Recipe: Vegan Cheese Scones

A cheese scone is one of life’s simple pleasures.  With a bowl of soup, or just a cup of tea, there’s something about them that seems greater than the sum of their parts – for a mixture of flour, fat, cheese and milk they are incredibly more-ish, (especially whilst still warm from the oven).

And of course there’s no reason why vegans should miss out on this teatime treat, especially as dairy-free ‘cheeses’ in supermarkets are improving all the time. These vegan cheese scones would definitely pass a blind taste test against the ‘real deal’.

The most important thing to remember when making scones is to work the dough as little as possible.  It is the exact opposite of breadmaking, where lots of kneading makes for an excellent loaf.

With scones, you want to rub the fat into the flour, add the flavourings, then bring it together into a dough by adding liquid, still using just your hands.  As soon as it has come together, tip it out onto the surface, and use your rolling pin as little as possible to flatten it out, and just tap the cutter through the dough (not twisting or turning), and place on your baking tray.  This ‘leave it alone’ approach feels a bit counter-intuitive but really is the best thing you can do to get superb scones.

Let me know how you get on!

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You might like to take a look at my Vegan Baking Recipes Index for lots more Great British Bakes done vegan!

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tagging me @thevegspace or using the hashtag #thevegspace to show me how you got on!

Vegan Cheese Scones: Equipment and Shopping List

You will need:

• baking tray
• large bowl
• clean surface for rolling out dough

Shopping List:

• chives
• dairy-free milk
• dairy-free block margarine
• vegan cheese (I used a mixture of vegan ‘parmesan’ and ‘cheddar’, but use whichever you have to hand)
• self-raising flour
• mustard powder

5 from 5 votes

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Vegan Cheese Scones

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

These delicious vegan cheese scones are so light and 'buttery' no-one will believe they are vegan! A tang of mustard and dairy-free cheese makes them the perfect teatime treat or accompaniment to a steaming bowl of soup.

Course: Baking

Cuisine: British

Keyword: vegan cheese scones

Servings: 6 scones

Calories: 267 kcal

Author: Kate Ford | The Veg Space

Ingredients

• 225 g self-raising flour
• 50 g dairy-free margarine
• 125 g vegan cheese (I used 50g vegan 'parmesan' and 75g vegan 'cheddar', but use whatever you have handy)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
• 60 ml dairy-free milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan) / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.  Grease a baking tray with dairy-free margarine.

2. Tip the flour into a large bowl.  Cut the margarine into small squares or chunks, then rub it in to the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Grate the cheese into the bowl and add the salt, mustard powder and chives, then toss through the flour mixture to combine evenly.

4. Add the milk and mix, then add cold water little by little (just a tablespoon at a time) until the mixture comes together into a dough.  Try to work it as little as possible, just bring it together then leave it alone!

5. Tip the dough out onto a floured surface, then gently roll it with a rolling pin until it is about 1.5cm thick, (about the thickness of your finger, if you don't have a ruler handy).

6. Use a pastry cutter to cut out as many scones as you can from the dough and place them on the greased baking tray.  Then re-roll the offcuts and keep going until all the dough has been used up.

7. Brush the tops of the scones with a little dairy-free milk, (don't brush the sides as this will stop them rising), then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.  These are at their best still warm from the oven, but also freeze well so why not make a double batch and keep some for a rainy day!

There are plenty of quick and easy vegan recipes in my new book, ‘Vegan in 15‘*. Hop over to Amazon for a look.  Thanks for your support!

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