TWD: Apple Cheddar Scones

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Karina of The Floured Apron: Apple Cheddar Scones. I've never had scones before, let alone made them. So it's hard for me to really compare these to other scones, but I have to say that they were pretty good. I'm not sure what the difference is between a biscuit and a scone, but these basically tasted like biscuits to me!


Apples and cheddar may sound like an odd combination, but I've often heard that the "secret ingredient" in "the best" apple pie recipes is cheddar cheese. While I've never had one of those apple pies, I was pretty open to trying this flavor combination in the scones. I was surprised that I couldn't really taste the cheese in this recipe. Instead of dried apples, I used the leftover apple filling I had after making the cinnamon apple danish braids. I also decided to use 3/4 cup of apples instead of the 1/2 cup that Dorie recommends. The flavor of the apples was very subtle, so these ended up just tasting like fluffy, buttery biscuits with a hint of apple. I did enjoy each bite that contained a sweet piece of apple, and felt like there wasn't enough of them, so if I make this again, I would probably add a full cup of apples. I really liked the cooked apples in this recipe, and I'm not sure if I would like the texture of dried apples in these.

I only encountered one small problem with this recipe. I found the dough to be way too sticky to roll out and cut, so I went with Dorie's suggestion to just spoon out small mounds of dough. The only other change I made to the recipe, besides using cooked apples instead of dried apples, was to bake these on my baking stone instead of a parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet.

This recipe came together in no time and would be perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch. Even though there is very little prep time, you can freeze the mounds of dough individually on a baking sheet, wrap them tightly, and keep them in the freezer until you're ready to pop them in the oven at a moment's notice (I froze half of the dough - 6 scones - from this batch). If you choose to do this, just add 2 minutes to the total baking time (no need to defrost them before baking).


Thanks again to Karina for choosing these scones. They were so simple to make and perfect by themselves or with some apple butter. If you would like the recipe, you can find it here (with recipe tips here). Make sure you visit the TWD Blog Roll to see how everyone else enjoyed these apple cheddar scones.

*Note: If you find yourself never having buttermilk on hand for recipes, or with buttermilk spoiling before you get the chance to use it all, check out the cultured buttermilk blend I mention in this post.