Bacon and Cheddar Scones With a Maple Butter Glaze
Updated April 30th 2021
These bacon cheddar scones are savory, rich, and loaded with sharp cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon. The dough comes together easily in these savory scones and they bake up perfectly golden brown and delicious every time. These scones can be eaten as a snack or you can serve them with soup or salad or they are also perfect for brunch or breakfast.
Scones are my favorite go to for a quick bake up. They require pretty basic ingredients that I usually have on hand - like all purpose flour, baking powder, butter and heavy cream. I love sweet scones - my blueberry scones are just so good by the way - but my weakness is savory scones. I though I would combine some of my favorite savory scone flavours into one recipe - cheddar cheese scones, and cheddar chive scones. That is why I decided to make these with the addition of ramp butter. In my last post rustic ramp and potato tart I showed you how to use ramps in a tart. Ramps come into season quick and almost without wanting and are gone even faster. There are several ways to preserve them including making pesto with them and freezing the pesto in ice cube trays- that’s usually my go to.
This time I’m preserving it - at least for as long as it lasts in butter form. I made a compound butter infused with the ramps and it is so delicious and can be used in pasta or on crostini, and basically anywhere you would normally use a savoury butter. That got me thinking of where else I could use this very delicious butter. I have always wanted to add a savoury scone recipe to the blog. The first flavour I thought of was cheddar chive. Such a classic flavour - then I thought what could make that combo even better? - it had to be bacon and so this combo was born. It really was out of necessity as I couldn’t let all this delicious butter go to waste. If you don’t have ramp butter do not worry these are still extremely delicious with just regular butter as well. And you can get that chive flavour by just adding chopped chives - a couple of tablespoons of chopped chives should do it. Nothing beats that bacon cheddar chive combo.
How to make perfect scones every time
These are tender and buttery scones with a bit of cheese and bacon in each bite. The key to making sure they are tender and crumbly and delicious (as all scones should be) is to make sure all your ingredients are as cold as can be. The next important thing to remember when making scones is to make sure and not overwork your dough - whether you are using your hands to make them or the food processor. Overworked scones will be a little on the tougher side. Once you remember those two things, your scones will always turn out beautifully. You can make either 8 large scones or 12 smaller ones with this recipe.
How to make ramp butter
It’s super easy to make. I decided to sauté my ramps beforehand to soften them a bit and to give them a little extra flavour as opposed to blanching them which is also acceptable. Once your ramps are ready and off the pan and cooled, and your butter is softened, all you have to do is put it all in your food processor and whiz it around until the ramps have broken down and green butter starts to develop. Easy as that. I usually store some in the fridge to use right away and store the rest in the freezer to use as I need it. It will last a lot longer in the freezer. It’s not only great in these scones, but as I said before its wonderful melted through pasta, risotto and great on a steak our under the skin of a chicken or turkey.
How to make bacon cheddar scones
They are quite easy to make and don’t require any fancy equipment, although you can use a food processor if you wish. Here are the simple steps:
- Combine dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt
- Stir bacon grease into the flour followed by the finely chopped or grated cold butter
- Stir in the bacon and cheddar
- Combined wet ingredients: heavy cream and eggs then stir into dry ingredients until shaggy dough forms
- Knead a few times on a lightly floured surface and pat into flat disc
- Slice into 8 or 12 pieces, transfer to prepared baking sheet, brush with cream and sprinkle with chopped bacon and cheese
- Ideally its best to chill scones in the freezer for 10-20min before you bake them. I chill them while I preheat my oven. Then bake until golden and enjoy.
Finally let’s talk about the glaze I chose to use on thee little guys. I used the Pioneer Woman bacon cheddar scones recipe as my base recipe for these scones but i decided to do a maple butter glaze because bacon and maple just belong together and savory and sweet combos always have my heart. If they don’t have yours - that is totally fine just leave out the glaze. I dare you to try it anyways though, you might change your mind about it.
How to store bacon cheddar scones
Leftover bacon cheddar scones will keep covered in a sealed container at room temperature for 1-2 days. They can easily be made ahead and frozen before being baked or after. Ideally they are best eaten right out of the oven. You can use store bought precooked bacon in this recipe or that is one part of the recipe that you can make ahead. If you are making the bacon ahead of time just remember to reserve some of the bacon grease for this recipe. Bacon grease can be reserved and stored in a sealed container safely in the fridge for up to 3 months and frozen for longer.
If you likes this scone recipe you will love these ones too:
Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces, Bacon chopped
- 2 cups All-purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Bacon Drippings
- 6 Tablespoons Cold Butter, Diced or shredded (I used ramp butter- homemade recipe below)
- 4 ounces (1 cup) Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
- 2 Cold Eggs
- ½ cup Cold Heavy Cream, Plus More For Brushing On Scones
For the Glaze
- 4 Tbsp. (½ stick) Unsalted Butter, cut into a few pieces
- ¼ c. Pure Maple Syrup
- ¼ tsp. Salt
- about 1 c. Powdered Sugar, sifted
Directions
- In a medium skillet, cook the bacon, stirring, until crisp, about 5 -10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels. Allow to cool and then chop, reserve 2 tablespoon of the bacon drippings.
- Whisk baking powder, salt, and 2 cups flour in a large bowl.
- Add 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings to the flour. Stir together using a fork
- Using the large holes on a box grater, grate in butter, tossing to coat in dry ingredients as you go (alternatively pulse the dry ingredients a few time in a food processor and then pulse the bacon fat in and then the stick of butter that has been sliced until coarse crumbles form)
- Stir in all except 2 tablespoons each of the shredded cheese and bacon crumbles to the flour mixture, reserving it for garnish.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and cream
- Stir the cream mixture into the flour and butter mixture until a soft dough forms. (If using the food processor pulse a few times just until dough forms - being careful to not over work)
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead three to four times until it comes together.
- Pat into a 1½”-thick disk.
- Cut into 8 wedges; transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Brush the scones with heavy cream, sprinkle with reserved shredded cheese and bacon crumbles.
- Freeze until firm, approx 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F while chilling scones
- Bake them right out the freezer until golden brown, 20–25 minutes.
- When the scones are cooling, make the glaze: Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Transfer to a small bowl. Whisk in the maple syrup and salt. Continue to whisk as you sift in enough powdered sugar to make a thick but pourable glaze. Pour the glaze over the scones, letting it run down the sides.
Ramp Butter Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 bunch (4 oz) wild garlic/ramps or you could use garlic scapes, chives or fresh herbs of choice, rinsedand chopped
- 2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter plus 1 tablespoon, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt or according to taste
Directions
- Heat 1 Tbsp butter in a small saucepan over medium and add ramps. Let saute for about 2 minutes or until softened. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Transfer ramps, remaining butter,and a dash of salt and pepper to a food processor. Process until a green butter has formed (I like to keep a few chunks of ramps in my butter but you can process longer if you’d rather have it creamier). Serve right away or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to one week.
- Divide the butter in half and place each blob on a sheet of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Wrap the butter in the plastic wrap, gently rolling and shaping the butter into a log, and twist the ends of the plastic. Place in a resealable plastic bag and freeze. Slice off rounds of butter as needed.
Recipe Notes
- Leftover scones will keep covered in a sealed container at room temperature for 1-2 days.
- To freeze baked scones: Once cooled and place scones in an airtight container or bag and freeze. You can store them for up to 3 months. When you want to reheat the scones, take them out and reheat them in the oven or microwave.
- To freeze unbaked scones: Place them in a single layer on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. If you want to add any toppings, brush the scones with cream before topping them. Gently press the toppings onto the scones. Freeze them until solid then transfer to a resealable bag. Bake as normal from frozen tacking on a couple of extra minutes of baking time if needed.
- To make 12 smaller scones, pat dough into a ¾-inch thick rectangle. Cut the dough into 6 squares and cut the squares in half at a bias to make triangles. Then proceed with recipe as written above.
Recipe adapted from the Pioneer Woman
