Ham and Cheese Scones
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Easy peasy ham and cheddar scones perfect for any time of day – perfect as breakfast, snack-time, appetizer or with a bowl of soup!
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why make ham and cheese scones
- Wonderfully flaky, buttery, tender and crumbly
- Perfect as a savory breakfast treat
- Great to serve alongside soups and stews
- Amazingly freezer-friendly, ideal for planning ahead or saving leftovers
Ingredients
Flour
All-purpose is ideal but gluten-free flour can also be substituted.
Sugar
A little bit of sugar helps offset the savory richness with its subtle sweetness.
Baking Powder
A leavening agent to help the scones rise.
Garlic Powder
To complement the savory flavors of the ham and cheese.
Butter
A key ingredient, the butter helps create those light and flaky textures and crisp edges.
Buttermilk
Makes the scones tender while adding a slight tang.
Cheese
Cheddar is our go-to but monterey jack and pepper jack would also work well here.
Ham
This is a great recipe to repurpose any leftover holiday ham.
Chives
Use up any extra herbs on hand (chives, thyme, rosemary or sage).
tips and tricks for success
- Start with cold butter. Using chilled butter is ideal, contributing to a better rise and softer, crumbly scones. If using warm butter, it will melt too quickly during mixing. We want the butter to melt in the oven for those super flaky layers.
- Use buttermilk. While adding a slightly tangy flavor, buttermilk is an important ingredient here yielding light, moist and fluffier scones. Using milk will lead to more neutral flavors and a drier consistency. You can also make a buttermilk substitute using milk, adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.
- Use your favorite cheese and herbs. This is a great recipe to use your favorite cheese and any extra herbs you have leftover.
- Avoid overworking the dough. Knead the dough just until it comes together. Overworking the dough can lead to dense, dry scones.
- Mix it up. Swap out the ham for pancetta, sausage or bacon.
- Freeze before baking. Although scones can be frozen before or after baking, freezing before baking is preferred to preserve texture and for optimal freshness.
freezing and storage
Storage
Leftover baked scones can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Reheating
Reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 5-10 minutes.
Freeze before baking
Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper, freezing for 1 hour until solid. Transfer the scones to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date and freeze up to 2 months. To bake, thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed.
Freeze after baking
Let the scones cool completely. Transfer the scones to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date and freeze up to 2 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 5-10 minutes.
what to serve with ham and cheese scones
Tools For This Recipe
Baking sheet
Ham and Cheese Scones: Frequently Asked Questions
A quick and easy buttermilk substitute is creating your own buttermilk with whole milk and something acidic such as lemon juice or distilled white vinegar.
You can add 1 tablespoon acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to 1 cup milk, letting it stand for 5-10 minutes.
Absolutely! Monterey jack, pepper jack, gouda or even swiss can be used instead.
Swap the ham for diced pancetta, crumbled sausage or crispy bacon bits.
Yes! Scones are very freezer-friendly, flash freezing once assembled (before baking) and storing in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Ham and Cheese Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ⅓ cup diced ham
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder and salt. Add cold butter, using your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stir in buttermilk, cheese, ham and chives until a soft dough forms.
- Working on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough 3-4 times until it comes together. Using a rolling pill, roll the dough into an 8″ circle, about 1-inch thick, and cut into 8 wedges.
- Place scones onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until firm to the touch and lightly browned.
- Serve warm.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
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Soooo good!! I didn’t have buttermilk so made sour milk and it worked beautifully. Soft and fluffy on the inside, a nice crispy outside.
Are these scones supposed to be baked in the round, or are the eight slices to be separated before being baked? I baked them sliced, but as a round piece of dough. I ended up having to separate them after baking and return them to the oven for another 5-6 minutes. They were delicious, but I am still not sure how they are to be baked. BTW, I used some cooked breakfast sausage I had in my freezer. Damn Delicious!
Fantastic and easy!
This is an amazing scone recipe that turned out perfect. It was also super easy to make. I was worried about how to store the extras but my family ate all of them.
Made them with parmesan because it’s all I had and they were PERFECT!!
Very easy to make. Damn Delicious!
These never get old. I can make these daily and NO one will complain. Delicious!
I do chopped jalapenos and habaneros with pepper jack cheese – I leave the rest of the recipe as is and it turns out perfect!
*obviously I leave out the ham/chives, but everything else is the same…
That sounds amazing! I’ll try that next time!
These are fantastic. They even work with regular milk and they are indeed delicious. I made them more like biscuits and even threw an egg in for some more protein. The one thing about what we are going through right now is that we all may start eating healthier because we are at home. You have to see the sunshine.
I’ve made these twice now and they are delicious. The first time I made them with the ham and the second time with bacon. Both time side had to add about 1/8 extra cup of buttermilk, but they turned out amazing both times. We’ve eaten them for breakfast and then in the evening with a bowl of soup! Thank you!
These were absolutely amazing! I got nervous because I completely forgot to add the ham and had to re-mix and recut the scones, so I thought they were going to be overworked and tough, but they were just perfect. Tender, flaky, and just absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for posting such a great, foolproof recipe.
I’ve made these before for day of breakfast and they are absolutely super! I am wondering if I could freeze the dough and bake later? My mother in law loves these and I would like to send her home with some to bake at her leisure! Thanks!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
You can freeze before baking, OR bake them, then freeze. I’ve done it with biscuits. You don’t have to thaw them, just put them on your baking sheet, and bake as normal, but add a few extra minutes to your baking time. If prebaked, wrap them in foil, and bake at the temperature in the recipe for about 20 minutes, or heated through. (You could microwave the prebaked ones. Wrap in a paper towel, or parchment paper, and heat for about 2 to 3 minutes, adding more time until it’s at your desired temperature.)
I made them today and they were delicious! rave reviews from my guests. I followed the recipe exactly but did put the unbaked tray of scones in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking. I’d been reading about keeping the ingredients very cold before baking and these were so flaky!
Excellent! I’ve made these 3 times already! Question, how do you recommend reheating leftovers?
I personally would reheat them in the oven on low heat. However, there is no one way of doing it and it generally takes some improvising so please use your best judgement. Hope that helps!
Thank you, that helps! I will reheat as you recommended. 🙂
If you reheat in the oven, I would wrap them in foil so they don’t dry out. Otherwise, 15-30 seconds in the microwave would be about right, depending on your microwave.
Excellent! Next time I’d either go a short 1″ thick or go slightly cooler oven but it was a big win!
These are really flavourful and great for breakfast, my daughter keeps swiping them off my plate.
Great idea for breakfast!
So easy to make and so good! I made them to accompany a supper of soup and can’t wait to share the leftovers with family!
Turned out great! But my batch needed 40 minutes in the oven. Definitely doing this recipe again next week.
Thanks for sharing with us, Jaime!
I made this, substituted fake buttermilk (with white vinegar), cubed monterey jack cheese, doubled the ham, and used split and minced green onions for chives. The dough was very moist. After baking for 20 min. the cuts in the circle had fused. I took it out, let it rest a few minutes (5-6) on the parchment on a cooling rack, then carefully re-cut on the parchment, put it back on the tray with wedges separated, and baked another 10 min. The scones have a browner bottom and are definitely chewy/cheesy with bits of cakey bread holding them together. They are just the taste and texture I wanted. Thanks for the springboard of a recipe so I didn’t have to try to make these with Bisquick (no control of ingredient proportions).
These were delish!!
Sweet!