Tuesday 26 June 2012

Low Fat Savoury Scones: Feta Cheese, Ham & Sun-Dried Tomato


It’s time for scones at Bake-Along #27 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen FlavoursLena of Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids.
Scones are a small British quick bread, traditionally hailing from Scotland. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent. Traditionally scones are usually eaten sweet with jam and clotted cream for tea. In the book 500 Bakes and Cakes, I came across several savoury scones which I thought would be great to try out since I have been making a lot of desserts lately. Here are the two savoury scones I made for this blog hop: Feta cheese scones and Ham & sun-dried tomato scones. The ham scones is a low-fat recipe and I modified the feta-cheese ones to become low fat – so I can eat more without guilt.
The feta cheese scones uses cheese rather than butter and has a distinctive sourish taste that comes from the cheese. It reminds me somewhat of sourdough bread. The ham & sun-dried tomato scones are a lovely combination of sun-dried tomatoes, ham and rosemary. I made these for a Sunday family dinner and served them alongside roasted chicken and a bowl of hearty vegetable lentil soup.  Overall, I like the  ham & sun-dried tomato scones better because of the interesting blend of textures and tastes drawn from the various ingredients.
Low fat feta cheese scones (makes 6)
Ingredients
  • 67 g all purpose flour
  • 75 g wholemeal flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 55 g low fat feta cheese
  • 115 ml low fat milk
  • Chives (optional)
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Method
  • Preheat the oven 200ºC. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Crumble the feta cheese and rub into the dry ingredients till the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the chopped chives, if using.
  • Add milk till it forms a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly till it forms a smooth lump.
  • Roll out into 2 cm thickness and cut out using a 6 cm cookie cutter.
  • Transfer the scones to a non-stick baking sheet and brush with milk and sprinkle with cayenne pepper. Bake for 15 minutes till golden brown. Cool before serving.
Ham & sun-dried tomato scones (makes 8)
Ingredients
  • 150 g all purpose flour
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 18 g low fat spread
  • 140 g of ham
  • 1 tbsp chopped rosemary or basil
  • 35 g sundried tomatoes, chopped
  • 100 ml milk
  • Pinch of mustard (optional)
  • Pinch of paprika (optional)
Method
  • Preheat the oven 200ºC. Sift the flour, baking powder, paprika and salt.
  • Stir in the ham, rosemary and sun-dried tomatoes  and mix lightly. Pour in the milk till it forms a soft dough.
  • Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly. Roll out into a 2 cm thick rectangle. Cut into squares and arrange onto a baking sheet.
  • Brush with milk and sprinkle with paprika and bake for 12-15 mins. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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