Three years ago I stumbled across a recipe for Bacon Cheddar Chive Scones. I immediately knew the recipe was special. First of all, these scones are both luxurious and approachable. They’re luxurious thanks to four kinds of dairy including butter, cheese, heavy cream, and crème fraîche. But they’re also approachable because the bacon bits and chives vaguely remind me of a baked potato. And who doesn’t like baked potatoes?! They’re very approachable.

Also, you can make this dough in advance and freeze it. For me this is a HUGE plus, especially during the holidays. My family always eats our big meal on Christmas Eve. Which means I’m always running around like a chicken with its head cut off as I finish cooking our holiday meal. The last thing I want to do on Christmas Eve is make another dish. And I definitely do not want to wake up on Christmas morning and make breakfast from scratch while everyone else lounges around in their jammies. I’d prefer to roll out of bed, turn on the oven, and be rewarded with bakery quality scones in less than an hour. Over the last several years I’ve made the scone dough one week before Christmas, frozen it, and then baked the scones while we open stockings. Sounds like a good deal to me!

A photo of savory scones flavored with bacon cheddar and chives. The bacon bits and sharp cheddar cheese make these scones indulgent and irresistible.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more to brush on scones
1/3 cup crème fraîche
8 ounces uncooked bacon
1 1/4 cups white cheddar, grated
- Note: I used Beecher’s Cheese, which is made in Seattle. But any sharp Irish or English style cheddar would be good. Avoid pre-shredded cheese because it may not melt nicely.
1/4 cup chives, minced
Ground black pepper

Instructions

Step 1 — Cook the bacon

Heat a medium sized frying pan on medium high heat. While the pan heats, cut the bacon into squares that measure roughly half an inch. Cook the bacon until it is fully brown and crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Remove bacon from the frying pan and place it on a paper towel lined plate. Allow the bacon to cool for 5 minutes and then measure a 1/2 cup of bacon and set this aside. If you have any leftover bacon bits save them for another use (like snacking!)

Step 2 — Mix the dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and baking powder on low speed. Add the cold cubed butter piece by piece. Then add the salt. Continue to mix on low speed for 5 minutes until the butter is fully incorporated and the mixture has a “sandy” texture. Add the heavy cream and crème fraîche and mix until just combined. Add the cheese, bacon, and chives and mix until just combined. Take care not to over mix the dough because this could make it tough. Remember we want flaky tender scones!

Step 3 — Shape and cut the dough

Place the dough on a clean dry surface such as a cutting board. Use a rolling pin to shape the dough into a 6 inch by 8 inch rectangle. At this point, I like to use a stainless steel pastry dough scraper to make the rectangle’s sides straight and smooth (but this isn’t necessary).

Tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes remove the dough from the fridge and cut it into eight pieces. Begin by cutting the longer 8 inch side of the rectangle into four two-inch sections. Then cut the shorter 6 inch side of the rectangle into two three-inch sections. You’ll end up with eight individual scones.

At this point you can do one of two things. One, you could bake the dough immediately. Or two, you could freeze the dough today and bake it another day.

If you’d like to freeze the dough, place the eight pieces on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Allow the scones to freeze until completely solid. Once frozen, transfer the scones to a plastic gallon Ziploc bag. Keep the scones fully frozen until you’re ready to bake them.

Step 4 — Bake the scones

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the scones with a bit of heavy cream. Bake for 35 minutes. Begin checking for doneness at 30 minutes. When the scones are done they will have a light golden brown color. Transfer scones to a baking rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Note: you could keep the scones in an airtight container for several days at room temperature. But they taste best warm out of the oven.

The recipe upon which this is based was developed by pastry chef Sebastian Rouxel who used to work for Thomas Keller. The website where I first saw this recipe no longer exists. Luckily I recorded the recipe before it disappeared. Here are the changes I made to the original recipe:

I changed the amount of salt and baking soda slightly. The original recipe required a 1/3 teaspoon measuring spoon which I don’t own. Instead I increased the amounts slightly so I could easily use my 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoons.
The original recipe says to add an extra layer of grated cheese on top before baking. I omitted the extra layer of cheese and instead brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream so they brown beautifully.
The original recipe recommended baking these scones at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. The scones were absolutely not cooked in that amount of time at that temperature. Instead I increased the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and baked them for 35 minutes. The scones develop a nice golden top and bottom.
Lastly, the original recipe says that one batch of scones serves twelve people. Definitely not! At least not in my household. If I had cut the dough into twelve pieces the scones would be too small; they’d be closer to an appetizer than a meal. Instead, I cut the dough into eight pieces and consider one piece to be one serving. My family loves to eat and we each eat two scones on Christmas morning. That means one batch of scones is gone in one sitting. But, to be clear, we only eat two scones, coffee, and orange juice. We don’t serve other breakfast items on Christmas morning. But if you served these scones alongside other breakfast items like eggs, bacon, or sweet pastries I bet one batch would serve more than four people. Just something to think about.