A few weeks ago I was making our apple pie scones and suddenly had the brilliant idea of making a savory version, easy ham and cheese scones!
The only way I could ever convince our family to ditch the amazingly wonderful sweet version of a scone was clearly to add cheese. Cheese makes everything better. And bacon. Shoot, I need to try a bacon version. Can you use bacon grease in a scone? Or just the bacon? So many things to look into.
How Long Do Scones Last?
Scones are one of my favorite things to make because they have that tender, flaky quality to them and they really are much easier to make than one might think.
But mostly I love them because while they are obviously best enjoyed fresh, scones can be kept in a zip top bag for up to a week annnnnnd up to 2 months in the freezer!
It’s so easy to make a double batch and freeze half for later. Can you freeze scone dough? Why yes you can! Just bake them straight from the freezer and allow 2-4 more minutes in the oven.
How are Scones Different From Biscuits?
Most of the time I don’t really see scones as similar enough to biscuits to think about it but the truth is they are very similar.
A scone often has an egg or two in it while biscuits don’t.
That’s honestly the only difference.
Both have a fat cut in to the flour and a liquid, both can be cooked in the oven on a pan or in a skillet.
Both can be fluffy, tender and wonderful.
How to Make Scones
Let’s get in to the important part of this, how to make scones so you can devour them. We usually make this easy ham and cheese scones recipe for breakfast for dinner nights, served with a little fresh fruit and fluffy scrambled eggs, but you can do them any ol’ time. They are especially lovely during the spring for Mother’s Day, wedding and baby showers etc.
A good scone needs only a few ingredients, butter (or shortening if you must), buttermilk, salt, and baking powder. Everything else is just to adjust the flavor.
Butter gives you those tender, flaker layers and margarine just wont cut it in this case. As the steam rises so does that beautiful hunk of dough, creating a pillow of bread once cooked.
Buttermilk for savory while cream is great for a sweet scone. This allows for the dough to come together but still have enough fat to keep it a tender dough.
Baking Powder is the true leavening agent that adds the real height you’re looking for. Do not use a substitute.
Salt is necessary in both sweet and savory dishes as it provides the flavor. Yes, cheese and ham are in there, but everything needs seasoning. I love that salt not only flavors a dish but it also makes the other ingredients stand out even more.
Pizza Wheel – This is a MUST in our house. The Dexas pizza wheel isn’t a steel blade, but a plastic blade and if you watch our videos you’ll notice I use a plastic pizza wheel all the time to cut dough. It is so much easier than a knife and wont harm any pans or counter tops. This particular wheel is extra cheap and it has prime shipping on Amazon. Totally worth it.
Silicone Mat You’ll often hear us say that we prefer to bake on a silicone mat because it promotes evenly cooked food that doesn’t stick to the pan. You wont have extra brown bottoms. 🙂 Scones are a perfect example of why this is a good investment and the one we linked to has so far proven to be the best as far as durability and performance. Kneading the dough and rolling it out on a mat keeps you from over flouring as the dough wont stick, thus you wont end up with dry, crumbly scones. Just place it on the cookie sheet, knead, shape and cut the dough then it’s less cleanup, just brush off any excess crumbs before baking.
Pastry Cutter A pastry cutter is something we use for things like crisps, crumbles, streusels, pie, scones, biscuits and on and on. It’s just easier than busting out two awkward knives or forks or trying to use your fingers which often makes the butter too warm and smashes it into the flour too much, thus creating a messed up dough.
More HAM RECIPES You Will Love:
- World’s Best Brown Sugar Ham
- Honey Baked Ham
- Ham Dipping Sauces
- Secret to the Best Ham Fried Rice
- Spring Ham and Asparagus Lemon Cream Sauce
- Cheesy Ham and Potato Bacon Casserole
- Ham Lemon Orzo with Parmesan and Peas
- Garlic Honey Mustard Ham
- Ham and Cheese Sliders
- Hawaiian Ham and Pineapple Casserole
- Ham and Cheese Breakfast Stromboli
- Hash Browns Ham Frittata
- Ham Hock Soup
- Ham and Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese
- How to Make Ham in a Slow Cooker
- How to Carve a Spiral Ham
- All our BEST PORK RECIPES here!
Easy Ham and Cheese Scones
Easy Ham and Cheese Scones
Description
Ingredients
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, 8 Tablespoons or 1 stick, cut into cubes, * see note
- 3/4 Cup Buttermilk, chilled
- 1 1/4 Cup Colby Jack Cheese, shredded
- 1/2 Cup Diced Ham
- 1-2 Tablespoon Fresh Chives, chopped, plus more for garnish
- 2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to evenly combine everything. An unmixed bowl of dry ingredients will lead to uneven scones when baked as the ingredients wont be properly distributed.
- Add cold butter to the flour mixture and using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. You may use your hands if needed but be careful to not completely mix the butter in.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir in buttermilk, cheese, ham and chives until a soft dough forms.
- Working on a silicone mat or parchment paper on a cookie sheet or pizza stone, knead the dough only a couple of times until it comes together.
- Using a rolling pill, roll the dough into an 8″ circle, about 1-inch thick, and cut into 8 wedges using a pizza wheel or knife.
- Place into oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until firm to the touch and lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and brush with a little melted butter and sprinkle with chives.
- Serve immediately. See note for storage and freezing instructions.
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended Products
Apple Pie Scones with Brown Butter Glaze
Cade may love crepes but I’m a pretty die hard scone fan lately. My goodness they are wonderful.
Rochelle Chen
These scones have amazing flavor and turned out perfectly! I have always made sweet scones in the past but this savory version is now at the top of my list. Thanks for such a great, easy recipe.
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Rochelle! I’m pretty obsessed with this savory version myself!
Diane Wagner
When you roll and cut in 8 wedges, do you just cut thru and bake or do you separate them on the cookie sheet?
Sweet Basil
Great question! Spread them out on the baking sheet. Thanks Diane!
Debbie
Amazing! My didn’t rise as high as I would like but the flavour is fantastic. YUM!
Sweet Basil
Oh bummer! I’m glad you still enjoyed them!
Kristi Lecuyer
Tried these for thanksgiving breakfast. Easy to make ( your directions and notes were very helpful). Absolutely delicious and a big hit with the family! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Sweet Basil
Yay! Thank you so much for the feedback Kristi!
Mom24
These are fabulous. Thank you. I made them, baked half and put half in the freezer. I’ve been baking off the rest of them all week. They’re perfect right out of the freezer and into the oven too. Great recipe.
Sweet Basil
Oh, good to know!
Dr Martin Huang
Wow, the ham and cheese scones are definitely going to be pin up on my to-do list!
Thanks for sharing!
Sweet Basil
Thanks!
Bethany
I made these last week and then ate on them throughout the week for breakfasts. They were delicious but I found that it seemed like a lot of flour and it didn’t all stick together when I kneaded it. I just read the comment about grating the butter into the flour mixture, would that help? I don’t have a pastry cutter so I just used my hands but I didn’t want to completely mix the butter in because that’s defeating the purpose. Any suggestions?
Sweet Basil
Hi Bethany,
Scones are different from other doughs as it will be very floury and crumbly at first. As long as you follow the exact measurements using cups to measure dry ingredients and liquid cups for wet you should be good to go. It could also be that we measure flour differently which can add up to 1/3 cup more flour. Here’s a post on how we measure so we end up the same. 🙂 https://ohsweetbasil.com/how-to-measure-flour-plus-giveaway/
MaryKay Lawrence
These scones are amazing. I savory person and I have finally found the perfect breakfast scone for me. I made the recipe exactly as printed and it turned out perfectly. Thank you!
Sweet Basil
YAY!! Thank you so much for the kind words!
2pots2cook
Thank you for this savoury scones version. Will do definitely; also I will grate the butter 🙂
Octavia Bruhn
I found a lazy – sorry, more efficient – way to cut in the butter. Freeze the stick of butter then use a grater to grate the butter. Works beautifully. Saves on frustration.
Sweet Basil
I love that tip!! Totally doing it from now on.