Marmite & Red Leicester Scones
These cheese scones are flavoured with marmite, Red Leicester & fresh rosemary! They're flaky, soft & go great with plenty of butter.
Servings: 6 Scones
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Baking Tray
- Cheese Grater
- Pastry Brush
Ingredients
- 400 g Plain Flour
- 18 g Baking Powder
- 1 tsp English Mustard Powder
- ½ tsp Smoked Paprika
- ½ tsp Table Salt
- 100 g Unsalted Butter (Diced & Chilled)
- 190 g Whole Milk (Plus Extra To Brush On Top)
- 30 g Marmite
- 200 g Red Leicester (Grated)
- 1 tsp Finely Chopped Rosemary
Instructions
Dough
- Add the flour, baking powder, mustard powder, paprika & salt into a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine then add in the cold butter.
- Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs but with some larger chunks still visible then stir in 150 grams of the grated cheese & the chopped rosemary.We'll be using the remaining 50 grams of grated cheese to sprinkle on top of the scones before we bake them.
- Next, add the milk & marmite into a jug, whisk to combine then pour into the flour. Mix with a spatula until the dough starts to come together then use your hands to gently work it into a rough dough.The milk & marmite will need a really good whisk to mix together! Make sure not to over work the dough, a few streaks of flour are ok as they'll be incorporated when we laminate the dough.
Laminating
- Tip the dough out onto a very lightly floured work surface then use your hands to gently pat it out into a rectangle measuring 25x15cm, using a bench scraper to straighten up the sides.The dough should be roughly 2 cm thick.
- Next, mentally divide the dough into horizontal thirds. Take the top third & fold it over the middle then fold the bottom third on top.This is the same way that you'd laminate rough puff pastry!
- Turn the dough 90 degrees, pat it out into the same size rectangle as before then fold into thirds again.
- Gently roll the now laminated dough out with a rolling pin, into a square that's roughly an inch thick & measures 18x18cm. Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 6 equal pieces then place them onto a lined baking tray. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.If the edges of your dough need to be neatened up, trim then slightly before cutting the dough into portions.
Baking
- Whilst your scones are chilling, preheat an oven to 200°c/180°c fan (392°f/356°f).
- Next, brush the top of each scone with a small amount of milk then sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 14-16 minutes, until well risen & golden brown.
- Let the scones cool on the tray then serve.
Notes
1. To Cook In An Aga - Bake the scones on a grid shelf, placed on the floor of the roasting oven.
2. Laminating - This is how you get tall scones with lots of flaky layers! This is optional though, so feel free to skip the lamination if you'd prefer.
3. Chilling The Dough - Giving the scones at least 30 minutes in the fridge before you bake them also helps give them lots of layers! Scones will keep in the fridge for a day or so before being baked (make sure to cover them with clingfilm).
4. Cheese - If you're not a fan of Red Leicester, feel free to use a different hard cheese instead. A mature cheddar or a hard goat's cheese would work well.
5. Marmite - Marmite is available to buy in most supermarkets. If you're not a marmite fan though, these scones can be made without.
6. Herbs - Rosemary works really well with both marmite & cheese but thyme & sage will work as well. Or you can leave the herbs out entirely if you like.
7. Milk - For soft & moist cheese scones, make sure to use whole milk as this contains the most fat.