Cheese & Ham Scones with Wild Garlic
Cheese & Ham Scones with Wild Garlic are great when you fancy a change from classic cheese scones. Still with plenty of cheese, they’re also studded with little morsels of ham. When wild garlic is in season, I love the subtle flavour it brings. At other times of year, substitute chives or even parsley for a herby edge.
The ultimate savoury scone!
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Cheese & Ham Scones
Who doesn’t love a cheese scone?
My Very Cheesy Cheese Scones recipe has proved to be a popular one and I still regularly make them.
But I fancied something a little different the other day. I still wanted that comforting, familiar cheesy flavour. Yet I was in the mood for something a little more complex too.
That’s when my Cheese & Ham Scones with Wild Garlic were born.
Wild Garlic & Alternatives
First off, you don’t HAVE to have wild garlic to make these Cheese & Ham Scones.
In Britain, wild garlic is usually in season between March and early June. However, the pungent leaves are said to be at their best before they flower in May.
read more about foraging for wild garlic here
I had my first wild garlic of this year in mid-March. I used most of it in a wild garlic butter which made fantastic pizza-style garlic bread.
The butter’s lovely on baked potatoes too, and more of the leaves were great in a gazpacho smoothie.
But if you don’t have wild garlic, then don’t be tempted to substitute ordinary cloves of garlic in these scones. I think they’d be overpowering here.
Much better would be that other member of the allium family, snipped chives. Failing that, I would add finely chopped parsley to give a fresh, grassy note.
Making the Scones
The great thing about scones, whether Classic Sultana Scones or savoury ones like these, is that they’re very quick and easy to make.
In this case, you just rub butter into self raising flour, baking powder and salt. Next you stir in the cheese, ham and wild garlic or herbs. To form a soft dough, liquid is then added.
Happily, you have a wide choice of what liquids you can use so it’s a great recipe for adapting to what you have. Scones will be fine made with plain yogurt, a mixture of yogurt and water, all milk, milk and water, milk and yogurt, buttermilk or even whey.
I most often use my Homemade Yogurt. Not just because I’ve always got some in the fridge, but also because it makes the scones light and fluffy.
However, for the Cheese & Ham Scones you see in this post, I was using up lots of odds and ends. So in these, there’s yogurt, milk, water AND whey from straining some of my homemade yogurt. Even with that mishmash, I thought the texture of the scones turned out wonderfully well.
Baking, Serving & Storing Cheese & Ham Scones
After rolling and cutting out, I like to sprinkle more cheese over the scones. Then it’s into a preheated oven where your Cheese & Ham Scones with Wild Garlic will be risen and golden in about 15 minutes.
Try to let them cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before breaking open and slathering in butter.
Tip: instead of cutting warm scones with a knife, gently pull them apart. This keeps the interior nice and fluffy!
Like virtually all scones, these are best on the day of making or the next day at the latest. But they freeze really well so it’s worth making a big batch. I just ping them in the microwave for about a minute which defrosts and lightly warms them too.
If you’ve made my Cheese & Ham Scones (with or without Wild Garlic) I’d love for you to rate the recipe and leave a comment below.
Cheese, Ham & Wild Garlic Scones
Quick and easy to make, Cheese, Hame & Wild Garlic Scones are the ultimate savoury scone.
When wild garlic is out of season, substitute chives or parsley.
Ingredients
- 450 g self raising flour plus extra for rolling
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 50 g butter roughly diced
- 250 g grated cheese (e.g. mature Cheddar) replace some with Parmesan if you like
- 120 g cooked ham finely chopped
- 1 handful wild garlic (see Recipe Notes for alternatives) roughly chopped
- 220-250 ml yogurt (or milk, buttermilk or whey, or any of these in combination or diluted with a little water).
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and lightly grease one or two baking trays.
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Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.
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Add the butter to the bowl and, using your fingertips, rub it into the flour.
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Stir in all but 30g of the grated cheese, plus the chopped ham and wild garlic.
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Stir in 220ml of the yogurt or other liquid and bring together into a soft dough. Add more liquid if needed but don't make the dough too wet.
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Lightly knead the dough on a floured surface then roll out to approximately 2-3 cm thickness.
Cut out scones, re-rolling the scraps to make more. A 7cm cutter should make 12 scones.
Place the cut out scones on the greased baking tray(s).
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Brush a little milk or yogurt thinned with milk over the tops of the scones then sprinkle with the remaining 30g of grated cheese.
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Place in the pre-heated oven and bake until risen and golden (13-15 min).
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Transfer to a wire rack to cool a little.
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Serve slightly warm, split and spread with butter.
If not using straight away, cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Use within 2 days or freeze on the day of making.
Recipe Notes
If you don't have wild garlic, substitute 1-2 tablespoons of chopped chives or parsley.
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