Sundried tomato and parmesan cheese scones

The fabulous food team at SABC 3’s Expresso breakfast show organised South Africa’s first live TV cook-along last Friday and I was invited to participate. I made these Sundried tomato and parmesan scones and they were so easy and delicious.
I was a little slow getting my stuff together on the day, so couldn’t quite keep up with Katelyn and Zola who sped through the baking at a rapid rate. I did however knock up these delicious savoury scones in about 20 minutes from start to finish.
Yes they are that easy. And also very tasty, which is why I thought I had to share this recipe with you all.
The thing about scones is they need to be eaten straight out of the oven or very soon thereafter. I find they dry out if you keep them for anything more than a day. If I haven’t eaten them all on the day I have baked them, I freeze them for another time. All you do is microwave them for about 20 – 30 seconds from frozen.
Scones can be quite tricky. They always look so easy to make, but a few things can things can go wrong.
I have a few tips on how to improve the making of them:
1. Try and make them quickly so that you reduce the time you handle the dough. Overworking the dough results in flatter scones that are not light and fluffy.
2. I don’t use a rolling pin to roll them out I simply lightly press the dough ball into the height I want them before cutting them out. I also never flatten the dough too much and rather leave a little height so the scone is guaranteed not to look too flat. I’m not sure if this is cheating – but it works for me.
3. I use a very sharp cookie cutter. You want it to cut through the dough very quickly and easily and not drag down on the edges making a flatter scone. You could dust the inside rim of the cookie cutter with flour to prevent any sticking.
3. If you have time, it is a good idea to rest the cutout scones in the fridge (or even the freezer) while your oven pre-heats.
4. Double egg wash them if you want a very golden brown top.
Sundried tomato and Parmesan cheese scones with oregano | makes 6-8
Recipe from Expresso Show
Sundried tomato and parmesan cheese scones

Ingredients
- 1 cup / 250ml cake flour
- 2 tsp / 10ml baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 30 g cold butter diced
- 1/2 cup / 125ml grated Parmesan cheese
- 6 sundried tomatoes soft ones that are in a sauce - finely chopped
- 1 t dried oregano
- 1 large egg
- 45 ml milk
- extra egg lightly beaten for the egg wash
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200C/400F and sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Rub the butter into the flour using your fingers until it resembles fine crumbs.
- Add the cheese, tomatoes and oregano.
- Lightly whisk together the egg and milk slowly add this to your dry mix and stir lightly to combine with a knife.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and lightly pat out to a height of around 4cm.
- Cut your scones out with a cookie cutter and place them on a baking tray lined with paper or a silicone baking mat. Brush each scone with egg and bake for 10 - 12 minutes until risen and a light golden colour.
- Serve immediately with butter and more cheese if you so desire.
I look forward to connecting with you again
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Oh – now don’t those look delicious- LOVE your images too
Love the dark background in these photographs, stunning.
Thanks Gina 🙂
Thanks Sandy 🙂
I love savory scones, these sound scrumptious!
Your photos are so dramatic and I love that old flour sifter. My grandmother had a similar one.
Hi Laura, you can play around with different cheeses and herbs too.
sam
I made a batch of these for my wife’s recent birthday gathering and they were soon decimated by the guests!
Didn’t have any oregano left (shame on me) so used basil instead. Still tasted great though! 🙂
I thought I had made them wrong as the dough was quite sticky when it came to the cookie-cutter stage.
Was tempted to add more flour to make it more manageable but stuck with it.
In the end they were perfect – tap-hard on the outside, but light and soft inside.
Many thanks for sharing another great recipe. 🙂
PS: Do you pronounce ‘scone’ as ‘skon’ or ‘skown’ down there in South Africa? 😉
Hi Kevin, thanks for the comment and so glad you enjoyed them. If they get a bit sticky, just add extra flour. In SA we pronounce it ‘skon’ 🙂
Lovely scones. I made a second batch using olive tapenade instead of the tomatoes and they were equally delicious! Thanks!!
Ooo Jen, olive tapenade sounds awesome. I have a couple of jars of them, not a huge fan, so they tend to ly around for ages, and I think they would be wonderful in a scone. Thanks for the idea
I made these the other day and they were delicious and disappeared in no time. Will be making them again this weekend but this time I will be doubling the recipe!
That’s great Kim, they are so good freshly baked.