How to Make Buttermilk Cheese Scones with Cheddar

Buttermilk cheese scones are a delicious addition to breakfast, afternoon tea, or alongside a bowl of soup.  They are light and fluffy and filled with sharp cheddar cheese flavor!  

While sweet scones are the classic scone you’ll often see, I love the savory flavor of these buttermilk cheese scones. A little unexpected and oh, so delicious!  

I make these a healthy addition to our meals by swapping out white flour for freshly milled soft white wheat. Because wheat berries contain 40 of the 44 nutrients that our bodies need, when you mill wheat and then immediately use it, the nutrients are locked in and available for your body to use!

White flour has the super healthy bran and germ removed to make light and fluffy baked goods and to make the flour shelf stable. Unfortunately, this bran and germ is where all the nutrition lies. So to make these savory scones a nutritionally dense addition to your meals, consider using freshly milled soft white wheat. However, these fluffy cheese scones will also work beautifully and create an amazing flaky texture if you’d like to use traditional all purpose flour!

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Ingredients for Buttermilk Cheese Scones

My top tip for this basic buttermilk scones recipe is to use very cold ingredients. You don’t want to use anything room temperature, or it won’t perform the same way. A good scone is always made with super cold ingredients to make sure it’s as flaky and layered as possible.

Cold Buttermilk

I prefer to use cultured cold buttermilk for the best scones, but you could just as easily use a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice in the bottom of the measuring cup and then use whole milk.

Cheese

You can use any kind of cheese in this scones.  My favorite is strong mature cheddar cheese and a bit of chopped chives or green onions, but you could use anything! However, when you use a sharp cheddar cheese, the flavor is a bit more pronounced. So go to town with garlic powder/cheddar/parsley, smoked gouda and apple, bacon bits and brie, gorgonzola and fig… really any grated cheese and fresh herbs and additions would give you delicious fluffy cheese scones! 

Flour

You can use any all purpose flour.  I’d stay away from bread flour since you don’t want a flour with a super high protein content.  I tend to use freshly milled flour.  In this recipe, I used freshly milled soft white wheat berries so it makes it a tiny bit denser, but it’s still light and amazing. If you use plain flour, you will get a fluffier texture.

Baking Powder

I use double acting baking powder to give them a great rise.

Salt

I prefer to use Himalayan sea salt or Redmond Real Salt since they are both full of minerals, but any salt will work!

Cold Unsalted Butter

Make sure to use nice cold unsalted butter for this recipe to give you the absolute best cheese scones. You can also freeze the butter and grate it into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. If you don’t have unsalted butter, just omit the salt in the recipe. If you use room temperature butter, it won’t give you the flakey layers you’re looking for. See those flakey layers in the photo below?! Soooo good!

Soft. Light. Fluffy. You’re going to love this easy recipe for the most delicious savoury scones!

How to Make Flaky Buttermilk Cheese Scones

1. Set the Oven Temperature to 400 degrees to preheat it. (If you are using fresh milled flour, I tend to make them first, then let them absorb the moisture while I preheat the oven after they are made).

2. Make a Shaggy Dough for your buttermilk cheese scones

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, salt. Because I use fresh milled soft wheat berries for my scones, the flour right from the mill is warm. So, I make sure to throw the freshly milled flour into the freezer to get it good and chilled. You want all cold ingredients in order to make sure the scone dough is nice and chilled when they go into the hot oven. This helps the butter melt more slowly and it creates a flaky texture.

Cut the cold unsalted butter into small cubes and add it into the dry mixture in the large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter to break the butter up into small pieces about the size of peas. Alternately, you can use grated frozen butter as well. Some people also use a food processor to chop the butter into small pieces. I’ve never done that, but I heard it works well.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Mix the cold buttermilk and egg and whisk together. Add to the flour mixture, along with the grated cheese, and mix with a wooden spoon until it is just mixed. This should be a soft dough. Don’t over mix or you will have tough scones.

3. Cut the Scones on a Lightly Floured Work Surface

Turn the shaggy dough onto a lightly floured surface, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. I usually flip the dough over onto the floured countertop so that both sides have a bit of the flour and aren’t sticky. Pat the soft dough into a rectangle. Fold it over and pat out again. You can use a rolling pin, but it’s easier just to pat it out with your hands. Do this a total of 7 times – it gives you pockets of air to create a light airy scone with flaky layers.

Gently shape the scone dough into a circle about 1″ thick. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 pie shaped pieces. Cut the dough straight down and straight up to make clean cuts. If you saw back and forth, the edges will seal and it causes the scones to not raise as high. You can also use a round cookie cutter or a biscuit cutter, but make sure you put the cookie cutter straight down and back up without twisting it.

4. Prepare the Lined Baking Sheet and Bake your buttermilk cheese scones

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place the buttermilk cheese scones onto the lined baking tray. Leave plenty of room between the scones on the tray to allow them room to spread while cooking.

Brush the top of each buttermilk cheese scone with half and half, heavy cream, or a little extra buttermilk. You can also add a bit of flakey salt or parmesan cheese on top of the scones. This salt makes them SO delicious!

At this point, you can pop them in the freezer for 15 minutes to make sure they are super cold before heading into the oven. This also allows them to keep their shape. You can also bake them right away, but I do find when I do this, they tend to spread more. However, if you’re short on time, absolutely bake immediately!

Bake them in the 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until the scones are golden brown.

Eat immediately or store in an airtight container for about a week.

***note for freshly milled flour: If using freshly milled flour, it is very important to fully hydrate the grains, which takes at least 15 minutes. Because of that, I usually preheat the oven after I’ve made the scones. I pop the buttermilk cheese scones into the freezer while the oven is preheating, allowing the mixture time to hydrate while the oven preheats. This time in the freezer also assures that the ingredients are nice and cold before going into the oven.

FAQs

Can I make these buttermilk cheese scones without cheese?

Sure! They are still yummy and flakey and are very similar to American biscuits. They will still be a crowd pleaser for sure!

Can I bake these buttermilk cheese scones in an air fryer?

Yes! Place the small scones on parchment in the basket and reduce the baking time slightly. Keep an eye on them since air fryers vary.

Can I make these in advance?

The best way to make these in advance is to complete them to the point when you are ready to bake. At that time, freeze them. Once they are individually frozen, place them into a freezer bag and store in the freezer. When you’re ready to bake them, put them into a preheated oven and bake as normal, adding a bit of time to account for them being frozen.

You can also store them in the refrigerator unbaked for up to 2 days and then bake straight from the fridge.

Can these be sweet scones instead?

Absolutely! You can omit the sharp cheddar cheese and replace it with a cup of chocolate chips to make a sweet scone. I do tend to make small scones when I make these sweet. You can divide the soft dough in half and make 16 small scones instead of the larger savory scones. Also, sprinkle the top with raw sugar instead of flakey salt for the perfect scones with a crunchy top.

(Easy cheese scone recipe card below)