Scones and Art

This blog is about interesting food, right?  Scones are a fairly interesting food in their own right - probably not something you have every day for breakfast - but how about a scone with blue cheese, green onions and spinach?  Now that's interesting.  Scones are surprisingly easy to make and freeze beautifully.  The next time you want a special breakfast make a batch of these the day before, then simply reheat the next morning while your coffee brews.

Before going on to the recipe, I want to point out the coffee cup in the picture above.  My friend Robin is an award-winning artist who works in several media.  I was fortunate to nab her series of iris coffee cups many years ago and treasure them still.  They are a most lovely creamy white color and each portrays an iris in a different stage of blossoming.  We also have several of her fabulous paintings.  I am so jealous of talented artists!  She recently mentioned a photograph of a white peony that I'm dying to see.

Anyway, on to scones.  There are many scone recipes out there with orange, cranberries, etc. etc. but I think these savory scones taste great.  Two different recipes were given to various family and friends - this one and a version with cheddar, green onions and bacon - and this recipe was the winner.  Any time a recipe wins against bacon, that's impressive!  If you don't happen to like blue cheese, feel free to substitute.

** clik here for a printable recipe **

Savory Breakfast Scones

Makes 12  scones

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter

4 oz crumbled blue cheese

6 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced

3 oz fresh spinach, chopped

1-1/2 cups buttermilk, divided

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Put the stick of butter in the freezer for 15 minutes to make it easier to cut.  While the butter is in the freezer, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Take the butter out and cut into small cubes.  Add the butter to the dry mixture and cut it in with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles small peas.  Alternately, pulse all ingredients in a food processor.  Stir in the blue cheese, green onions, and spinach by hand.

Add 1 cup of buttermilk to the mix and stir by hand just until all ingredients come together.  If the dough is too dry to hold together, add additional buttermilk by small amounts until the dough can be formed into a ball.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured board.  Cut the dough into two pieces and pat each into a disk 5” in diameter.  The disks will be 1-1/2 to 2” tall.  Cut each disk into 6 wedges (like a pie) with a large knife. 

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place all 12 scones on the baking sheet.  Bake for 20-22 minutes until light brown.  Remove to a cooling rack to cool.

To serve, reheat in a microwave or toaster oven and serve with butter.