Jalapeño and Manchego Scones

Cheese scones. Is there anything better? Well, there might be a few things, like:

Lying on a sun lounge with a book that makes you laugh so hard you experience stress incontinence.

Sleeping past 6.30am (what's that?)

Internet shopping parcels that arrive earlier than the ETA.

Season four of Mad Men.

The exact moment when you finish your 5k run.

But cheese scones are right up there.



Jalapeño and Manchego Scones
adapted from Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Makes 12

2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
170g cold unsalted butter, diced, plus 15g for frying the jalapeños
2 extra-large eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup cold cream
1 or 2 jalapeños, to taste (I used 1 large jalapeño)
115g Manchego cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

In a small frying pan, melt 15g of butter and sauté the jalapeños in it until soft, about two minutes. Let them cool, then place them in a small bowl with the cheese and coat them with one tablespoon of the flour.

Combine the 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.

Lightly whip two of the eggs and cream and add to the flour-butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Add the manchego-jalapeño mixture to the dough and mix until everything is just incorporated

Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it for 1 minute, until the manchego and jalapeño are well distributed. Roll the dough 2cm thick. Cut into 6cm squares. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake on a baking sheet lined with baking paper for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outside is crusty and the inside is fully baked.