Cheddar Barley Sprout Scones
I love cooking and creating new recipes for food and drinks, especially made with tea, but I had never baked before the pandemic. Bread or baked items are not staple food for me as I am from South Korea where rice is a staple food, and I didn't have confidence due to zero previous experience. Many people had told me that baking is a lot easier than cooking if you have recipes and an oven, but it always felt like too long of a journey to take on.
When my tea friend Lu Ann recommended to me a recipe for Classic English Scones on her blog, I mustered up the courage to try baking them as scones are one of my favourite baked items and I had some extra time to bake at home during the pandemic.
Surprisingly, my first attempt turned out great and I got a lot of confidence! Soon after when Lu Ann posted a recipe for Cheddar Chive Scones, I also tried making them a few times and loved the recipe! When I couldn't find fresh chives one day, I came up with an idea of tweaking the recipe using Barley Sprout leaves instead of chives, and we loved the flavours of these TEAlicious savoury scones and they became our favourite. As mentioned above, I was a beginner in baking but the scones turned out great all the time, which means you can also make good scones at home whether you are a beginner or not! Lu Ann's recipe is easy to follow and the scones go great with a cup of tea. The Barley Sprout is such a great alternative to fresh chives.
Note:
This recipe makes 8-12 scones depending on the size of the cutter you use.
Scones are the best when they are enjoyed fresh out of the oven. If you keep the scones for longer than a day or two, warm them up in the oven rather than having them cold or microwaved.
Ingredients (yields 8-12 scones):
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 tablespoons baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 2 tablespoons sugar
· 6 tablespoons cold butter
· 1 tablespoon onion powder
· 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
· 2 heaping tablespoons Barley Sprout
· 2/3 cup milk
· 1 egg
Instructions:
1) Make Barley Sprout tea. (Please click here to see the steeping instructions.) Strain the tea leaves and set aside. You can drink the tea infusion before or after cooking.
2) Preheat the oven to 215ºC (or 425ºF) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3) In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
4) Using your finger tips, cut cold butter into the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Toss it around a couple of times with your hands to make it light and airy. (Note: You don't need a pastry cutter or a fancy equipment. Just use your clean hands. It is Lu Ann's recommendation and it works pretty good. Don't overwork it or you will warm up the butter too much.)
5) Add onion powder and cheddar cheese.
6) Chop the steeped Barley Sprout into smaller pieces and add to the bowl.
7) In a separate bowl, whisk milk and egg until combined. Reserve two tablespoons of the mixture to brush on the scones later. Add remainder to the dry ingredients.
8) With a spatula, fold the mixture together until dough begins to form. Place the dough onto a floured surface. Gently form a smooth ball. Do not knead or roll it. Pat down on the dough until the surface is even and it is about 1.5 inches thick.
9) Cut out scones using a scone cutter. Dip your scone cutter in flour, cut into the dough and lift. Do not twist the cutter as it may ruin the edges of the scone and they may not rise as well as they should. (Note: I don't have a scone cutter and I used a cookie cutter instead. It works great!) Place the scones onto the lined baking sheet. Lightly brush the top of the scones with the reserved egg/milk mixture for a nice, golden and crisp scone. Be careful not to have the mixture drip down the sides, filling the air bubbles in the scones.
10) Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
11) Remove from tray and place on a wire rack. If you lightly tap the bottom of your scone after baking, it should sound hollow. That means it's successfully light and airy inside.
12) Serve warm with a cup of tea! (You can drink the first infusion of Barley Sprout tea and/or you can have a second steep of the tea!)
13) You can enjoy the scones with butter or clotted cream and jam as shown below but these savoury scones are good even when enjoyed plain!
Enjoy the tasTEA scones!
If you are looking for a good tea blog, visit Lu Ann's The Cup of Life (click here). It's one of the best tea blogs!