If you love scones, but can’t always decide whether to go for sweet or savoury versions, this is the recipe for you. It combines the best of both worlds, scone worlds that is. It begins with one quick easy mix and ends with two batches of wonderfully different, equally scrumptious scones.

Makes: 16 scones – 8 of each

Time: About 60 mins prepping & hands on then 20 mins to bake

Level: Easy, but with interesting “logistics”

Need: The instructions below are for a food processor, but it can all be done without. You will also need two large baking trays and a 5cm/2” cutter

Ingredients

For both

750g/1lb 10oz S.R. Flour
3 tsp Baking powder
7g/1½tsp salt
210g/7¼oz Butter/margarine

For Marzipan & Cherry scones

60g/2oz golden caster sugar
60g/2oz marzipan, in small pieces or rolled into small balls
60g/2oz cherries, quartered + 8 halves for decorating

For Cheese and Chive scones

100g/3½oz cheese (I like a mixture of Cheddar and Red Leicester)
20g/¾oz chives, snipped small
1 tsp mustard powder

For both

300ml/10fl oz buttermilk/milk + 50ml/1¾fl oz in reserve (or use Greek yoghurt as reserve)
1 egg, beaten – for glazing

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 180°C / Fan 160°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Line two large baking trays.

2. Put the flour, baking powder and salt in the food processor and whizz to mix. Add in the fats and whizz or pulse to mix, just until fine breadcrumbs are formed.

3. Divide the mixture equally between two bowls. Mix the sugar, marzipan and cherries into one bowl. (Keep back 8 cherry halves for decorating)

4. Into the second bowl, mix most of the cheese, the chives and the mustard powder. (Reserve some cheese to go on top of the scones.)

5. Pour half of buttercream into one of the bowls and mix to form a dough. Add a little milk or Greek yogurt if it seems very dry and crumbly. Bring it together using one hand and then roll it or pat it flat on a lightly floured surface. Aim for a thickness similar to the height of your cutter, probably around 3cm.

6. Flour a cutter and stamp out as many scones as you can. Gently gather together the left over dough, handling it as little as possible. Stamp as many as possible and place all well apart on one of the baking trays.

7. Repeat the above two stages with the cheese scone mix.

8. Brush some beaten egg over the cheese scones and add the retained cheese, crumbling it on top of them.

9. Brush some beaten egg over the sweet scones and add the cherry halves. Brush over more egg wash.

10. Place both trays in the oven and bake for 16 – 20 minutes or until the scones are a golden brown colour.

NB I usually “break the rules” and open my oven half way through to turn the trays around and to swap shelves. It ensures an even bake. Sometimes I even give the scones a very quick second egg wash. I know it reduces the oven temperature, but I move fast.)

11. If correctly baked, they will sound hollow when tapped. After a few minutes out of the oven, put them on a wire rack to cool fully.

Gallery

I hope you enjoy baking and eating these scones. For more scone recipes click here. If you’d like to make a comment or ask a question please do, via the contact page, or have a look at the rest of my site for lots of other great sweet and savoury recipes.