Gluten-Free Cheese Scones (with Buttermilk)

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These Gluten-Free Cheese Scones are the real deal and made with buttermilk for the best texture. Brilliantly portable for picnics and essential for afternoon tea with a deeply cheesy savoury flavour. Easy to make with no xanthan gum needed.

Jump to:

• Why you’ll love these Gluten-Free Cheese Scones
• Watch the video to see how to make them
• Gluten-free flour blend
• Full list of ingredients
• Step-by-step instructions
• Tips and troubleshooting
• How to get gluten-free scones to rise
• Shop the recipe
• Serving suggestions 
• FAQs
• Great additions to try in your scones
• More cheese options
• Gluten-Free Cheese Scones (with Buttermilk)

I adore traditional sweet scones with jam and clotted cream but these savoury scones with lashings of butter to accompany your cup of tea or cup of coffee is really something special. I have to admit that I do bake these Gluten-Free Cheese Scones a lot. They are just so incredibly versatile! Perfect when you need to provide an offering for a buffet, a family gathering or a picnic since they are brilliantly transportable and you don’t have to schlep the clotted cream and jam with you either.

✨For another perfect scone recipe then try this Traditional Gluten-Free Scone Recipe which is ideal for an afternoon tea✨

Why you’ll love these Gluten-Free Cheese Scones

• No xanthan gum. You don’t need it if you use the right gluten-free flour mixture. READ MORE >>> Why I never bake with xanthan gum.
• Perfect texture. Using the buttermilk gives these delicious scones a lovely soft crumb and a bit of a tangy note which pairs nicely with the cheddar cheese.
• Easy to make and quick to bake.
• Total crowd pleaser – will be well received at any occasion from afternoon tea to picnics to the perfect breakfast.
• These are a great base recipe for any Savoury Gluten-Free Scones and totally customisable with various additions like olives (my personal favourite), ham, bacon, mushrooms, red pepper.

Watch the video to see how to make them

Gluten-free flour blend

Four gluten-free flours are needed in this Gluten-Free Cheese Scones Recipe to create the perfect flaky texture with a lovely tender crumb and which also rise sky high:

• Sweet rice flour
• Oat flour
• Buckwheat flour
• Potato starch

I don't recommend swapping these flours for an all purpose flour as you just won't receive the same result.

1. Sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour / mochiko flour)

This is a key flour in the recipe and one which I would not recommend substituting. Sweet rice flour should not be confused with regular rice flour. It is often called glutinous rice flour (although it contains no gluten) and is a starchy flour which is excellent at binding and gives the scones a lightness and bounce.

READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Sweet Rice Flour

2. Oat flour

The oat flour gives the scones a lovely buttery flavour and adds a gentle fluffiness to the scone dough.

READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Oat Flour

Substitution. You can swap the oat flour for millet flour

3. Buckwheat flour

We are using buckwheat flour for it’s gorgeous earthy notes which is an excellent pairing for the savoury flavour of the cheese.

READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Buckwheat Flour

Substitution. You can swap the buckwheat flour for sorghum flour.

4. Potato starch (not potato flour)

This starchy flour helps stick our ingredients together but is also a light flour which helps the scones to rise.

✨You can substitute the whole amount of gluten-free flours for my Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Blend.✨ If you have a batch of this flour to hand then making these scones is even easier. Just reach for this one flour mix and no xanthan gum needed. So straightforward it won't even feel like you're baking gluten-free.

Full list of ingredients

• Sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour / mochiko flour).
• Oat flour.
• Buckwheat flour.
• Potato starch (not potato flour).
• Butter. Unsalted is the best choice here. Make sure it is cold straight from the fridge or even use grated butter from the freezer.
• Mature cheddar cheese. A sharp cheddar is the best cheese for these scones.
• Ground white pepper (optional). You can omit or use black pepper but the white pepper is a better colour.
• Mustard powder. This helps give real depth of flavour and the powder means it doesn't interfere with the moisture content.
• Baking powder. A leaving agent which causes the cake to rise and become light and fluffy. Do check your baking powder is gluten-free before use.
• Eggs. This recipe uses medium size, about 60g each with shell (50g each without shell).
• Buttermilk. It gives a lovely tangy flavour and a tender crumb. If you can't get hold of buttermilk then you can use whole milk + 1 ½ tablespoons vinegar stirred together and allowed to sit for 5 minutes. (apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar is fine).
• Honey. You can omit but seriously this little touch of sweetness is an incredible flavour with the savouriness of the cheddar.

Step-by-step instructions

For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post. 

1. Whisk the flours in a large bowl. Add the butter then rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the white pepper, mustard powder and baking powder, followed by the cheese.
3. Pour in the beaten eggs and turn into the mixture then pour in the buttermilk.
4. Bring the dough together with a wooden spoon before turning out onto a clean surface forming it into a smooth ball.
5. Flatten the dough ball out into a circle 1 inch thick then cut out the scones. Re-form the scraps of dough and cut out more scones and repeat until all the dough has been used. The scone dough should produce about 9 scones.
6. Place on a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment, brush with an egg wash and bake for 15 minutes.

Tips and troubleshooting

• For the flakiest savoury scones use butter that is cold from the fridge. Peel the cold butter directly into the flour mix to create ultra thin cold shards which will need very little working into the flour. Or frozen grated butter pieces works really well too.
• If you don’t have buttermilk to hand you can make your own. Use the same weight of whole milk but remove 1 tablespoon and stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Allow to rest for 10 minutes then use as per the buttermilk.
• For beautiful golden brown scones brush the surface of each scone with a wash of egg yolk and honey before baking. They will look irresistible.

How to get gluten-free scones to rise

• This recipe uses 2 eggs in the dough. Eggs are not necessarily traditional (although some wheat scone recipes can use eggs too) but in a gluten-free scone the eggs give the scone extra oomph in the rise.
• Potato starch is included in the flour mix here for two reasons – the first is to help bind the scone but this starchy flour is also great at powering up a bake in the oven. When potato starch is added to a liquid and then hits the heat the molecules expand quickly and help give a great rise to a bake.
• If you are using a fluted cookie cutters, and I recommend you do for beautiful edges, then make sure when you cut into the scone dough that you try and achieve a good clean cut. Try not to twist the cutter out from the dough as this will smudge the edges and affect the rise. Either pull the cutter straight out or pull the dough away from the cutter.
• When you are brushing the egg wash over the tops of the scones try not to let any wash drip down the sides of the scone. This will impede the rise and will lead to wonky scones.

Shop the recipe

Sweet Rice Flour (glutinous)

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Gluten-Free Oat Flour

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Buckwheat Flour

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Potato Starch

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Large Baking Sheet

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Double Sided Pastry Cutters

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Silicone Pastry Brush

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Serving suggestions 

These scones are gorgeous by themselves fresh from the oven. However a generous slathering of salted butter, cream cheese or this really special Bacon Jam will go down an absolute storm.

FAQs

✨If you love this recipe for Gluten-Free Scones then you will also adore these traditional Gluten-Free Scones which are perfect for your afternoon tea with homemade jam and clotted cream. Or even these Gluten-Free Apple Scones for something a little different.✨

Great additions to try in your scones

• Fresh chives
• Diced olives
• A generous pinch of paprika or cayenne
• Ham or bacon
• Mushrooms
• Caramelised onions
• Diced picante peppers
• Dried cranberries – such an interesting taste with the cheese

More cheese options

You don’t have to stick to just cheddar either. Try swapping the cheddar for Red Leicester or for a blue cheese like Stilton. Stick to firmer cheeses for this recipe otherwise the moisture ratio may be a little off.

✨Have you tried these Gluten-Free Cheese Scones with Buttermilk? Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment as well! I would love to hear about how your recipe turned out and your feedback also helps other readers.✨