Cheese and Chives Scones

This morning I was harvesting some of my herbs from the garden (yard) and ended up with a big bunch of chives, about two cups worth of sweet basil and some parsley. I decided to make some basil lemonade to take with us to Tahoe on Sunday. I was thinking of making some creamy sauce with the chives and parsley for maybe a pasta dinner tonight but Matt wasn’t interested in pasta.

I found a yummy looking picture of scones on some food blog with a recipe for savory scallions and cheese scones. I didn’t have all of the ingredients in my refrigerator so, as always, I had to improvise. Instead of scallions, I used chives.

My first attempt, I used wholewheat flour and the exact amount of cheese as listed. The final product didn't look as appetizing although it tasted good. A little more cheese would have made it yummier.



It took only 40 minutes to prepare and bake the scones so I tried it again this time using all-purpose flour and double the amount of cheese. Matt thought the second batch was much better and tasted like the cheese bread we usually get at Red Lobster.
I leave it up to you to judge which looked more appetizing.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (used all-purpose flour on second batch

1/2 cup whipped cream cheese (no cream cheese on the second batch)

1 cup mexican mix cheese ( I used 2 cups of cheese on the second attempt)

1 tsp salt

1 tbs + 2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups half and half fat free

1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix 2-1/2 cups flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add cheeses & toss gently with a fork until combined. Then add chives. Mix and set aside.

3. Beat half & half with egg and gently fold into dry ingredients, mixing lightly until a soft dough forms. Add up to 1/2 cup additional flour if the dough is too sticky.

4. On a floured surface, gently pat dough into a circle approximately 1-inch thick. Handle the dough lightly and as little as possible. With a sharp knife cut the circle into wedges and place them on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. (I sliced mine into 12 pieces.)

Brush tops and sides of scones with egg glaze if desired. To make egg glaze, beat 1 egg with 2 tbsp half and half or milk or water.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm, or cool completely and refrigerate or freeze in an airtight container.

I may have put too much baking powder that's why the scones looked like they collapsed. But, it didn't make any difference in taste. It was still yummy and much more appetizing than the whole wheat version.