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These savoury Cheese Scones are perfect for a baked treat, whether it’s for an afternoon tea or part of a packed lunch. Easy, cheesy and totally delicious!
This Cheese Scones recipe was first published in my first book What’s For Dinner under the title Ivy’s Cheese Scones.
Ivy was my maternal grandmother, a powerhouse of an East End lady, who was a cook in the 1930s, and her scones were legendary.
She gave me the recipe when I was 10-years-old, scribbled on a piece of scrap paper, and I’ve been using it ever since.
It’s very dear to my heart and I just HAD to share it with you here because I know you’re going to love it too ❤️
One of the secrets to this recipe is English mustard powder, just a teaspoon gives a wonderful hint of flavour.
Just like with homemade bread, don’t over-handle the dough and make sure you’re using butter straight out of the fridge before you being the rubbing process, like you do with Shortcrust Pastry.
And it might be an obvious one, but make sure you go for a strong cheese or the flavour might get lost. I love mature cheddar.
One of the most important tricks is to make sure you don’t twist the cutter when shaping your scones as this helps to make sure they rise well!
Why you’ll love this easy Cheese Scones recipe
⭐️ Takes less than 30 minutes to make
⭐️ Perfect for freezer batch cooking
⭐️ Ideal as an after-school snack, side dish or picnic treat
Sarah’s notes
Don’t be fearful of making scones – they’re not just for master bakers.
Once you get the knack, they are one of the quickest and most satisfying bakes I know.
They’re also perfect for batch baking and I love having bags of them in the freezer that I can either fill lunchboxes up with or defrost when I’m having soup for lunch (they are SO good with with Tomato Soup.)
This recipe makes 8 big scones and we only need a few simple ingredients to create the perfect light and fluffy Cheese Scones after only 10 minutes in the oven.
Ingredients for Cheese Scones
- Plain flour – Or ‘all purpose flour’. You’ll need the quantity for the scones, plus a little extra for rolling.
- Baking powder – This helps them to fluff up nicely.
- English mustard powder – Just a teaspoon of this gives a wonderful hint of flavour. If you don’t have this, you could replace it with half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper or paprika.
- Sea salt – Again, just a teaspoon will give enough seasoning and flavour.
- Butter – Use this straight from the fridge and cut into chunks before starting to rub the mixture together to make the dough.
- Cheese – I like to use mature cheddar cheese, coarsely grated, for these. You can use your favourite hard cheese but make sure it’s has a strong flavour. Sometimes I substitute in some Red Leicester for colour.
- Whole milk – Straight from the fridge.
- Egg – A beaten egg for brushing over the top before baking will make the scones nice and golden (you can substitute additional milk if you prefer).
How to make Cheese Scones
1. Put the flour, baking powder, mustard powder and salt into a mixing bowl, then add the butter and ‘rub it in’ with your hands (see notes below to find out how).
2. Stir in half of the grated cheese, then add the milk.
3. Use your hands to gently bring it all together into a ball of dough. Try not to handle it too much.
4. Lightly dust the worktop and a rolling pin with flour, then roll out or pat the dough with your hands to slightly flatten.
5. Cut out 8 round circles using a 7cm round cutter or upturned glass.
6. Put the scones onto the lined baking sheet, brush the tops with beaten egg and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Bake in a preheated oven, as per the full recipe below.
Substitutions
- English mustard powder – You could replace it with half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper or paprika if you don’t have any in.
Storing
Scones are always best served fresh on the day you bake them, but if you have surplus you can freeze them for another day.
Simply allow them to cool first. To defrost, thaw thoroughly and enjoy them cold, or reheat gently in the oven or microwave.
Instead of freezing, you could always refresh them the following day by toasting them and serving with bacon for breakfast!
How to get fluffy Cheese scones
Use cold butter
Use your butter straight out of the fridge and cut it into chunks before starting to rub your mixture together. This will stop the mixture becoming too warm and stodgy.
Don’t over-handle
For the same reason, you don’t want to overwork your dough. Right from the start, try not to handle it too much.
Don’t twist the cutter
When it comes to cutting your scones into rounds, pop your cutter straight down, without twisting. This will allow the scones to rise and stop the dough sticking together too much.
More easy savoury bakes…
Comfort Food
No Knead Bread {Easiest Ever Overnight Recipe}
Christmas Recipes
Easy Sausage Rolls
Vegetarian
Cheese and Onion Pasties {Greggs Style}
Vegetarian
Cheese & Asparagus Puff Pastry Parcels
FAQs
It has to be plenty of butter! These are a wonderful accompaniment to soup – any kind of homemade soup.
They’re great as part of a picnic lunch with Sausage Rolls, Muffaletta or cold meats (I am thinking Slow Cooker Ham all the way).
They’re also delicious with Beef Stew and Baked Beans too.
We need to use a hard cheese for this recipe. I like Mature Cheddar because it’s a perfect consistency and flavour. I often mix in some Red Leicester for colour too.
Rubbing in is a term sometimes used in baking, which means putting cold butter into flour and lifting and sifting the mixture through your fingers, while you quite literally rub it between them!
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Cheese Scones {Granny’s 95-Year-Old Recipe!}
Ingredients
- 500 g Plain flour, Plus extra for rolling
- 3 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp English mustard powder
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 80 g Butter, Straight from the fridge | Cut into chunks
- 200 g Mature cheddar cheese, Coarsely grated
- 300 ml Whole milk
- 1 Egg, Beaten
Instructions
- Prepare the oven and tray: Preheat the oven as high as it will go (usually 220℃ fan/240℃/Gas Mark 9). Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
- Dry ingredients in: Put the flour, baking powder, mustard powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the chunks of butter.
- Now 'rub in': Loosely lift some of the butter with the flour mixture and rub it between the tips of your thumb and fingers to break up the butter into smaller pieces until it looks like lumpy sand. This takes about 5 minutes. Be careful not to overwork it!
- Bringing into a dough: Stir in half of the grated cheese, then add the milk and use your hands to gently bring it all together into a ball of dough.
- Prepare the worktop: Lightly dust the worktop and a rolling pin with flour.
- Roll the dough: Or pat the dough with your hands to slightly flatten to about 2.5cm-3cm thick.
- Shape your scones: Cut out 8 round circles using a 7cm round cutter or upturned glass.
- Get them ready for the oven: Pop the scones onto the lined baking sheet, brush the tops with beaten egg and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
- Time to bake: Bake for about 10 minutes, or until risen and golden.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This post was originally published on July 3, 2025 and updated later to make improvements.
Delicious, i served them warm with a little butter, I used semi skimmed milk, I followed the recipe and made 12 scones.
So tasty and easy to make.
Definitely worth making.
Granny’s cheese scones are delicious. Will be making theme again
Those scones are gone x they didn’t last long enough to put in a container delicious will be one of my go to s