Bacon and Cheddar Scones

Rich, tender scones loaded with cheese and bacon. These are perfect for Sunday brunch or you could even serve these with soup or salad for dinner.

I love scones. Some people call them biscuits. Some people insist scones are not biscuits. Whatever you want to call them, I just want to say I love them.

I have posted about scones (and even biscuits) before. This Sarabeth buttermilk biscuit recipe is one of my favorites. Everyone who has tried the cranberry and cinnamon scones has loved it. There is a video also on the blog on how to make scones. While I love a sweet scone, I have been wanting to make a savory bacon scone for a while now. So last Sunday, I decided to add bacon and cheese to my scones and they turned out even better than what I expected.

The recipe for these bacon and cheese scones is adapted from kingarthurflour.com . The original recipe has chives in it and while I would have loved to add them, I did not have any on hand so skipped that ingredient out. We just planted some chives in our garden, so hopefully soon that will not be a problem for future bakes of these bacon and cheddar scones. I did add a few fresh herbs from the garden though. Another change that I made was that I did half whole wheat, and half all purpose flour. It worked well, and I love the slightly healthier touch (only slightly because bacon and cheese kind of offset the healthiness that the whole wheat flour brings). The third change I made was decreasing the amount of baking powder called for. I have mentioned it earlier on the blog that I feel whenever I add 1 tbsp of baking powder to a recipe that calls for 2 cups of flour, there is always this slightly bitter taste in the baked product. Probably its the kind of baking powder that I use. So now whenever I bake I make sure not to use more than 1 tsp of baking powder per cup of flour and I have made that adjustment in this recipe too. Also, always sift your dry ingredients. Baking powder and baking soda tend to lump and if you don’t sift you will get lumps in your baked product which leave a bitter after taste. Remember, always sift!

To make life simpler, you can make the dough and shape the scones a day in advance. Keep them on a parchment lined baking tray covered with saran wrap/ clingfilm in the freezer. The next day when you are ready to bake them, just remove the tray from the freezer and let sit on your kitchen counter at room temperature while you preheat the oven. Bake and have warm freshly baked scones first thing in the morning without dirtying the kitchen sink. There is no reason why you should not be making these. You can also serve these scones with a soup or salad and make it a meal.

A tip for cooking bacon: make it in the oven. It’s easy, and you get perfect crispy bacon each time. Bake them in a preheated 400 F/200 C oven for 15-20 minutes. Start checking after the 12 minute mark. I always save the oil that the bacon releases and use a tsp or two of it to cook my scrambled eggs.

For non bacon lovers, you could not add the bacon. Instead just add the cheese and chives. Maybe some chopped mushrooms? I always get requests for eggless, vegetarian variations and this recipe is easily adaptable.

It’s Wednesday today, which means you should already be making weekend brunch plans. These bacon and cheddar scones will be perfect for your brunch scene. I served these with scrambled eggs, sausages, freshly squeezed orange juice and fruit. If you follow me on instagram you would have seen the scene on my stories. If you try these out, please share your pictures with me by tagging me.

I used my new India Circus stoneware plates  that are microwave and dishwasher safe and with lovely designs. You can check of their stoneware collection here.