My love for cooking runs on my mother’s side. For a long while I was her parents only grandchild  and I’ve been spending quite a lot of time with them. My grandma was a true magician with all domestic stuff – cooking, sewing, knitting, gardening, you name it. She involved me in most of her activities and baking cheese scones was on the top of my list because I was aloud to make few cookies on my own. 40 years later I still find grated hard cheese so much tastier then the same kind served in a simple slice.
So, obviously, I inherited the scones recipe. But, grandma made them often enough not to write down anything but necessary measures. What flower type to use, what baking temperature to choose? Nada!

The first batch of scones I made in my kitchen wasn’t a total fiasco simply because it was edible. The most beautiful peaces of her cakes grandma used to give away  to her neighbors running some sort of a permanent “best cook in the hood” campaign. To be honest I was always kind of offended she fed us, her closest family, with beauty pageant failures. Of course, the worst of them were never as near as ugly as my beginners mistakes, but at least they made my test group much more forgiving.
I made a kind of parallel test to find out what is the flour of choice for both traditional and simple 3 ingredients cheese scones. The truth is it’s all up to your taste – if you like soft cookies use a soft type and if you prefer your scones a bit crispy take a stronger kind.
I always found it weird that this recipe includes margarine, because it was never aloud anywhere near grandma’s sweets. So, how come we don’t use butter here as well? I’ve been told the result won’t be satisfying with any other kind of fat so I didn’t questioned it ever again. If granny’s watching over me from some Heavenly kitchen she most certainly find it horrible enough that I never make scones in traditional round shape anyway.

TRADITIONAL CHEESE SCONES
500g flour
250g margarine (Rama cube gives the best results)
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk for brushing
1 package fresh yeast
2 spoonful sugar
100ml milk
4 spoonful sour cream
150g grated hard cheese (Trapist or Cheddar) + extra 100g for garnish
1 teaspoon salt
Heat the milk with sugar and add crumbled yeast. Leave it aside until it becomes bubbly and foamy.
Put the flower in a large bowl, add the cubes of margarine and using your fingertips rub it into the flower. Add eggs and salt, then pour in the yeast, sour cream and grated cheese. Knead it until soft and smooth.
Roll out your pastry on a lightly flour-dusted surface to 1,5cm thick. Cut out shapes of your choice. Line a big tray with baking paper and put the scones in, leaving some space in between. Leave it in a warm place to rise. Brush with an egg (or just egg yolk for more intensive color) and put the pinch of cheese on each scone.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes or until scones are beautifully golden.

SPEEDY SCONES
This is the perfect solution for unexpected guests or last minute picnic idea because all you need is equal amount of 3 ingredients we all usually have at home. Because rising isn’t involved it’s completed in no time.
250g flour
250g fresh cottage cheese
250g margarine (Rama cube)
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg for brushing
1 spoonful cumin seeds
Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix together until soft. Roll out on a flour-dusted surface to 2-2,5 cm thick. Cut out the shapes you like and put them in a tray lined with baking paper. Brush with an egg (or just egg yolk) and sprinkle with sea salt and cumin seeds. You can use sesame seeds or dried herbs instead.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.