These savory scones are deeply satisfying, with rich umami notes from Gruyère cheese, ham and scallions. The recipe comes from Tanya Bush, the pastry chef at Little Egg restaurant in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood. At the restaurant, Bush uses locally milled flour, which gives it a nutty note, but for home cooks, Bush suggests swapping out a little all-purpose flour with whole-wheat, as we did below. Bush also recommends pulsing the cheese in the food processor – the irregular bits spread throughout the dough and melt seamlessly. We used a mini food processor for ease of clean-up and found that pulsing the ham as well delivered terrific results in less time. (If you prefer to dirty just one appliance, you can hand-chop the cheese and ham instead, but it will take longer.) For best results, use plain country ham – not Black Forest or honey-glazed – but if that’s all you can find, the scones will still taste delicious.
At Little Egg, Bush uses Calderwood cheese, sold exclusively at Saxelby Cheesemongers, but Gruyère cheese is a lot easier to find.
Make ahead: The scones can be prepared up until the egg wash step and refrigerated, well-covered, for up to 1 day or frozen for up to 1 month. To freeze, place the scones on a sheet pan and freeze until solid, then transfer to an airtight container. If baking from frozen, let the scones sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, then brush with the egg wash, and bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 37 minutes.
Where to buy: The scones are best when still slightly warm, but can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. If storing, they taste better after being gently reheated in a 350-degree oven for a few minutes.
Ingredients
Servings: 12 (makes 12 scones)
Directions
Active:
40 mins|
Total: 1 hour 50 mins
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Step 1
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper.
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Step 2
Cut the cheese and ham into large chunks and pulse each in a mini food processor – in batches as needed – until finely chopped. Transfer each pulsed batch to a medium bowl; you can combine the cheese and the ham in the same bowl. (Alternatively, you can finely hand-chop both ingredients.)
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Step 3
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt just to combine. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter chunks are pea-size, 2 to 3 minutes. The mixture will look sandy, but still have lots of loose flour and will not yet look like dough. Pinch a buttery piece with your fingers – it should hold together.
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Step 4
Make a well in the center of the mixture so you can see the bottom of the bowl, and pour in the buttermilk. Mix on low just to combine, stopping the mixer once or twice and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate the dry ingredients. Add the Gruyère, ham and scallions and mix on low just to combine, being careful not to overmix. The dough will be rough, shaggy and fairly sticky – and will come together as you shape the scones.
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Step 5
Using a No. 8 (4-ounce/120-milliliter) disher or 1/2-cup measuring cup, scoop packed portions of dough and arrange them on the prepared sheet pans. Using your hands, shape each mound into 2-inch-tall cylinders, roughly the size of a lemon; each should weigh about 130 grams. (Work quickly so as not to warm up the butter. If you find that your scooped scones are too sticky/soft to work with, refrigerate the portions for 15 to 30 minutes, or until firmed up, then shape them into cylinders as instructed above.)
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Step 6
Transfer the pans to the refrigerator for 15 minutes to let the scones firm up and help them keep their shape (no need to do this if you had to refrigerate them before shaping). Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg with cream until well combined.
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Step 7
Generously brush each chilled scone all over with the egg wash. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds and a bit of flaky salt. Bake one sheet at a time – keep the other sheet in the refrigerator – for 30 to 33 minutes, or until deep golden brown and glossy, rotating the sheet front to back at the 15-minute mark. (You may see some fat pooling around the scones as they bake; this is okay.)
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Step 8
Remove from the oven and let the scones cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Repeat with the remaining scones.
Substitutions
Instead of Gruyere >> try a sharp cheddar, Comté or fontina.
No scallions? >> Chives or Chinese chives.
Notes
The easiest way to cube your butter is to use a bench scraper – not your knife – for cutting. Cut the stick of butter in half lengthwise; rotate a quarter turn and cut lengthwise again. You should have 4 narrow batons of butter stacked in 2×2 arrangement. Cut across the batons with a bench scraper to get 1/2-inch cubes.
