Scones are delicious, fun to make, and usually on the sweet side, but not these! We used plenty of crispy duck bacon, Gruyere cheese, chives and toasted pecans to create super flavorful scones to eat in place of bread for dinner. You just might love these enough to make them your entire dinner! If you haven’t tried duck bacon, it’s something to put on your list. We use D’Artagnan’s made with free-range Moulard duck breast, rubbed with salt and sugar and smoked over applewood chips. It’s available online, if not at your local grocer. If you can’t find duck bacon, or don’t like the idea, no worries … simply use your favorite pork or turkey bacon instead. Any which way, you’re going to fall in love with these scones!
We use our basic scone recipe for these, but we cut the amount of sugar way down, since we want a savory tasting scone. You can also change them up by adding different types of bacon, cheese, and even use green onions in place of the chives.
One piece of equipment that makes life so much easier for bakers is a pastry cutter, because it allows you to cut the butter into the dries so much faster and more uniformly. We really love this one, because it has such a nice, comfortable grip on it. If you don’t have one, you can always use your fingertips, but having a pastry cutter is so much easier on your hands!
Either way, the key to good scones is to have your butter chilled when you cut it into the dries. A good friend who grew up in the United Kingdom always told us that the key to perfect scones are a warm heart and cold hands! We make all of our scones with a warm heart, but we prefer to use the pastry cutter instead of cold hands:)
Savory Bacon & Gruyere Scones
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. granulated sugar
- 4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup crumbled, cooked, crispy duck bacon (6 strips) *can use any bacon you prefer
- 1 1/4 cups grated Gruyere cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
- 2 tsp. snipped fresh chives
- 3/4 cup cream (+/-) *you can also use milk
- 1 bunch chives for garnish
Instructions
- Cook bacon until crispy and then cut into bits. Set aside.
- Toast chopped pecans in 350° F oven for about 10 minutes, or just until they begin to smell very aromatic and look browned. Keep your eye on them, as they can go from perfect to burned in a heartbeat! Remove from oven and turn oven temp up to 425°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Snip chives with kitchen sheers into small pieces. Set aside.
- Grate Gruyere, and set aside 3/4 cup for on top of the scones and use 1/2 cup in the scones.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, or your fingertips, cut butter into the dries until well blended and the butter is reduced to tiny pea size pieces.
- Stir in bacon bits, chives, pecans and 1/2 cup of the Gruyere. Mix well with a fork. Slowly stir in enough of the cream until the mixture is integrated and a dough forms. You should be able to roll it into a large ball. If the dough is too dry, add a little more cream a tiny bit at a time.
- Roll the dough out on a floured board or cloth to form a 9-10-inch circle, approximately 1 1/4-inch thick.
- Cut the circle into 12 even triangles and place the scone triangles onto the prepared baking sheet. Distribute the remaining grated Gruyere evenly over the tops of the scones.
- Bake at 425° F for about 14-15 minutes, or until the cheese on top is bubbly and edges of the scones are looking golden-brown and crispy.
- Remove the scones from the tray to a cooling rack. You can serve these warm or at room temperature. They also freeze well in an airtight container and can be reheated in a low oven until warmed through and crispy on the edges.
- Form little knots or bows with the chives for garnish.
