Bacon Cheddar Scallion Scones

A very exciting thing happened this week, where my weekend baking adventure also counted as a Savory Sunday creation — I made savory scones! I promised AW he’d get some praise this time, because he helped too, so the credit isn’t all mine.

Late Saturday night, I was exhausted after working a whole day, but I absolutely cannot let a weekend pass without spending at least a little bit of time in the kitchen, so off to the supermarket we went at just shy of 11pm, and picked up some ingredients for the scones. We cooked the bacon that night, chopped up some scallions, and had all the ingredients at the ready. When I got up in the morning, AW measured out the dry ingredients while I was running, and then we threw everything together and the scones into the oven, and were on the road — scones in hand —  by 9:15am!

…and by 11:30 or so, we were onto our second round of scones.

They were really tasty, though it took a few bites for me to come to terms with the fact that there was no sugar involved. I’m not accustomed to eating breakfast treats sans sweet, so it was a bit strange, but well worth it. They were a cakier scone, and seemed a bit drier “in person” the way that I made them as compared to the picture depicted on Annie’s Eats, where I got the recipe. However, when I say dry I tend to mean not good, and these scones were really good. Not the best scones I’ve ever tasted, but yummy nonetheless. They were very cheesy, and dense and satisfying. I put them in a tupperware overnight and had another for breakfast today, and it was still really good! The recipe makes for a very hearty scone I’d say, but quite good. I followed the recipe exactly, but I think if I made them again I’d use a bit more pepper, and I might use heavy cream in place of (some or all) the buttermilk. My very favorite scone recipe is a cream-based scone made entirely with heavy cream (typically I make vanilla and dried cherry scones — SO GOOD!), and the scones come out so tender and crumbly and like a little piece of heaven — so I’d be curious to see what that substitution would do with these.

All in all, these were a good choice, especially to get out of the usual weekend rhythm of sweets. You can be sure I won’t stay in the savory department for long though — I bought 2 lbs of strawberries yesterday, and as soon as I can find a suitable recipe I’m going to dive into turning them into something amazing.

For now, here’s the recipe for those cheesy bacon scones —  yum!

Bacon Cheddar Scones

Ingredients:
For the scones:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. ground black pepper (depending on your preference)
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1½ cups grated cheddar cheese
4 green onions, thinly slices
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped or crumbled into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk (plus up to ½ cup extra, if needed)

For the egg wash:
1 large egg
2 tbsp. water

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and black pepper; mix briefly to combine.  Add the cubes of butter and mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter pieces are about the size of small peas.  (Alternatively, this can be done in a regular mixing bowl, using a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.)  Add in the grated cheese and mix just until incorporated.

Mix in the green onions, bacon, and 1 cup of the buttermilk into the flour-butter mixture.  Stir by hand just until all the ingredients are incorporated.  If the dough is too dry to come together, mix in the remaining buttermilk a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough can be formed into a ball.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into an 8-inch disk.  Slice the dough into 8 to 10 wedges.

In a small bowl combine the egg and water and whisk together.  Brush each wedge lightly with the egg wash.  Transfer the scones to an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Hope the week is off to a good start! I’m beginning the third-to-last week of my college career, and it’s terrifying! I expect to be pumping out baked goods like it’s my job over the next month or two to cope with the stress. Should be exciting! Until next time…

With love, and sugar. Enjoy!