The easy, homemade light and fluffy cheese and onion scones come together in a matter of minutes from pantry ingredients. Flavoured with sautéed onions and cheddar cheese, the perfect savoury scone for the brunch table.
Savoury scones are popular in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. These types of scones are similar to the biscuits of North America.
If you like these why not have a look at my spicy cheddar cheese scones, cheese and chives scones, or if you are looking for some a bit more traditional - my simple classic scones will be perfect.
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What You Need for this Recipe
Equipment
This recipe requires a mixing bowl, bench scraper (optional but very handy tool in the kitchen), cookie cutters or a sharp knife and a baking tray with some baking paper.
Scone Ingredients
Flour - plain flour, standard grade, or all-purpose flour is used to make these cheese scones.
Baking Powder to give the scones a bit of lift during the baking.
Butter (salted) adds flavour and gives a flakey tenderness to the scones. As the scones bake, the butter releases steam which raises the scone (in conjunction with the baking powder) and leads to a flakey, soft, and fluffy scone.
Cheddar - preferably mature or vintage cheddar, but tasty cheese (regular cheddar) will do just fine, particularly when paired with parmesan. If in New Zealand I recommend Tasty cheese!
Onions add a nice flavour to these scones. White, yellow or even red onions will do perfectly fine in this recipe.
Milk adds moisture to the scones. Whole or lower-fat options can be used.
Note - there is no added salt in this recipe because cheese can be rather salty, I opted for salted butter, and the baking powder also contains salt. However, if using unsalted butter add in ¼ - ½ teaspoon of table salt.
Substitutions/Variations
Substituting Plain/All-Purpose/Standard Grade Flour with Self-Raising/Self-Rising Flour: For every ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of baking powder per cup/150 grams of plain flour, simply use self-raising flour and leave out the baking powder. For recipes needing more than 1 teaspoon of baking powder per cup (150 grams) - add the additional baking powder per cup.
For this particular recipe, I would add an additional 2 teaspoons of baking powder with the self-raising flour.
Salt is a crucial ingredient in all baked goods. I use table salt in all my recipes. One teaspoon of table salt equals 1.5 teaspoons of Morton Kosher Salt equals 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal.
Making Cheese and Onion Scones
Note - all ingredients must be cold for this recipe. Store the grated butter and cheese in the fridge while measuring and preparing other ingredients.
1 - Preheat the oven to 220°C/425F/Gas Mark7. Finely dice and saute the onions until soft, and translucent with a bit of browning in about 2 teaspoons of olive oil.
2 - Grate the cheddar cheese, keeping aside approximately 40 grams to place on top of the scones before baking.
3 - Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper. Grate the butter or cut it into small blocks. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the cheese and onions into the flour, and mix through with your fingers until well distributed.
4 - Pour the milk into the flour mixture, using a fork, and stir to make a rough dough.
5 - Lightly flour a dough board or kitchen counter. Place the dough in the middle of the floured surface and bring the dough together into a rectangle. Using a knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into thirds and fold the outer edges on the middle section then press down using your hands or a rolling pin until the dough is about 3cm thick. Repeat the process twice more. This laminates the dough.
6 - Either using a cookie cutter or knife, cut 6 to 8 large scones. If using a round cookie cutter, bring together the left-over dough, by kneading the dough together and forming a disk or square to cut out additional scones. Try to work with the dough as little as possible.
NOTE - for mini cheese and onion scones, simply divide the dough into 12-16 smaller pieces. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
7 - Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the scones with the milk and sprinkle the leftover cheddar over the tops of the scones.
8 - Bake the cheese and onion scones for approximately 15 minutes. The scones would have risen, and be golden brown in colour. Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool down slightly before serving warm with butter.
Pro Tips for this Recipe
Weighing & Measuring Ingredients
Weighing ingredients with a kitchen scale is more accurate than using measuring cups. All my recipes are developed and tested using grams only.
However, I have activated the grams-to-cups conversions on the recipe card. Simply click on "cups". For these conversions, cups are equal to 240mL/8 fl oz, tablespoons are 15mL and teaspoons are 5mL.
Ovens: A conventional oven needs to be set at 20°C higher than a fan-forced or convection oven. Oven temperatures are not consistent, the best way to determine if your oven dial is correct is to use an oven thermometer.
Bakeware: Metal bakeware is superior when it comes to baking biscuits, cookies, brownies, muffins and quick bread, scones, cakes as these heat up and cool down faster than glassware.
Lamination of scone dough is something I picked up watching American biscuits being made. It creates nice layers of butter and cheese which adds to the flakiness.
Scones can be cut out and stored frozen. Bake directly from frozen, adding about 5 minutes to the baking time to allow the scone(s) to defrost.
Cold is a must for great scones! Keep all ingredients cold, storing them in the fridge until you are ready to go ahead and made the dough. If it's warm where you are baking, place the cut scones back into the fridge while the oven is heating up.
All my recipes are currently tested at sea level.
Storage and Freezing
Scones can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3 days. Frozen scones (baked or unbaked) can be stored for up to 3 months.
Cheese and Onion Scones FAQ
Yes. Allow the scones to cool completely before wrapping them in plastic wrap and in an airtight container. Scones can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge. Scones can also be baked directly from frozen, add 5 minutes to the baking time.
A mature or vintage cheddar adds a nice flavour to scones. Tasty Cheese in New Zealand is perfect for savoury scones.
Pope them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds next to a small bowl of water. Or heat at 150°C/ 300F/Gas Mark 2 for 5 minutes with a bowl of water.
The scone dough was probably overworked. Scone dough should be handled as little as possible.
Definitely. Store cut scones in an airtight container overnight for super fresh scones the next day. Bake them directly from the fridge.
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📖 Recipe
Cheese and Onion Scones
Equipment
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 300 grams plain flour (all-purpose/standard grade)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 60 grams butter (salted)
- 160 grams cheddar (grated)
- 200 mL milk
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 medium onion finely diced and sautéed
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon table salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/425F/Gas Mark7. Finely dice and saute the onions until soft, translucent with a bit of browning in about 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Allow the onions to cool.
- Grate the cheddar cheese, keeping aside approximately 40 grams to place on top of the scones before baking.160 grams cheddar
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper. Grate the butter or cut it into small blocks. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the cheese and onions into the flour, and mix through with your fingers until well distributed.300 grams plain flour,½ teaspoon cracked black pepper,¼ - ½ teaspoon table salt
- Pour the milk into the flour mixture, using a fork, stir to make a rough dough.200 mL milk
- Lightly flour a dough board or kitchen counter. Place the dough in the middle of the floured surface and bring the dough together into a rectangle. Using a knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into thirds and fold the outer edges on the middle section. Press down using your hands or a rolling pin until the dough is about 3cm thick. Repeat the process twice more. This laminates the dough.
- Either using a cookie cutter or knife cut 6 to 8 large scones. If using a round cookie cutter, bring together the left-over dough, by laminating the dough together and forming a disk or square to cut out additional scones. Try to work with the dough as little as possible.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the scones with the milk and sprinkle the leftover cheddar over the tops of the scones.3 tablespoons milk
- Bake for approximately 15 minutes. The scones would have risen, and be golden brown in colour. Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool down slightly before serving warm with butter.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate. If scaling the recipe remember to scale your cook and bakeware accordingly. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs,I earn from qualifying purchases.
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