Bacon Cheddar Scones

Got a Christmas card from Linda Owens this week, the formal cream-paper kind, with a handwritten note inside that was longer than usual. She said she'd found Derek's high school yearbook while reorganizing a closet, had spent an afternoon looking through it. She said she'd found a photo of Derek that she didn't remember existing: him and three friends at what looks like a football game, all of them laughing at something outside the frame. She said his face in the picture was exactly as she remembered him before the hard years, and that finding it felt like being given something she hadn't known to ask for.

She asked if I had any photographs from that time. I do. Three of them, in a box in the closet. I got them out after I read her letter and looked at them for a long time. We were both twenty. We both look younger than twenty looks to me now. The same quality she described — before the hard years — is visible there too. The boys in those photographs had no idea what was coming. I'm glad they didn't.

I'll send her one of the photographs in the new year. I've been thinking about it and I think it's the right thing to do. She should have more of his face than she currently has. That's a thing I can give her that costs nothing and means something.

Baked sourdough for Christmas gifts. Six loaves, wrapped in cloth and given to neighbors and clients and Tom and Father Brannigan. The loaves take two days each from start to finish and I did all six over a long weekend. The house smelled like something good for two days straight. I kept two loaves for us. We ate the first one hot with salted butter on Sunday evening, all three of us standing at the counter, not sitting, because it was too good to wait for the table.

The sourdough loaves were for everyone else — the neighbors, Tom, Father Brannigan — but the thing I kept coming back to all weekend was the simple pleasure of something warm and savory straight from the oven, eaten without ceremony. If you don’t have two days and a starter on hand, these Bacon Cheddar Scones give you the same feeling: a kitchen that smells like something good, something worth standing at the counter for instead of waiting to sit down.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 strips bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
2 tablespoons fresh chives or scallions, thinly sliced
3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus more for brushing
1 large egg

Instructions

Heat the oven. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder until evenly combined.
Cut in the butter. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Work quickly so the butter stays cold.
Add mix-ins. Stir in the shredded cheddar, crumbled bacon, and chives, distributing them evenly through the flour mixture.
Add the wet ingredients. Whisk the buttermilk and egg together in a small bowl, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir gently with a fork just until a shaggy dough comes together — do not overmix.
Shape the scones. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a circle about 1 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
Brush and bake. Brush the tops lightly with buttermilk. Bake for 18—22 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Serve warm. Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then serve warm — with salted butter, if you have it.

Nutrition (per serving)

Bacon Cheddar Scones — The Loaves I Kept for Us