Name: Masala Cheese Scones
Ingredients: 2 cups + 1 Tbsp (250g) all-purpose flour; 2 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp baking soda; 1 ¼ tsp Diaspora Co. Garam Masala; ¼ tsp salt; 1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, cold & cubed; ¾ cup + 2 Tbsp (100g) shredded sharp cheddar cheese [1]; 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro; 1/3 cup (50g) red onion, chopped small [2]; ¾ cup (170g) buttermilk, cold [3]; 1 egg, beaten with a splash of buttermilk; sesame, poppy, or nigella seeds, optional [4]; shredded sharp cheddar cheese, optional

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, garam masala, and salt.
Add cold, cubed butter, tossing around gently to coat. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add cheese, cilantro, and onion, tossing around gently to also coat with flour.
Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients. Pour cold buttermilk into well, then begin mixing with a wooden spoon. (Ditch the spoon and get in there and mix with your hands, if necessary. Just work quickly so that you don’t warm up the cold butter with your hand heat!)
Cover bowl, then chill dough in fridge for 30–60 minutes before forming scones.
Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
Tip your chilled dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press dough together into a block, then pat dough until it’s ¾" thick.
Using a round biscuit or cookie cutter, cut dough into circles. (We used a 2.5" biscuit cutter.)
NOTE: Make sure to press the cutter straight down and then pull it straight up. Twisting is a no-no here, as it may cause your scones to not rise evenly.
Take leftover dough scraps and layer them on top of each other, then pat dough so it’s once again ¾" thick. Cut out remaining scones.
Place all scones on prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with seeds and/or cheese, if desired.
Bake scones for about 20 minutes or until tops are nicely golden brown.
Transfer scones to wire rack and allow to cool a smidge before eating.
Enjoy a scone or two with a nice cuppa chai!

Notes

We made our scones with Dorset Drum, an authentic English farmhouse cheddar, as we received a sample at Fancy Food Show. (Thank you, Coombe Castle!) If we hadn’t had this cheddar on hand, we probably would’ve used Tillamook sharp cheddar.
This was about half of a small onion.
If you don’t have buttermilk, mix ½ cup + 3 Tbsp (156g) whole milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 15 minutes.
We came across Badia’s organic tri-colour sesame seed blend at the store, and it makes a great topper for bakes like these scones.
We ate our scones with some Kola Goodies Sri Lankan milk tea, but a chai blend from The Chai Box would also be wonderful.

Slightly adapted from: Sanjana.Feasts

Masala Cheese Scones