Scones are the ultimate fast food. You just mix them together and put into the oven. And as the weather gets colder, the more I hanked after a hot, buttery scone. This is the best, and the easiest cheese scone recipe I know.
The recipe comes from a cafe in Wellington – Ministry of Food. It’s close to our Parliament buildings and I got addicted to these scones when I was working near by. Thanks to Cuisine for publishing it.
Though this is a quick and easy recipe there is a trick to a great scone. So here are here are my tips, collected from my mum and many friends over the years.
Tips for scones
1 Heat the oven – it must be hot
2. Preheat the tray – put it in when you turn the oven on.
3. Add all the milk at once – it should be a wet rather than a try mixture
4. Mix quickly by making slicing actions with a knife, just enough to bind together. Don’t over mix.
5. Touch as little as possible and get it into the oven asap after mixing the milk in.
Cheese Scones
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
2 cups grated tasty cheese
1 cup full-cream milk
Preheat oven to 220º C. Put tray in to heat.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper into a bowl. Mix in cheese. Make a well in the centre.
Check you have a clear bench with flour on it, the oven is fully heated. You want the scones to go into the oven as soon as possible.
Add the milk, mix quickly with a knife. Turn out onto a floured bench and quickly shape into a 3 cm thick rectangle. Cut into 8 and put onto your floured, hot tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes. You’ll smell them as they get ready.
Delicious! If you don’t eat them all they freeze well. To reheat put them into an oven for about 5 minutes.
nzFoodgeek 
April 8, 2008 at 9:34 am
thank you thank you for posting this! i’ve been looking for a recipe to reproduce the amazing cheese scones i used to get at my high school cafeteria in wellington. now that i’m in the states, people don’t tend to know about these hearty deliciousness.
April 9, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Hey thanks Jackie – I hope they work out – let me know if you have any problems with the scones – I reckon I have the tricks all sorted so am happy to do any troubleshooting you need! I know what you mean about North Americans and scones – I don’t think they get it! Which school did you go to in Wellie?
September 26, 2009 at 8:41 am
I tried these this morning and the recipe works a treat. I doubled the amount of salt and baked them for 15, I followed the directions exactly. These are the lightest, most moist cheese scones I’ve ever made EVER. I’m a kiwi living overseas and they don’t have scones over here…so this is just a lifesaver. I’ll NEVER EVER try an Edmonds recipe again for scones. This is honestly the yummiest cheese scone recipe I’ve had yet. THANK YOU! How about posting a plain scone recipe…or one with dried fruit, something we can have with jam and cream?
March 3, 2010 at 6:38 am
Thanks Zigzag – maybe I’ll try date scones soon – my friend Carey has a great recipe… mmm am feeling peckish!
May 24, 2010 at 11:47 pm
May I have permission to use the cheese scone photo in the June issue of my online journal The Peaceable Table? I will of course credit you. It would be to illustrate another, vegan cheese scone recipe–our recipe editor can’t work things out to get good pics of her creations.
Thanks, Gracia Fay Ellwood
P.S. A Californians for over 40 years now, I lived in Wellington for almost a year in the 1980s and LOVED it–including foods I haven’t had since, such as pumpkin soup and a particular bean soup. But scones are easy to get here in Calif.
May 26, 2010 at 6:12 am
Good to hear there are scones in California! I love pumpkin soup too – not sure what sort of bean soup – I make a few types myself – although they’re not vegetarian as I put a ham bone in.
Yes, you can use my photo in your journal. They aren’t vegan though but i guess a scone is a scone! Be interested in looking at your recipe and giving them a go. A credit would be great.
Lucy
February 4, 2012 at 1:41 am
Awesome recipe and tips, my scones usually end up by flat bricks but not today – light, fluffy and cheesy!
May 2, 2012 at 6:50 am
Breakfast Ideas For Kids…
[…]Cheese scones – Ministry of Food style. « nzFoodgeek[…]…
June 15, 2012 at 9:53 pm
Great recipe. I have been trying a few recipes of late to the perfect cheese scone. The scones turned out awesome. This is now my go to recipe. Perfect for a cold winters morning in Christchurch. Thanks
June 22, 2012 at 9:27 am
Thanks Darren – I love these scones, and they pretty much always work. Glad I could help warm up a winter Chch morning!
July 14, 2012 at 6:41 am
Great recipe-only one I use. Is there a way to make the texture more like a crumpet?
August 2, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Thanks Jude. Hmm not sure about what you mean about more like a crumpet. Crumpets use yeast. You could possible try to griddle them – my nana used to make a mean griddle scone – they are fried, a bit more like American biscuits, but I have never tried and her mixture was a bit stiffer than this. Let me know if you have any luck – an interesting connundrum!
April 8, 2014 at 9:52 pm
Use plain yoghurt – one small punnet in a measuring cup then top up with milk to 1 cup total. Makes a much nicer scone.
April 9, 2014 at 7:43 am
Thanks – I must try yoghurt- I imagine it would give a great texture
August 2, 2012 at 2:02 pm
What kind of cheese would you suggest I use? I’ve never made cheesy scones before so I’d love a recommendation!
August 2, 2012 at 7:39 pm
Hi ELizabeth, I use a tasty cheddar. It’s the strongest block cheddar in the commercial range. I wouldn’t bother with an artisan one but something with lots of flavour really helps with the caramalisation of the sugars that make these scones so darn good! And if you follow my tips then you should get gorgeous scones. Good luck and let me know how you go.
August 27, 2012 at 12:15 am
Just want to say thanks for putting this recipe up! I’ve been using this recipe and variations of it for the past month and it has NEVER let me down. I’ve been adding bacon and onion for added tastiness.
August 27, 2012 at 5:58 am
Thanks Scotty- so glad it works for you! I find it a really reliable recipe too. I have wondered what it would be like with onions or bacon- mmmm must try it!
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December 19, 2012 at 12:01 am
These were great, I made them with half gluten free flour, half cornstarch (all I had on hand) Super quick and easy to make, a great basic recipe!
I cut them into multiple bite-sized scones for a babies group but baked them too long so they got a bit hard on the outside but still yummy and a hit!
I made the mistake of putting the flour on the baking sheets preheating so the flour burned (silly me, won’t ever do that again!)
Next time I’ll add some mustard or bacon and onion like the poster above, super yum!
Thanks for the fantastic tips, so quick, easy to follow, thank you!
December 19, 2012 at 8:59 am
Glad to hear they worked so well. What a great idea to make them with gluten free flours. I always think that not being able to eat scones must be hard for gluten-free folks. I reckon you’ve solved it!
February 19, 2013 at 8:05 pm
do u have to use full cream milk
February 20, 2013 at 7:03 am
No you can use any sort of milk. I’m not sure i can tell the difference. I imagine full milk might make a smoother scone but that could be in my mind!
April 30, 2013 at 5:59 am
I love the fact this recipe doesn’t use butter; despite having a good recipe for cheese scones, I’d never bother making them as the rubbing-in seemed so laborious.
Also worked out well for a bit of baking with my 20 month old who is far too young to work out how to rub butter, but not too young to simply stir this recipe together. As I type she is scoffing her own warm mini batch (1/4 recipe) and considering the mixture was well and truly man-handled by her, they still taste great!
Added mustard power and paprika to my full batch for a little extra bite.
Thanks!
May 25, 2013 at 9:22 am
Very good info. Lucky me I ran across your site by accident
(stumbleupon). I’ve saved as a favorite for later!
July 28, 2013 at 2:24 pm
[…] is a recipe for cheese scones I found too at NZ Food Geek. Serve them warm with a slice of ham/Canadian bacon and chutney, if you like […]
August 24, 2013 at 4:42 am
Hmm I made them exactly to the recipe, love the delicious crust but they didn’t rise very much and almost seem a bit too cheesy (there’s something I’ve never said before). I made sure not to over-mix but I think perhaps adding only one cup of grated cheese next time might help them rise a bit better?
October 8, 2013 at 6:18 pm
I’m very new to this cheese scone business but this recipe has been a hit every time I make it and I get asked a lot! So thanks for the post. A quick question…. have you ever varied to blue cheese? And if yes what sort?
Many thanks
October 8, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Great to hear that the scones are working well. To be honest I have’t tried blue cheese. I reckon it would work well if wou made them like cinnamon rolls, except with blue cheese and caramel used onions! But you’d still need to put cheese in the main scone or use a more traditional butter-based scone. I’d love to hear how it goes.
February 24, 2014 at 5:36 am
I can attest that MoF do fab cheese scones!
April 19, 2014 at 11:38 pm
just about to try making these scones. I like the idea of freezing them – you say reheat in over for 5 mins – is that from frozen or do you need to defrost first, also what temp would you re-heat at?
thanks –
April 19, 2014 at 11:58 pm
I’ve reheated them from frozen in a pre-heated oven. I’d do 170 or 180 Celsius. Good luck
April 20, 2014 at 3:26 am
thanks for that – just had a couple with soup – they turned out great and so easy.
April 23, 2014 at 11:00 pm
Hi Eve – I have heated then from frozen and they were great. I pre-heated the oven to 180 Celsius. I wouldn’t bother defrosting using a microwave but they would be fine if you defrosted at room temperature. You don’t want then to get soggy so I’d take out of plastic bag to defrost. Bon appetit!
July 29, 2015 at 2:09 am
Hi there from Christchurch, New Zealand. I have just made these cheese scones for my husband and we are both enjoying them immensely, I didnt have any full cream milk so put some plain Greek yoghurt with it. I used Noble cheese as thats what we like. They look and taste beautiful. Thankyou very much for recipe which just came up when I googled cheese scones. 🙂
August 6, 2015 at 7:04 am
Hey hon, I am writing a book called I Remember When-Growing up in the 1960’s in Taranaki. Part of our memories from our childhood was food,haha. One of the things all our Mums used to make was scones 🙂 I am writing to ask your permission to use your photo of your amazing looking cheese scones for my book with whatever worded acknowledgement you want me to put in the book 🙂 Thanks heaps, Kath
March 24, 2016 at 6:25 pm
I just made these scones they turned out awesome. This is the only one I will be using from now on. I added some Dried basil in the flour and black pepper and followed the rest of the recipe exactly but instead of cutting out triangles I made like nine portions and patted them out gently with my hands on a floured board, in like circle shapes. I didn’t want to roll it cause I think that spoils the texture and the end results. Well was just trying it out. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. ☺️
April 1, 2016 at 11:12 pm
Great to hear they turned out well- I agree about patting them gently.
September 24, 2016 at 12:50 am
Love this recipe! I’ve been using for a while now and getting a name for myself lol. Have you got a most excellent Date Scone recipe to add to my repitoire?
September 24, 2016 at 10:20 pm
Hi Colleen, sorry this is as far as my scone recipes go so far. If you find one, let me know!
May 19, 2017 at 3:44 am
my god, way too much salt in this recipe for this ratio of flour. I was left with a strong salt and BP aftertaste. No butter leaves the texture a bit too light but it is crunchy. reduce salt to a pinch or 2 or none if yr adding diced bacon.
May 19, 2017 at 6:09 am
Ah yes with bacon it might be salty indeed. It might also depend on the saltiness of the cheese too. I make mine with a mature block rather than a cloth bound or artisanal cheddar. I hope you get the ratio right for your taste. Bon appetit.
December 19, 2017 at 8:00 am
Very good, thanks.
December 19, 2017 at 8:08 am
Thanks Daryl, hope they are good for you too. 😀
December 28, 2017 at 12:26 am
I was looking for the Edmonds cheese scone recipe online this morning, as my Edmonds book’s pages have stuck together on that page, and I can’t read the complete recipe. I found your recipe and it was a great success for lunch. I used Trim milk, and Colby cheese, as that was what was in the fridge. I will definitely use this recipe again, and will try it with full cream milk and tasty cheese as well. A slightly cooler summer’s day in Whakatane today, 20 degrees with a lovely breeze!
December 28, 2017 at 12:49 am
Excellent to hear they were good. Waikanae is a little cooler, but it’s great we had some rain. Good luck with your next go.
January 23, 2018 at 4:52 pm
I would love to see photos of your process here. I made these once years ago with disappointing results. Just tried it again today and I’m still frustrated. The dough? batter? is just SO goopy and sticky, it’s impossible to manipulate. It just adheres to everything, unless you add a ton more flour, which of course will ruin the texture. What gives? What is going wrong?
February 4, 2018 at 4:13 am
Hmm not sure what’s happening. I often get quite a range of textures, but they still seem to work. But if it is so goopy, hmm maybe try adding 4/5s of the milk? Next time I make them I will take photos. So sorry yours are not working yet. It is usually a fail safe recipe.
June 24, 2018 at 3:59 pm
I’ve found that it’s only in NZ that people dare to make cheese scones that are actually cheesy! Every other recipe I’ve used I’ve doubled the cheese – not here 🙂 Great extra tips too, for the perfect Kiwi crispy cheese scone. YUM.
July 3, 2018 at 10:56 pm
Awesome thanks Naomi, I even find in NZ some scones aren’t cheesey enough. I agree these ones are.
May 14, 2022 at 7:26 pm
Can you substitute full milk with a plant based milk?
May 14, 2022 at 8:57 pm
Hi Donna, yes you can. I have used almond milk in a vegan version. I suggest you add a teaspoon or so of a white vinegar as almond milk is quite sweet. If I was doing it again I would add it to the milk before mixing so I could check the sweetness.