Flaky cottage cheese scones
With herbs, cheddar and sun-dried tomatoes
For the last couple months I’ve been seeing cottage cheese pop up everywhere, in pasta sauces, dips, scrambled eggs and even cheese cakes. All of which I have avoided like the plague, in my experience cottage cheese was a bitter watery concoction that my grandmother would put on a cracker as a ‘fat free’ cheese alternative.
Turns out, it was not the cottage cheese that was at fault, it’s was the ‘fat free’. Like all fat free dairy, the kind my grandmother had fed us was a pale imitation of the real thing. Real cottage cheese, is friggin delicious and should 100 percent be added to pasta sauce, spreads and eggs (still need to be convinced with cheese cake). Anyway this is all to say, if you’re not a cottage cheese fan, try the full fat kind and make these flakey, cheesy scones.
Ingredients
250g plain flour
70g unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
60g grated cheddar cheese
1 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 handful chopped chives or wild garlic
2tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes
80ml whole milk
100g cottage cheese (not the low fat kind)
1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt and splash of milk
Method
Preheat your oven to 180fan/ 200c and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Grab yourself a large mixing bowl and rub together your butter and flour, so that the butter crumbles into pea size pieces. Stir in your cheese, herbs, salt, baking powder and sundried tomatoes. Then make a well in the centre and pour in your milk and cottage cheese.
With a wooden spoon or your hands, gently ‘squish’ and knead the dough so there is no dry flour left, try and work the dough as little as possible, so to stop the gluten developing too much and creating a chewy (not flaky) scone.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough into a rectangle, about 2cm thick. Cut 6-9 squares (depending on size preference).
Place on your lined baking tray, brush with an egg wash, sprinkle with cheese or herbs (optional). Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.
Eat warm fresh and warm, I like mine with a pat of cold butter.
Scones will last up to 3 days in an airtight container or a month in the freezer.
Oh these look lovely Kitty! I’ve gone dairy free for Lent so I will have to sit on my hands and try not to think about these for a few more weeks. I’m sure they will be worth my patience 😂
I've fallen into the habit of trying out your recipes. They've been delicious - wonderful to have new bakes added to my repertoire. I can't wait to try these once I shop for the ingredients. Thanks, Kitty, for providing so many hours of pleasure - both in the making and the eating!