Like my basic sweet scones recipe, these ham & cheese scones are flaky and soft with crisp-crumbly edges. But instead of sugary extras, we’re loading them with savory and satisfying flavors including cheddar cheese, ham, garlic powder, black pepper, and fresh chives. Cutting cold butter into the dry ingredients promises a flaky, layered texture like homemade biscuits.
One reader, Courtney, commented: “I have made these pretty much every weekend since I found the recipe. I’ve tried both ham and bacon, as well as white cheddar and sharp (yellow) cheddar. The first two times I made the regular size, but they were such a hit that I had to start making the minis to ensure everyone who wanted one got one. Thank you, Sally! ★★★★★“
Finally, Some Savory Scones!
Berries, banana, cinnamon, and chocolate are flavors that, undoubtedly, taste delicious in scones. And I have recipes for each—meet my blueberry scones, banana scones, apple cinnamon scones, and chocolate scones. (Note that these are sweeter than traditional British scones!) Instead of staying put in the sweet scones category, I’m venturing into savory territory.
I have a dozen scone recipes published on my website, but none of them include salty, savory flavors. Today you’re meeting the first. (And maybe the best!)
You’ll start with my basic scones, reduce the sugar, add a little more liquid, skip the egg white and save it for brushing on the scones, and add savory flavors. Let’s call them flaky cheddar cheese pastries:
Why You’ll Love These Ham & Cheese Scones
- Perfect for breakfast, snack, or side dish—and an absolute must when selecting your menu of Easter brunch recipes
- Delicious alongside scrambled eggs or even pumpkin chili (a fall favorite!)
- Flaky, buttery, not dry
- A little softer than biscuits (use less flour and add an egg yolk)
- Cheesy and garlicky
- Crisp-crumbly edges right out of the oven
Key Ingredients You Need & Why
You need some pantry staples like all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, & pepper. Here are other ingredients you need and why they’re integral to the recipe:
- Sugar: It sounds odd to include sugar in a savory scone recipe, right? Well, without it, the scone’s flavor falls flat. 1 Tablespoon of sugar balances the strong savory flavors.
- Garlic Powder: Flavor.
- Cold Butter: Besides flour and cheese, cold butter is the main ingredient in these cheddar scones. It adds flakiness, flavor, crisp edges, and rise. The colder, the better.
- Cheddar Cheese: Use your favorite cheddar cheese. Basically, if you enjoy how it tastes, use it here. For best results, freshly grate it yourself like we do for cheddar biscuits instead of buying a bag of shredded cheddar.
- Chives: A few Tablespoons of fresh chopped chives adds flavor. Feel free to use another herb or chopped scallions instead.
- Buttermilk: The dough needs liquid and buttermilk is best. There’s no baking soda in this recipe, so you don’t have to worry about adding an acidic liquid. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use heavy cream. Avoid thinner liquids like milk or almond milk—your scones won’t be nearly as tasty.
- Egg: An egg is what sets these scones apart from biscuits. Biscuits are flaky and buttery, period. The ham and cheese scones are, too, but they’re richer, softer, and cakier.
- Ham: Chop cooked ham into little bite-size cubes and mix into the dough as your add-in. Use a ham steak, or you can chop some deli slices instead. (The kind you would use in these ham & cheese pockets.)
Success Tip: Grate the Butter & Cheese
Frozen grated butter is the key to scone success.
Like with pie crust, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients. The butter coats the flour. When the butter/flour crumbs melt as the scones bake, they release steam, which creates pockets of air. These pockets add a flaky center, while keeping the edges crumbly and crisp. Refrigerated butter might melt in the dough as you work with it, but frozen butter will hold out until the oven. And the finer the pieces of cold butter, the less the scones spread and the quicker the butter mixes into the dry ingredients. You don’t want to over-work scone dough.
I recommend grating the frozen butter with a box grater. And since you need a box grater for the butter, you might as well grate your cheddar cheese too. Just as I recommend freshly grated carrots for carrot cake, I recommend freshly grated cheese in scones. It will mix easier, melt easier, and taste better.
These Step Photos Will Help:
Mix the shredded cold butter and cheese into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter or a food processor. This is pretty much the same way we mix biscuits dough & pie dough.
Whisk the cold buttermilk and 1 egg yolk together, and then pour into the dry ingredients. Lightly mix until the dough clumps together:
Pour the messy dough out onto a floured work surface and, using floured hands, bring the dough together into a ball. Flatten into an 8-inch disc and then cut into triangles (like a pizza):
Brush with an egg white & buttermilk mixture, and then sprinkle with flaky sea salt before baking.
Another Success Tip: Chill the Shaped Scones
I recommend chilling the scones in the refrigerator for 15 minutes as you preheat the oven. By doing this, the cheese scones hold their shape better and rise taller (more flakes!).
Can I Leave Out the Ham? Use Another Cheese?
Yes and yes! Feel free to use another favorite cheese such as feta, gouda, or pepper jack, and you can skip the ham entirely, or replace with the same amount of cooked, chopped bacon or sausage.
Savory Ham & Cheese Scones
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 large scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These savory ham & cheese scones are packed with flavor and have a delightfully flaky, soft interior. You can freeze the scones before or after baking. You can also skip the ham or replace with cooked bacon or sausage. Review recipe Notes before beginning.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
- 1 Tablespoon (12g) granulated sugar
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 1 cup (about 100g or 3.5 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, frozen (see note)
- 2/3 cup (160ml) cold buttermilk, plus 1 Tablespoon for brushing
- 1 large egg, separated
- 3/4 cup (about 110g or 3 oz) finely chopped ham
- optional for topping: flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Stir in the chives and shredded cheese.
- Grate the frozen butter using a box grater. Add it to the flour mixture and combine with a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Place in the refrigerator or freezer as you mix the wet ingredients together.
- Whisk 2/3 cup buttermilk and the egg yolk together. (Save egg white for step 5.) Pour over the flour/cheese mixture, add the ham, and then mix until the dough clumps together.
- To make triangle scones: Pour dough onto a lightly floured work surface and, with floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add 1–2 more Tablespoons cold buttermilk. Press into an 8-inch disc and, with a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges. See recipe Note for smaller scones. To make 10–12 drop scones: Keep mixing dough in the bowl until it comes together. Drop dough, about 1/4 cup of dough per scone, 3 inches apart on a lined baking sheet.
- Whisk 1 Tablespoon buttermilk with reserved egg white. Brush lightly onto scones and, if desired, sprinkle with flaky sea salt. (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.)
- Place scones on a plate or lined baking sheet (if your refrigerator has space!) and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat(s). If making mini or drop scones, use 2 baking sheets. After refrigerating, arrange scones 2–3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
- Bake for 22–25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before serving.
- Leftover scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Scones become softer by day 2.
Notes
- Freeze Before Baking: Freeze scone dough wedges on a plate or baking sheet for 1 hour. Once relatively frozen, you can layer them in a freezer-friendly bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time. Or thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and then bake as directed.
- Freeze After Baking: Freeze the baked and cooled scones for up to 3 months. To thaw, leave out on the counter for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds or on a baking sheet in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare scones through step 4. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Continue with the recipe the following day.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Box Grater | Pastry Cutter | Bench Scraper | Pastry Brush | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Flaky Sea Salt
- Butter: Use frozen butter if you have a box grater. If you don’t have a box grater (highly recommended for this recipe), cut very cold butter into very fine cubes and use that in step 2 instead.
- Can I leave out or substitute the chives? Yes. Replace with the same amount of another fresh herb such as parsley or use chopped scallion/green onion.
- Can I use another type of cheese? Yes. Feel free to use another favorite cheese such as feta, gouda, or pepper jack.
- Can I leave out the ham? Yes. Skip the ham for cheese scones or replace with the same amount of cooked, chopped bacon or sausage.
- Over-spreading: Start with very cold ingredients and very cold scone dough. Expect some spread, but if the scones are over-spreading as they bake, remove from the oven and press back into shape with a rubber spatula.
- Mini/Petite Cheese Scones: To make smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 equal wedges. Make sure the ham is cut very small. Bake scones for 18–20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I don’t have ham but I have thinly sliced deli meats (like for an antipasto platter). would that work or would they become too hard?
Hi Liz, that should work just fine, maybe layer a few pieces together before chopping so they are more like cubes. Hope you enjoy the scones!
How to store?
Hi Rose! Leftover scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Scones become softer by day 2.
Can I substitute half and half cream for the buttermilk
Hi Angie! We would use heavy cream instead – half and half will be a little thin.
My first attempt at a savory scone and I’m hooked! This recipe is easy to follow and comes out exactly as written. I didn’t have the buttermilk or chives, so subbed in heavy cream and a punch of onion powder. My home smelled heavenly! Plan to try different savory variations with this recipe as the base.
I love these scones! They’re delicious, even when I substitute gluten free flour.
AAAAHHHHH! Just made these and WOW! Sooo good! All the tips were really helpful as well as the pictures and video. I was worried about the ‘coming together’ part and the ‘kneading’ cuz I didn’t want to over work the dough but it was so easy! Many thanks!
Can I use parseman cheese instead of chedder Thanks!
Hi Wendy, absolutely!
Nutrition info? Calories?
Hi T, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
My taste buds thank you! These are incredible!
Great recipe! The scones are light and savory. It’s a great way to use that leftover holiday ham. My family loved them.
They are amazing. I baked these up this morning. The only change is that I used smoked Gouda and used cream with some vinegar in it. I will definitely make these again
Wonderful texture and flavor
These scones are a crowd favorite! I’d like to try other savory flavors too. Would it be wise to use this as a master recipe for savory scones? I’d like to try one with sun dried tomatoes and herbs. So no ham nor cheese.
Hi Isabelle, yes, you can certainly use this as a starting place for other savory scone combinations. Let us know what you try!
What can you use for substitute buttermilk
Hi Pauline, Heavy cream works here!
What can you use for a husband that can’t have dairy? He can have eggs and cheese…just not milk?
Hi Jenny, a non-dairy milk will work in a pinch, but the scones may not be quite as rich.
Best scones ever!!!! Can I cut them into 16 instead of 8 before baking? Or should I do it after?
So glad you enjoyed them! See recipe Notes for details on making smaller scones.
I saw for drop scones but I want them to still be triangles…so can I cut them into 16 instead of 8?? Or will it change texture
To make smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 equal wedges. Make sure the ham is cut very small. Bake scones for 18–20 minutes or until lightly browned.
First time making scones and I would definitely use this recipe again. It was so easy to follow and put everything together. I did douby myself when trying to form a ball and was struggling but then It was easy to then form into the disk and transfer to a baking sheet. My daughters gobbled them up~
These are beyond delicious!!! I had heavy cream on hand and they came out perfect. I omitted the ham.
Hi there, are the dry ingredients and butter supposed to rubbed together to form breadcrumbs or is it simply grated butter mixed into the dry, the butter keeping its composition?
Hi Lou! After grating the butter, you’ll want to “combine with a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs.”
Hi if I substitute bacon, should it be cooked before? And I’m all heroic to garlic powder, should I substitute or just take out from the recipe?
Hi Victoria, yes, you can add cooked, chopped bacon to the scone dough. If you’re allergic to garlic powder, simply omit it from the recipe or you can swap with another spice you enjoy.
This has become a breakfast favourite. Awesome recipe – I have made it 4 times in the last 2 weeks
Hi Sally, can I use sour cream in lieu of buttermilk? If so, how much?
Thank you,
Brenda
Hi Brenda, for best results we recommend sticking with buttermilk. You could substitute some of the buttermilk for Greek yogurt or sour cream, but we don’t recommend substituting out ALL the liquid. Some Greek yogurt/sour cream + regular milk would be OK, too. We haven’t tested exact measurements, though. Hope you enjoy the scones!
I added jalapeños- soooo amazing!! Will be making this on repeat!
I only had wholemeal flour, the mix was so wet I had to add another cup. They cooked ok, but were so horribly salty, and I didn’t even add as much salt as the recipe says because of the amount of baking powder.
I’ve made these before and they were amazing! Just wondering if mixing in a food processor would work?
Hi Carolyn! Yes, you can mix the shredded cold butter and cheese into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter or a food processor.
These are OUTSTANDING!!!!
This recipe was so delicious and I immediately wanted to make another batch. Do you think it would it be possible to do a caramelized onion and cheese scone by just replacing the weight of the ham with the onion?
Hi Ariel! Sounds delicious, can’t see why not! Make sure to dab away excess moisture from the caramelized onions.
Made these today for the first time to have with soup. They were delicious and went down very well with guests, didn’t need any butter or cheese on them. Will definitely make them again… maybe tomorrow
I am a bit confused with 2 cups (250g) of all purpose flour… are you meaning 2x250gm or total 250gm? Thanks
250g total
Hi, I’m just wondering if I could make these without the cheese, as I’m not a big fan? Would a ham and herb scone work?
Hi Jane, that should work just fine. Let us know how you like the scones!
To piggy back on what Trina from Sally’s said I use a sifter with all of my baking. I believe it helps as far as measuring.