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I simply cannot get enough of these buttery, cheesy, bacony, soft and tender scones! Forget any sad, dry scone you’ve ever had before and imagine the best buttery biscuit in the whole wide world filled with spices and smoked salt and two cheeses and bacon!!
And you can not only whip them up in literal minutes, but you can prepare them for baking and then freeze them to make them fresh at a later time! I do this frequently with all of my scones (Glazed Raspberry Almond, Orange Cranberry, and Pumpkin Cream Cheese).
A couple special products I use to make these spectacular that you can certainly omit if you don’t have them are Beef Brisket Bacon from Country Dairy in Michigan and Smoked Salt from my favorite salt company — Redmond! When you buy from Redmond, you support lil ol’ TWN and you also get the best products from a source you can trust! Win-Win!! If you don’t have access to these, just use a great quality thick-cut bacon and use a full teaspoon of kosher salt.
Not trying to boast, but I’ve had many people tell me my scones are the best they’ve ever had, so I’ll give you all my best tips and tricks for these savory beauties. I created them to serve as a brunch item and have been making and loving them ever since.
The first key to light and fluffy scones and biscuits is to touch the dough the least amount possible. Contrary to popular opinion, you never need to knead a good biscuit or scone dough. So know that going in. I use my stand mixer, ever so sparingly, but you can also make this very nicely by hand with a pastry cutter or even two butter knives that you work through the dough with slicing motions.
First things first, cook up 1/2 lb. of thick-cut bacon. You can use your oven by putting the bacon on a cooling rack inside a half sheet cookie pan and put it in a cold oven. Turn it on to 400 degrees and set your timer for 15 minutes and cook until your desired crispness. Remove and pat the grease with paper towel. Or you can always pan-fry.
While the bacon is cooking, add and mix the following ingredients to your mixer bowl:
- 2 c. all purpose flour
- 1 T. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. dried chives
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp. Kosher or Real Salt
- 1/2 tsp. Smoked Real Salt (if you don’t have this, increase your Kosher salt amount to 1 tsp.)
- 1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 c. finely grated Cheddar cheese
Add 6 T. cold butter cut into chunks into the mixer bowl and let it do its work to mix the butter in, stopping when the butter chunks are the size of peas.
Slowly drizzle in 2 c. half and half or 1 c. milk plus 1 c. heavy cream stopping the mixer the minute the mixture is mostly combined. For me, this is about 20 or so seconds of mixing. I let some crumbs remain at the bottom of the bowl and will mix it in with my hands in the next step.
Your creation thus far is going to look like a crumb-y mess that cannot possibly turn out. Hang in there.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Onto a cutting board or parchment paper, pour the whole thing and just gently pat it together into a circle that is approximately 3/4-1 inch thick. Only patting will make a shape that magically sticks together without toughening the dough.
It’s okay if there are dry-looking crumbs here and there. Cut the dough like you would cut a pie into eight even wedges using a very sharp knife or a bench scraper. You can also use a biscuit cutter if you’d like circle-shaped scones just don’t twist as you cut them — cut straight down to not toughen the dough. Carefully transfer the wedges to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Pat together anything that looks like it’s falling apart. Just handle them the least amount possible.
Sprinkle with a bit more Smoked Real Salt. Bake in the preheated 400 degree oven for right around 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Serve warm. Refrigerate to store. To reheat with the best texture, broil on a cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes (watch them very closely).
If you decide to freeze these lovelies, make them all the way through to where you would typically bake them. Put them on a cookie sheet and put them into the freezer until frozen through (only a few hours). Remove and place carefully into plastic bags. Mark the bag with the date as they tend to only be good for up to about 30 days. To bake frozen scones, put them back onto a cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven according to original directions being prepared to add a few minutes extra to the bake time. I know, revolutionary, right?
And there you have it! Serve these warm at your next brunch with fresh fruit, eggs, and parfaits! Make them for a quick breakfast or lunch to go! However you enjoy them, please stop back by and let me know how much you love them and share, share, share!
- ½ lb. thick cut bacon
- 2 c. all purpose flour
- 1 T. baking powder
- ½ tsp. dried chives
- ½ garlic powder
- ½ tsp. dried parsley
- ½ tsp. kosher or real salt (increase to 1 tsp. if you don't have the smoked salt that follows)
- ½ tsp. smoked salt
- ¼ c. freshly grated parmesan
- 1 c. finely grated cheddar cheese
- 6 T. butter
- 2 c. half and half (or 1 cup whole milk plus one cup heavy cream)
- Cook bacon (see post for cooking options).
- While the bacon is cooking, add and mix the dry ingredients plus cheeses to your mixer bowl.
- Add 6 T. cold butter cut into chunks into the mixer bowl and let it do its work to mix the butter in, stopping when the butter chunks are the size of peas.
- Slowly drizzle in 2 c. half and half or 1 c. milk plus 1 c. heavy cream stopping the mixer the minute the mixture is mostly combined. For me, this is about 20 or so seconds of mixing. I let some crumbs remain at the bottom of the bowl and will mix it in with my hands in the next step.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Onto a cutting board or parchment paper, pour the whole thing and just gently pat it together into a circle that is approximately ¾-1 inch thick. Only patting will make a shape that magically sticks together without toughening the dough.
- Sprinkle with a bit more Smoked Real Salt.
- Bake in the preheated 400 degree oven for right around 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Serve warm.
- Refrigerate to store. To reheat with the best texture, broil on a cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes (watch them very closely).
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