Savoury scones

January 6, 2014

I get the occasional inexplicable hankering for scones, and the latest episode struck when I stumbled across a savoury vegan scone recipe online last weekend. I nonchalantly offered to bake some on Monday night after first convincing Michael to cook tomato coconut soup for dinner. 

I shied away from the expectation of 'cheesy', still not entirely convinced that nooch could carry it, and I added some extra garlic and onion powder. Actually they did a really good job, golden and tender and very savoury; definitely, arguably, cheesy. I have other richer non-vegan scone recipes that I'm not ready to let go of yet, but these have earned a place beside them.

Savoury scones
(adapted slightly from a recipe on For Esme, With Love)

2 1/2 cups plain flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
generous shake of salt
2 teaspoons mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
50g cold margarine
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tablespoon fresh chives, finely chopped
1 cup soymilk

Preheat an overn to 230°C. Line a baking tray with paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, mustard powder, garlic powder and onion powder. Rub the margarine into the flour mixture until there are no large lumps. Stir through the nutritional yeast flakes and the chives.

Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in the milk. Use a butter knife to combine the ingredients into a dough, cutting rather than stirring.

Turn the dough onto a clean board and gently knead it with your fingertips. Flatten it out to 2cm thick with your hands. Use a glass or biscuit cutter to cut out scones from the dough, and arrange them on the baking tray. Gently reform any scraps into another ball and repeat (I had just enough for one more messy scone).

Brush the tops of the scones with a little extra soymilk and bake them for 10-12 minutes, until they're golden and crusty on top.