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
What about jalapeno? 2 small jalapeno instead of ham?
Hi, could I use a vegetable in place of the ham? I would like to try a broccoli cheddar cheese scone. How would I modify the recipe?
Hi Mona, yes, you can certainly use some chopped broccoli in place of the ham. Recipe and baking instructions should otherwise remain the same. Let us know how they turn out for you!
Sally you have changed work days for my husband! I made a batch of these last week and immediately made a second the next day. We needed something he’d eat on the go and these are savory perfection. And thawed and in the microwave – I could not believe how good! Thank you!!
Delicious!! I made them with Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar cheese and bacon. Turned out so good!
I did a test run of these scones yesterday for an event later in the week. I followed the recipe exactly. They rose well, good texture. I am finding the flavour better today than yesterday so think I will make a day in advance. Easy to follow instructions. I used silicone baking sheets and found found that the baking time was between 18 and 19 minutes for a golden brown texture. Highly recommend.
These Ham/bacon, Cheddar and Chives Scones are so delicious!! And easy. And delicious. I agree with a previous reviewer, next time I will cut them smaller so they go further. I ate two before the rest of my family even woke up.
I made a batch of these yesterday and they are a huge hit! I froze most of them to be used as breakfasts for the kids before school. Next time I’ll make a double batch because they are gobbling these scones up.
I think I’ll swap the shredded cheddar for a blend of cheddar and sharp cheddar next time, but otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and they were perfect.
Thank you for the recipe it was really good. 🙂 mine were sausage and cheese
Just made these for the second time in a week…so good!
I made these and I have been having them for breakfast hot with butter and they are delicious and filling.
I made these for Easter brunch and they were a hit! I will definitely make the ham and cheese scones again.
I made these for family dinner as an appetizer. They are fabulous. Thanks for recipe. God Bless!
I just made these for a second time. This time I made drop scones and they turned our perfect! Thanks for such a great recipe.
Can you make the buttermilk
Hi Beth! We really want the thickness of buttermilk (heavy cream also works) here. Homemade buttermilk substitute isn’t as thick.
I just made these and they are seriously AMAZING! I used bacon instead of ham because it’s what I had on hand. Cooked it nice and crispy and chopped very small. I had never made scones before and I am so delighted with this recipe – I will DEFINITELY be making these again!
As always. Sally, you have done an excellant job at a recipe. I have been following you since the beginning and I can say I am Never disappointed. I didn’t have a lot of cheese or ham, but sometime less is good and this time it was
As a confirmed SBA scone maker (lemon blueberry is the family and friends fave) I was eager to try this savory version. It is a nice change-up, and will be added to the brunch recipes rotation. As suggested by another reviewer I used a mix of plain Greek yogurt and milk in place of buttermilk. I think it made them a little heavier so I’ll use buttermilk next time. But they were delicious made exactly as the recipe instructed. I cut them into 2″ rounds rather than wedges for a slightly smaller portion size. After thawing any leftovers, I pop them in the toaster on reheat which warms them just enough.
My husband is celiac so made these with gluten-free flour and they were amazing. Total hit
This recipe was a huge hit! I subbed bacon for ham and added a shallot and they turned out amazing! I was running short on time this morning so I made drop scones instead and I’ll be making this recipe more often!
Will these work as drop scones – are are changes to the recipe required?
Yes, absolutely. Bake time may be different depending on the size of your scones.
These ham & cheese scones were fantastic!
This is a PHENOMENAL recipe! They are SO good when just out of the oven! A little trip in the toaster oven a couple of days after being baked made leftovers delicious as well. Home Run!
These are so good! And they go together so fast!
Sounds great! Can I replace part (like 1/2 of it) of the flour with whole wheat?
Hi Tamisyn, you can certainly give it a try, but the scones may be too dense/dry with that swap.
So good! I made these with ham and without and I actually prefer without, just cheddar chive is fantastic!
This is a great recipe. Lots of work to grate frozen butter but worth it. I substituted plain 2% greek yoghurt + 1% milk (2:1 ratio) for the buttermilk and it was perfect! Also used dried chives b/c that’s what I had in my cupboard
These are divine! So awesome. Thank you for a great recipe! I used parsley in addition to the green onions (since I didn’t have chives). Wow!!
I made this with the gluten free 1:1 from
Costco and it was perfect!! So fluffy, so yummy
This was the best scone recipe I have ever tried! It was the first savory one and it definitely won me over! I teach foods to high schooler and used this recipe to demo quick breads. They were surprised by how much they liked them.
These look great- just what I am looking for. I was wondering does it make a difference if I use a biscuit cutter to make them into round scones for mini sandwiches?
Hi Alana, you can certainly do that, or just make drop scones (like we do for banana scones). Hope you enjoy them!