 200ml of liquid 

2 1/2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
100g butter

Preheat the oven to 200deg. C.

Place the dates, orange zest and juice into a small pot and using a medium heat stir until the dates start to break up and the mixture thickens. Set aside to cool.










Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour. 


Measure out the egg and milk and add it to the dates and mix well.

Make a well in the centre of the rubbed in flour and butter, and pour in the egg, milk and date mixture. 

Gently stir to combine, then turn out onto a floured board. 

Coat with a thin layer of flour and gently press out into a rectangular shape. 

Using a floured knife, cut into squares. 


Place onto a floured baking tray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden and risen. 

The scones should sound hollow when tapped on their bottoms. 

Serve warm with butter. For all the really hard core date scone fans, here is another version I have made previously.

I also made these open sandwiches by mashing hard boiled eggs with a little melted butter and seasoning, then spreading it onto a sliced walnut loaf. I topped it with a simple tomato, capsicum and onion salsa dressed with a simple vinaigrette style dressing.

A perfect, tasty afternoon tea for the hungry tailing party.

Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam

It's always interesting what you stumble across when you go to an unfamiliar supermarket. In my case it was a small pottle of Clearwater Clotted cream gathered off the shelves at New World Ilam. What a great excuse for a batch of scones.

As per usual I had my chief kitchen hand near by. Luckily this time she was preoccupied with helping Nana feeding the lambs and arrived back just in time for tea wagon duty.

Sweet Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
100g butter
1 egg
milk to top the egg up to 3/4 cup of liquid

Clotted cream
Apricot Jam

Preheat the oven to 200deg. C 

Sift the flour, baking powder and icing sugar together into a large bowl.

Cut the butter into cubes, then rub it into the flour mixture until the whole thing looks like crumbs.

Whisk the egg and milk together. 

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and egg mixture. 

Mix together using a table knife until a soft dough is formed. Don't over mix or the scones wont rise.

Turn the mixture out onto the floured bench and gently form into a square that is about 4 cm thick. Use a floured knife to cut into 9 scones.

Place onto a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and well risen. The bases of the scones should sound hollow when tapped.

Pull up the tea wagon, round up the troops and break out the home made apricot jam, morning tea is served.

More treats with our Buddies - Banana & Brown Sugar Scones

We often like to give Little Miss 4 options about what food she might like to eat or serve. This tactic can sometimes back-fire: "Mummy I would like to have chips and dip for tea", try talking a 4 year old out of that. Sometimes it turns out well "I'd like toast with carrots for breakfast". And sometimes she comes up with some genuinely interesting ideas. This is the one we made for afternoon tea with our buddies.

Banana and Brown Sugar Scones

2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
120g butter
1 egg
enough milk to top the egg up to 3/4 cup of liquid
1 banana

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

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the brown sugar and stir the mixture to combine.

Grate the butter into the bowl and toss with the flour to separate the butter. Using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour until the fixture resembles crumbs.





Crack the egg into a measuring jug and top up with milk to 3/4 cup of liquid. Whisk to combine.

Cut the banana into small cubes and place into the milk mix to prevent it from browning.






Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in the milk and banana mix and gently fold together using a table knife.









Turn out onto a floured board and form into a neat square. Cut into 9 even sized squares using a floured knife.










Place onto the lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes until golden and well risen. The bottom of the scones should sound hollow when tapped.

We served ours with whipped cream. My father suggested honey as a good accompaniment.

Enjoy your week!

Spicy Cranberry and Raisin Pinwheel Scones

It's no secret that I recently had a milestone birthday. If there is one thing we all learn with age, it's that it is not the things we accumulate over our lifetimes that matter, it's the friends we make along the way. I can hardly believe I'm forty! That's like twenty twice! How did that happen? I had a great birthday week celebration with family and friends. 

I whipped up these scones for one of my most fabulous old friends and her beautiful family when they popped round to our house for a catch up.

Spicy Cranberry and Raisin Pinwheel Scones

Scone Mix
2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
100g butter
1 egg 
enough milk to top up the egg to make 200ml of liquid
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Filling
1/2 cup Raisins
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter - melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice

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

Start by making the spicy fruit filling: Melt the butter and stir in the remaining filling ingredients. Put aside while you make the scone dough.









Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Grate the butter into the flour mix and add the brown sugar; then rub the butter in with your finger tips until the mixture resembles crumbs.

Whisk the egg and milk mixture together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture.





Use a table knife to gently combine the ingredients until just mixed. The mixture should be quite wet.










Sprinkle some extra flour onto a sheet of plastic food wrap. Turn the scone dough out onto the wrap and use a gentle floured hand to spread the dough into rectangular shape. 







Evenly spread the spicy fruit filling onto the scone dough.










Use the plastic wrap to help roll the dough into a 'sushi roll'.

Make sure the join is on the underside, and with a sharp floured knife cut the scone roll into 3cm slices. Try not to squash the roll shape.

Place the scones onto the baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until well risen and golden brown.



The best way to test a scone for doneness is to tap the bottom and listen for a hollow sound - then you know it is cooked.

Time to switch the coffee machine on and get the butter out!

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!



School Holiday Date Scones

Dog tired, tuckered out, exhausted, run ragged: there are lots of ways to describe that end of the school term feeling. That last week with so many things to do, dead lines to meet, lots of little loose ends to tie up, all the while just trying to avoid the inevitable and obligatory dose of pre-holiday germs. Days have gone by since I have done anything even remotely interesting or creative. Time to emerge out of the post-school term mire with a little baking.

A couple of weeks back we stopped for a coffee at the lovely Addington Coffee Company where I tried one of their fabulous Date Scones. They were scones with a difference, out of the ordinary scones, with a delicious date filling. Without wanting to steal their thunder or impact the bottom line, I resolved to reproduce these little morsels at home. 

Date Scones

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
80g butter
1 egg
Milk - enough added to the egg to make up to 200ml of liquid
1 cup dates - cut in half
zest and juice of 1 lemon 
1/4 cup water
a little milk and caster sugar to sprinkle on top


Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Start by making the date filling: put the dates, zest, juice and water into a saucepan and simmer gently until the dates break up and a paste is formed when the mixture is stirred. Put aside to cool.

Sift the dry ingredients. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles fine crumbs. Mix the egg and milk together. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and pour in the egg and milk. Gently mix until just combined. The mixture is quite soft and needs to be handled with care.



Do not over mix, knead or roll: it will make the scones hard and stodgy.

Turn the mixture out onto a floured piece of baking paper. Gently push out into a rectangular shape. Spread the cooled date mixture over half the scone dough. Flip the other half of the dough over (the baking paper makes that easier). 

Cut into even shapes. Brush the scones with milk and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake at 200 deg. C for 10 to 12 minutes.



These make a lovely change from the more traditional date scone. The lemon zest cuts through the intense sweetness of the dates and the paste makes the scones really moist.
The texture of the scone is quite cake-like and soft.









If you happen to be in Addington it is well worth dropping into the Coffee Company for its great coffee, good food and laid back atmosphere.

Otherwise you can always make these lovely scones for your family and friends at home.