My friend Rose is legendary among our friends circle for making the best scones.  I’ve had cranberry scones, ginger scones, pumpkin scones, variations with whole-wheat flour, almond flour, cream scones, and savory scones. Be it savory or sweet, Rose makes the most amazing scones! They are all scrumptious!

For a very long time I didn’t want to even bother asking Rose for her scone recipe – l knew I would muck it up somehow. You see, I am not a good baker. But with the rain and cold days we have been having, making some delicious scones from scratch to have warm out of the oven with a pat of butter melted on top sounded so good, that I decided to take a chance and asked Rose for her savory scone recipe. With caramelized onions and bleu cheese or extra sharp cheddar, these savory scones will have you not eating one or two, but three to four!  

Rose’s Savory Scones with Caramelized Onions and Sharp Cheddar Cheese:
makes 16 scones

Ingredients:

• 9 tablespoons (127 grams) cold unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 small onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 3/4 cups (345 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon (30 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt
• 4 ounces (about 1 cup or 115 grams) yellow or white cheddar cheese, grated or finely diced
• 1/2-cup heavy whipping cream; 1/2-cup buttermilk or enough to make the dough cohesive.

Directions:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1-tablespoon butter and add olive oil. Add the onions, reduce the heat to low and place a lid on top, letting them steam for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and continue to cook the onions, until they’re deep brown about 10 to 20 more minutes. If, for whatever reason, your onions need more time, up to 10 minutes more, don’t fret, they’ll only be more delicious for it. Set aside to cool.

• In a medium bowl or the work bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Dice 8 tablespoons remaining cold butter into 1/2-inch bits. If proceeding by hand, use your fingertips or a pastry blender to work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is crumbly with butter in pieces no larger than a small pea. If proceeding in a food processor, add the butter and pulse the machine in short bursts until you get the same texture, then transfer the butter-flour mixture back to a medium bowl. Stir in diced cheese.

• Pour buttermilk and heavy whipping cream over cooled onions and stir to combine. Add buttermilk-onion mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined. It’s going to seem a little dry and will help to use your hands to knead it together a few times in the bowl; don’t worry if a couple floury spots remain.

• Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and gather into a ball and divide into 2 equal portions.  Pat each into a disk about 5 inches in diameter. Transfer the disks to a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment. Use a knife or bench knife to cut each disk into 8 wedges, spreading the wedges apart a bit on the sheet.

• Brush the scones with a bit of cream and bake for about 18 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cook’s Notes: I found that the one mistake I made is not making the disk a little flatter and larger. Because the disk was so thick, it took much longer for the dough to cook through, almost 30-40 minutes and I was worried they were starting to burn and not be as delicate and fluffy as Rose’s scones usually are. Next time I will make the disk more of a 7-8 inch round rather than a thick 5-inch round, the scones will most likely cook through faster and have a more delicate flaky texture. Despite this mistake, the scones tasted outstanding.

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