Scones

From Sunday Times 
Cheese and chives scones 

Mrs Dancy Thong, 51, freelance accountant and avid home cook, shares her recipe for cheese and chives scones. 

INGREDIENTS 

200ml milk 

2 Tbs lemon juice 

500g self-raising flour 

1/4 tsp salt 

180g butter, cubed and chilled 

160g cheddar cheese, grated 

2 Tbs chopped chives 

1 tsp black pepper 

2 eggs, lightly beaten 


METHOD 

1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C. 

2. Add lemon juice to the milk and set aside. 

3. Sift the self-raising flour into a big bowl and add salt. 

4. Rub butter into the flour with finger tips for four minutes until a crumbly mixture forms. 

5. Add in 140g grated cheese, chopped chives and black pepper and mix well with a spatula for a minute. 

6. Stir eggs into the milk and pour most of it into the flour mixture. Leave 2 Tbs of the egg-milk mixture for glazing the scones later. Stir the flour mixture with a spatula for a minute and stop once a soft dough forms. 

7. Roll the dough out to 2cm thickness on a flour-dusted work surface and cut it with a circular cutter, 5cm in diameter. 

8. Transfer the cut rounds to a baking sheet dusted with flour and brush it with the egg-milk mixture from before. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top of the scones. 

9. Bake for 18 minutes until golden. 

Makes 25 

TIP: The scones can keep for a week in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer. Remind the receipient to warm the scones up before serving with butter.