Cheddar Apple Thyme Scones

Sharing a favorite sweet-savory cheddar apple thyme scone recipe that can be served for breakfast, brunch, snack time or anything in between. They are rich in taste with a crumbly outside and moist flakey center.

Scones are either sweet or savory but this recipe is the best of both worlds with the perfect amount of sweetness from the honeycrisp apples, rich in flavor from the cheddar cheese and rounded out with the earthy lemony tones from the fresh thyme.

A scone is very similar to a biscuit and can be made either the American or English way. Both made with similar ingredients using flour, butter and a leavening agent; the difference is the shape and the amount of butter and sugar used in the recipe.

An English scone is round, dense and more crumbly typically eaten with jam or clotted cream. The American scone is cut into a wedge, very moist in texture, slightly sweeter and usually contains nuts and fruit.

Ingredients Needed to Make Cheddar Apple Thyme Scones

Basic ingredients are needed to whip up a batch of these cheddar apple thyme scones and you will most likely have all the ingredients on hand.

• Flour: using an all purpose flour for this recipe but a gluten free flour would work too.
• Salt: included for extra flavor. If using unsalted butter add an extra 1/4 – 1/2 tsp of salt.
• Sugar: using a small amount of sugar since most of the sweetness will come from the apples. I am using cane sugar but coconut sugar or monk fruit would be a good alternative.
• Baking powder: leavening agent to add lift.
• Thyme: I’m using fresh thyme but 2 tsp of dried thyme would work too
• Butter: needed for texture and adds a savory rich flavor.
• Eggs: added for lighter texture and serves as a good leavening agent.
• Cheddar cheese: used for flavor and richness.
• Apple: honeycrisp apples are my goto for baking and love the sweet-tart balance in flavor but any apples will do.

A few things to call out when making scones is that you always want to make sure the butter, eggs and milk of choice are cold.

Some recipes call for frozen butter and grate the butter before mixing into the dry ingredients. For this recipe just make sure to use cold butter and to place the scones in the freezer for about 25 minutes before you bake them.

The reason for super cold butter is when the butter melts it will create steam, lifting and separating the layers to create a flakey texture.

Another tip is to not over work the dough when mixing the ingredients together. If you over work the dough you will get a tough and chewy texture, rather than light and flaky. It’s okay to have lumps in the dough.

Make sure to squeeze out “some” not all of the juice from the apples after you grate them to keep the flavor intact and have some moisture remaining in the shredded apples.

If you’re not a fan of scones and craving something sweeter then I suggest try out these banana oat muffins that can be served with breakfast crumbled on top of chia seed pudding.

Enjoy!

– Melissa