Gluten-Free Cheese Scones (with Buttermilk)

5 from 2 votes

Gluten-Free Cheese Scones (with Buttermilk)

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

Prep Time30

Cook Time15

Total Time45

Course: Afternoon Tea

Cuisine: British

Servings: scones

Calories: 319kcal

Author: Georgina Hartley

Ingredients

140 g sweet rice flour glutinous rice flour / mochiko flour
100 g oat flour
80 g buckwheat flour
80 g potato starch not potato flour
60 g unsalted butter cold
170 g cheddar cheese
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper optional
½ teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs lightly beaten + 1 egg yolk for the egg wash (medium size - see notes)
175 g buttermilk
1 teaspoon honey

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / gas mark 5 and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Tip the flours and starches into a large mixing bowl and whisk together well. Add the butter then rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in the white pepper, mustard powder and baking powder.
Grate the cheese into the bowl and gently stir into the other ingredients.
Pour in the beaten eggs and turn into the mixture with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated.
Make a well in the centre of the mixture then pour in the buttermilk, bringing the dough together with a wooden spoon.
Tip the dough onto a clean surface and pat the mixture together, gently folding and turning the dough until the flour is incorporated and you can form it into a smooth ball.
Use the palm of your hands and flatten the dough ball out to a 1 inch thickness.
Cut the scones out of the dough using a 68mm round pastry/biscuit cutter with fluted edges.
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.
Place the scones on the baking tray.
Whisk the extra egg yolk with the honey and brush over the top of each scone. Be careful not to let the egg wash drip over the sides of the scones or they will not rise evenly.
Bake the scones in the oven for 15 minutes until risen and golden.
Serve warm.

Video

Notes

The scones are at their best warm from the oven. They don’t really last longer than a day before getting a little stale.

Flour substitutions

You can swap the whole amount of flour and starches for an equal weight of this Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Blend. It works a treat in this recipe.
Oat flour can be subbed for millet flour.
Buckwheat flour can be subbed for sorghum flour.

Ingredient substitutions

The eggs used in this recipe are medium size, 60g with shell and 50g without shell. If you can't get hold of medium eggs I suggest you weigh the amount.
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.

Important tips

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.
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.

Freeze

These scones freeze well for up to 2 months.

Ingredient measurements

Please note when you see ‘grams’ listed as opposed to ‘millilitres,’ or any other term of measurement, that is not incorrect. I weigh all of my ingredients, including liquids, for accuracy.
US customary measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups

Nutrition information

Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.
Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification.
The nutrition serving is for 1 scone.

Nutrition