Jalapeño-Cheddar Scones

I just Googled, “What is the difference between a scone and a biscuit?” because I really have no idea. And guess what? I still don’t know because the results I found confused me even more. I never thought I was a fan of scones (hard! dry! bland!), but if the scones I made the other night really are scones, then I am actually totally obsessed.

I saw the recipe for Jalapeño-Cheddar Scones from the lovely Smitten Kitchen and decided that like scones or not, I wanted these. Nothing can truly be bad when made with jalapeños and cheddar cheese, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong. Plus, I treat a lot of what Smitten says as gospel, so I put my full trust in her.

Jalapeño-Cheddar Scones (makes about 10):

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 8 T cold butter, diced
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, diced
• 2 small jalapeño peppers, minced

Now, I was raised on spiciness (and with the belief system that the spicier it is, the better it is), so I almost added another jalapeño pepper, but then decided to just follow the recipe (Smitten said she only used one and it wasn’t spicy). I minced the peppers and kept the seeds in and thought it was the perfect amount of heat. Noticeable, but not overwhelming at all.

Once you mince the peppers, melt 1/2 T of butter in a small skillet and saute the peppers for about 2 minutes, until soft.

Make sure your cheese is sharp! You all know I’m a huge proponent of sharp cheeses by now 🙂

When the peppers are cooled, put them in a bowl with the cheese. Then coat them with 1 T of the flour.

In a larger bowl, combine the remaining flour with baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or fork (or your hands, like I do). Then whip together 2 of the eggs and the cream and fold into the mixture until it begins to come together. Add the cheddar-jalapeño mix and stir in.

Now, put some flour down on a flat surface and knead the dough for less than a minute. Pat the dough out to a 3/4- to 1-in. thickness and form into your desired shape. Now, I saw Smitten using this little biscuit cutter and HAD to have one. Even though everyone told me I could form them on my own, I WANTED a biscuit cutter. So, I found one at Sur La Table for $1.95.

It had to have the ridges on it too, like Smitten’s. As you can see, it didn’t make the perfect shape and you can barely make out the ridges, but I’m still happy I got it. You could probably form this with your hands and no biscuit cutter, no problem. Place your scones on a parchment-lined or well-oiled baking sheet.

Did I mention I’m obsessed with Sur La Table? Best store ever. If you haven’t been, go now.

Beat the remaining egg with a t of water and brush the scones with the wash. Pop the scones/biscuits in the oven at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, until golden brown.

And golden brown they were. I ran out of parchment paper and clearly didn’t oil my baking sheet quite well enough, but the scones weren’t too difficult to remove. Look at that delicious, crispy cheese!!

While I was baking the scones, I realized I had no other dinner plans. Scones for dinner? Sounds great, but I should probably make something else to go with them. Hmmm. How about some breakfast?

Chris surprised me the other day by bringing me some Butterball Turkey Bacon!! I’ve been wanting to try this, especially after my amazing Butterball experience, so I was pretty excited.

It’s definitely different than regular bacon, but I really liked that it was easy to remove from the package and laid totally flat in the pan. That made it easy to flip too.

And it got nice and crispy too, exactly how I like my bacon! It was a bit thinner than I usually like, but then I realized we were using the “thin and crispy” variety. I’m being totally honest when I say it tasted just like bacon. And this particular variety only has 2 grams of fat and 30 calories in 2 slices. Can’t beat that with bacon!

I made some eggs too because who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner?

I also sliced up some tomato because I figured some vitamins would be good. And it was most definitely a glorious feast!

The scones, you ask? OMG. I absolutely LOVE scones if this is, in fact, what all scones are like. They were flaky and buttery and so, so flavorful. Nothing at all like what I thought a scone would be. And something I could eat every day for the rest of my life and never tire of (I really do believe this… I wish I had one right now).

I had a leftover scone the next night heated in the toaster oven with a little bit of butter. I think it was slightly better than the first night, if you can believe it. Now, I want to make scones all the time in every shape, form, and flavor! Bring on the scone recipes, friends, because I am SO game!

[Sues]