Pear, Apple & Cheddar Scones

I already have a well documented love of scones. I also love my cheese. And recently I've been chomping my way through bags and bags of pears. These scones were just the perfect way to combine all these things into one tasty package. The boyfriend approved of them, even though he doesn't find scones appealing at all normally.

Not the usual type of scones, they could either be treated as sweet or savoury depending on whether you serve them on their own, with some butter, or drizzled with honey. I chose the latter of course, being the crazy sweet tooth that I am and they were gorgeously moist, though more gooey, dense & buttery than a plain cream scone. I cut them as wedges but I found this made them take a lot longer to bake all the way through (probably because I was a little too enthusiastic with the amount of cheese I threw in too) so I think next time I would use a scone cutter and bake them as rounds.

Pear, Apple & Cheddar Scones
(adapted from this recipe)

2 1/4 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
110g chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 light packed cup cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
1/2 cup peeled, cored, grated and drained apple
1/2 cup peeled, cored, grated and drained pear
3/4 cup buttermilk, plus more if needed

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C and line a baking tray with paper. Place flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and then pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Transfer to a bowl and stir in pear, cheese and apple. Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and stir until just combined, taking care not to overmix. If the dough is still crumbly, stir in more buttermilk 1 tbsp at a time until dough comes together.

Knead dough gently several times with floured hands and pat gently into a round that is approximately 1/2 inch thick. Cut round into 8 wedges with a sharp knife. (Otherwise use a scone cutter to cut rounds of dough) Place on the prepared baking tray and bake for 24 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Why is gooey, melty cheese so darn appealing? I was dying to get these out of the oven and into my hungry mouth because the golden cheesy crust on these scones made the whole house smell lovely. My only problem with them was that I overdid the cheese (I added more than the recipe called for, oops) so it was denser and cheesier than I really wanted.

They still tasted great, but I think less cheese is good for these so that it doesn't overwhelm the flavour of the fruits. Though the overcheesiness of these scones was perfectly balanced out with some honey, the perfect winter treat with a hot cup of tea.