My husband asked if we had any plans this weekend and I answered (maybe too quickly), “The Royal Wedding!” — as if, you know, I’m going to get up at 6am on Saturday morning to attend these festive nuptials. The fervor in my response was met with some teasing, but I am genuinely excited to wake up early this weekend to watch the coverage on TV. It might partly be that we’ve just returned from a trip to London, so I’m still riding a buzz for all things British, including afternoon tea and all of the treats that go along with it. In fact, I decided it was the perfect time to make some baked treats to enjoy during the royal wedding broadcast, inspired by our vacation tea time.
We did a full afternoon tea at Sketch on our London trip, and the food totally wowed me. I was scribbling down notes for future recipe inspiration as we ate, like my need to recreate coronation chicken tea sandwiches at home! Another one of my sparks of inspiration came at the end of tea when we were brought out fresh scones. My lifelong impression of scones has been that they’re generally dry and bland; in fact I’ve never desired a scone up until this tea. These scones were the opposite of the dry variety I have tasted here in the US (this article explains a lot of the differences between US and British scones, an ah-ha! moment for me). They were buttery and sweet and full of flavor, and just like that, I was a scone convert. 
Given my need to put a savory twist on things, I decided to give the classic British scone recipe a try and fold in sharp cheddar cheese and freshly minced chives for tons of flavor. They were surprisingly easy to make — the dough comes together in about 10 minutes — and they cook quickly too! They have that beautiful, rustic baked look to them and tasted delicious coming out of the oven. I served them with a spread of butter that melted down the warm flakey bites. I’m not sure this batch will last until Saturday morning, so perhaps a fresh set will have to be baked for my royal wedding viewing party of one! I’m sure no one would complain if there were a few more of these scones hanging around the house. Get the full recipe below! 
- 3 cups of flour
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 8 tbsp softened butter
- 1 cup milk, plus 1 Tbsp for glaze
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ Cup of shredded sharp cheddar
- 1.5 Tbsp of Minced Fresh Chives
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir in the stir.
- Cut the softened butter into tiny pieces at add it to the flour; pour milk and two whisked eggs to the mixture.
- Use a pastry blender (or your hands) to incorporate the ingredients together until the dough is sticky and combined.
- Dust a surface generously with flour and knead the dough on the floured surface until it becomes a smoother texture. Shape the dough into a square and cut into 9 equal sized square pieces.
- Space the dough squares out on the lined baking sheet and lightly brush the tops of the dough with the reserved tablespoon of milk.
- Bake at 425 for 13-14 minutes, until the tops start to turn a golden brown.
- Serve warm.
