Feta and za'atar scones

The original recipe comes from the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen studio and is for gluten free scones. I have adapted it to work with ordinary wheat flour, and it’s benefited hugely from it – except, of course, for celiac sufferers who will need to follow OTK recipe.

They are very easy to make, as most scones should be, and make a perfect brunch or even lunch, if buttered and served with perhaps an extra wedge of Cheddar on the side.

What’s a scone?

A scone is a traditional, quite ancient British baked product whose name can be traced back to Dutch ‘shoonbrood’ – fine bread.

There are many regional as well as flavour varieties: in Scotland they make them with potatoes, cook them on a griddle or drop them.

Australians, for some reason, have taken a shine to lemonade scones, made without butter (you’d never guess lemonade was a substitute for butter, would you? {just kidding, there’s cream in the recipe as well}).

And the good people of Devon and Cornwall carry on the eternal feud on what comes first: cream or jam.

In the US they make scones too, but I’m sorry to say, not very well. They are very crumbly and dry, made basically only with butter and flour. Which is strange, because they can make excellent scones in America actually, except they insist on calling them biscuits and serving with gravy. Of all things.

Scone or scone?

They come both sweet and savoury, as evident above. Sweet, plain or fruited scones are the cornerstone of British national institution that is cream tea. See above for Devon vs. Cornwall.

But savoury scones are popular too, from Scottish tattie scones to National Trust cafes’ Cheddar and chive, so the offering below doesn’t break any scone rules. The only contentious thing about scone in fact (Cornwall vs. Devon aside), is the pronunciation.

Does it rhyme with ‘bone’ or with ‘gone’? Every now and then, usually about the time of GBBO, the debate rises like a scone in the oven. Personally, I rhyme it with bone but I’m not a native speaker of English so don’t quote me.

Apparently it’s regional, with the south going for ‘bone’ and the north for ‘gone’, but there are also opinions that ‘gone’ is the only right pronunciation and anyone saying it otherwise is a pompous fool trying to sound posh. That’s told me.

However you pronounce it though, there is thankfully only one way to eat it: greedily, still warm from the oven.

How to make feta and za’atar dough?

The use of feta and za’atar is a revelation, but there’s nothing unusual about the process. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl, rub in cold butter cut into dice. Add both cheeses, the feta and the grated Cheddar into the mix gently, as you want to keep the feta lumpily visible in the dough.

Then beat the wet ingredients together and stir in with a spatula, only up to the point when the dough comes together, just about.

When you turn the dough out onto a floured surface, give it a quick knead and shape into a thick circle.

You can absolutely cut scones and place them, all spaced out, on a baking tray. But the OTK method of baking them in a square brownie tin, so they almost-but-not-quite merge together is rather fun. Just make sure you line the tin with parchment.

With a 7cm cutter you should get exactly nine scones, arranged neatly in the tin, three by three. And the best part is that you can now stick them in the fridge even overnight, and bake the next morning, ready for a delightful weekend breakfast or brunch.

More scone recipes

Traditional, plain English scones. My best scone recipe to date produces fluffy classic scones, as big or as small as you want to cut them. Homemade scones freeze very well though are really the best warm from the oven.

Fruit scones, light and fluffy, with a good raisin count are perfect for cream tea. The secret: don't twist the cutter and don't overbake the scones.

Cheddar cheese and chive scones, delightful warm from the oven, are made with wholemeal flour and diced Cheddar. The go-to savoury scone option.

More feta recipes

Fresh cucumbers with feta cheese and honey are a minimalist version of Greek salad and all the better for skipping tomatoes – mainly with the benefit for your digestion.

Feta cheese, roasted grapes and crunchy walnuts are the perfect combination of juicy, sweet, crunchy and salty. It's a fantastic autumnal salad, to serve for lunch or as a starter.

Saganaki is a Greek dish of anything cooked and served in a small skillet, cheese saganaki the most popular. This recipe for fried saganaki feta is dead simple and makes a super tasty snack or appetiser. Saganaki feta with caramelised figs, a great mix of flavours.