Mini Pancetta-Cheddar-Chive Scones | Avid Baker's Challenge

These mini pancetta, cheddar, and chive scones are addicting. I am usually pretty good at controlling myself with baked goods, but not today. When these things were cool enough to eat, I promptly ate four. FOUR!

Here's how I justify it. All I had for breakfast was a hard boiled egg and coffee, saving room for two scones. Then, I had two more scones and a salad for lunch. Yeah, yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

(Now about those chocolate covered cherry almond tarts on the cooling rack....  )

The original recipe for these scones calls for bacon. I had some pancetta in the freezer, so I went with that, and fried it with a teaspoon of bacon fat to give it a smoky flavor. The things I will do to avoid going to the store.

These scones are made with a cream based biscuity dough and sort of remind me of twice-baked potatoes. I made mine in a mini-scone pan. Of course I had one.

There's a great step-by-step demo of how to make these scones by +Pj Hamel on the King Arthur Flour blog. I love how she found the chives in the elevator. Serendipity at its finest. It was meant to be.


This year, the Avid Bakers Challenge group is baking recipes from the King Arthur Flour website. This month's challenge is these scones.  Would you like to join us? Check out this page for more information.

Mini Pancetta-Cheddar-Chive Scones

Ingredients

8 1/2 (2 C) ounces unbleached all purpose or pastry blend flour (I used KAF's Perfect Pastry Blend)

1 tsp salt

1 T baking powder

2 tsp sugar

1/2 stick/2 ounces unsalted very cold butter

4 ounces coarsely grated cheddar cheese

1/2 ounce (about 1/3 C) snipped fresh chives

8 ounces bacon or pancetta (I used pancetta and 1 tsp rendered bacon fat from my freezer), fully cooked and chopped

3/4 C plus 2 T heavy cream

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or spray a scone pan with spray oil.
3. Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar together in a medium bowl.
4. With a large holed grater, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture and quickly toss with your hands to coat the butter with flour.
5. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and toss to evenly distribute.
6. Add the 3/4 cup of cream and mix with your hands to create a cohesive dough.
7. If you are using a sheet pan. Place the dough on the parchment, and form it into two five inch rounds. 
8. Cut each piece of dough like a pie into 8 wedges and separate them a bit on the pan. You should have 16 wedges.
9. If you have a scone pan, divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and press the pieces into the scone pan. 
10. Brush the scones with the rest of the cream. 
11. Bake 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in/on the pan. Can be served warm or room temperature.