Easy Ham And Cheese Scones recipe by Oh Sweet Basil

A few weeks ago I was making our apple pie scones and suddenly had the brilliant idea of making a savory version, easy ham and cheese scones!

The only way I could ever convince our family to ditch the amazingly wonderful sweet version of a scone was clearly to add cheese. Cheese makes everything better. And bacon. Shoot, I need to try a bacon version!

Grab your leftover Easter ham and make these buttery and flaky scones!

What Ingredients are Needed for Ham and Cheese Scones?

Tender scones are just a few pantry staples away! A good scone needs only a few ingredients, butter (or shortening if you must), buttermilk, salt, and baking powder. Everything else is just to adjust the flavor. Here is a complete list of all the ingredients you will need:

• Flour: gives structure to the scones and regular all purpose flour is all you need
• Sugar: adds a touch of sweetness to balance out all the savory ingredients
• Baking Powder: the true raising agent that adds the real height you’re looking for. Do not use a substitute.
• Salt: necessary in both sweet and savory dishes as it provides the flavor. Yes, cheese and ham are in there, but everything needs seasoning. I love that salt not only flavors a dish but it also makes the other ingredients stand out even more.
• Unsalted Butter: gives you those tender, flakey layers and margarine just wont cut it in this case. As the steam rises so does that beautiful hunk of dough, creating a pillow of bread once cooked.
• Buttermilk: use for savory scones while cream is great for a sweet scone. This allows for the dough to come together but still have enough fat to keep it a tender dough.
• Colby Jack Cheese: we love colby jack, but you could use cheddar cheese, swiss, pepper jack or really any type of cheese you love.
• Diced Ham: a perfect way to use leftover spiraled ham or you can buy cubed ham from the store.
• Fresh Chives: fresh herbs make all the difference when it comes to flavor but if you need to use dried chives, use just 1 teaspoon. You could also use scallions.
  • TIP: If you’re not a chives fine, you can use fresh parsley or thyme.
• Butter: I know butter has already been listed, but we use it again brushed on top as a finishing touch on these perfect scones.

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Recommended Equipment

Pizza Cutter – This is a MUST in our house. The Dexas pizza cutter isn’t a steel blade, but a plastic blade and if you watch our videos you’ll notice I use a plastic pizza wheel all the time to cut dough. It is so much easier than a knife and wont harm any pans or counter tops. This particular wheel is extra cheap and it has prime shipping on Amazon. Totally worth it.

Silicone Mat – You’ll often hear us say that we prefer to bake on a silicone mat because it promotes evenly cooked food that doesn’t stick to the pan. You wont have extra brown bottoms. 🙂 Scones are a perfect example of why this is a good investment and the one we linked to has so far proven to be the best as far as durability and performance. Kneading the dough and rolling it out on a mat keeps you from over flouring as the dough wont stick, thus you wont end up with dry, crumbly scones. Just place it on the cookie sheet, knead, shape and cut the dough then it’s less cleanup, just brush off any excess crumbs before baking.

Pastry Cutter – A pastry cutter is something we use for things like crisps, crumbles, streusels, pie, scones, biscuits and on and on. It’s just easier than busting out two awkward knives or forks or trying to use your fingers which often makes the butter too warm and smashes it into the flour too much, thus creating a messed up dough.

How to Make Scones

Let’s get to the important part of this, how to make scones so you can devour them. We usually make this easy ham and cheese scone recipe on breakfast-for-dinner nights, served with a little fresh fruit and fluffy scrambled eggs, but you can do them any ol’ time. They are especially lovely during the spring for Mother’s Day, for wedding and baby showers, a brunch with friends, etc.

1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
2. Whisk: In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients.
3. Cut: Add the cold butter and cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender.
   • TIP: You can also use two knives or forks to mix in the butter. You don’t want the butter totally mixed in but everything should be mixed together and be coarse crumbs.
4. Stir: Use a wooden spoon to stir in the remaining ingredients (except the melted butter) until a soft dough forms.
5. Knead: Move the dough to a silicone mat or parchment paper and knead the dough just a few times until it comes together.
6. Roll: Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a circle until it’s about 1″ thick and then cut into 8 wedges.
7. Bake: Place the wedges of scone dough onto your prepared baking sheets and bake until lightly browned.
8. Brush: Remove the baked scones from the oven and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with extra chives.

All of these instructions in full detail can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

How are Scones Different From Biscuits?

Most of the time I don’t really see scones as similar enough to biscuits to think about it but the truth is they are very similar. A scone often has an egg or two in it while biscuits don’t. That’s honestly the only difference.

Both have a fat cut in to the flour and a liquid, both can be cooked in the oven on a pan or in a skillet. Both can be fluffy, tender and wonderful.

How Long Do Scones Last?

Scones are one of my favorite things to make because they have that tender, flaky quality to them and they really are much easier to make than one might think.

But mostly I love them because while they are obviously best enjoyed fresh, scones can be stored in airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator and up to 2 months in the freezer!

It’s so easy to make a double batch and freeze half for later. You can freeze the baked scones or the unbaked scone dough.

Can You Freeze Scone Dough?

Why yes you can! Place the dough wedges on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Then place the frozen dough wedges into a freezer bag and store for up to 2 months. Bake them straight from the freezer and allow 2-4 more minutes in the oven.

Scones are pure comfort food, and these savory ham and cheese scones are sure to be a hit in your family! Use leftover Easter or Christmas ham and your favorite cheese to load up these golden homemade scones!

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Cade may love crepes but I’m a pretty die hard scone fan lately. My goodness they are wonderful.