Herbed Scones With Olives and Cheese

This is one of the very first recipes I developed entirely alone. Using a basic dough for soda bread, I add dried herbs, olives and grated cheese. Obviously, the herbs you choose and really, whether to use olives, oil-soaked sundried tomatoes, or roasted pepper even, open to a great deal of experimentation. I don't usually have buttermilk on hand, but I do keep dried buttermilk solids, which work perfectly in this recipe. The preparation is quite fast; in fact you will be done preparing them before the oven pre-heats. Unlike most breads, rolls etc. these are best served completely cooled. They do not keep well and should be eaten the day they are made.

You Will Need:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup finely shredded hard cheese) Parmesan or Romano work well
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
1-cup buttermilk (or dry solids and water)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add olives and toss well. Slowly add the buttermilk (you may not need all of it) until you have a soft dough. You do not want to over-handle the dough, so mix just until everything is moistened. Pat out into a rectangle on a floured surface and cut into rough triangles. Brush tops with egg wash and top each with enough cheese to completely cover. Bake in the centre rack for 15-25 minutes (depending on the size you make-I made six and they took 15 minutes). Cool on racks. Serve cold.