I have a guilty snack that I like to indulge in—cheese scones. While cheese scones don’t rate highly on the health scales, they are full of flavour and perfect with a cup of tea for a mid-morning snack. The ones in our household are gluten free, using a mix of maize and brown rice flour instead of wheat flour.
Ingredients
1 cup maize flour
1 cup brown rice flour
30g cold butter, cut into 1cm cubes
1 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (or your preferred blend)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
Tiny sprinkle of pepper
½ tsp dry mustard powder (optional)
Sprinkle of dried oregano or mixed herbs (optional)
Method
Pre-heat oven to 220°C.
Sieve the two types of flour, mustard and pepper into a large bowl. Rub the cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the grated cheeses and gently mix through completely, ensuring there are no large clumps of cheese. Add ¾ of the milk and mix through with a knife using a slicing action to combine all the ingredients together into a dough. Judge the consistency of the mixture—it should be firm but not crumbly—and add more milk if needed.
Form the mixture into a ball with your hands. Place it on the floured bench top and pat it into a 2cm thick layer. Using a small round cutter (approximately 5cm), cut out the scones and place them on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. The scones should rest immediately beside each other with no gaps between. Sprinkle with dried herbs and place in the oven for 12 minutes.