Cheese-y Beer Scones
Friday, September 24, 2010 at 11:47AM 
The annual Great American Beer Festival took place all around Denver and Boulder, Colorado last weekend, and every year, it seems, I come across new and wondrous ways to get a little more beer into my food. Granted, I’ve never been able to actually get to the beer festival, but there is no shortage of awesome recipes to be had whether you attend or not.
And seriously, what could be better than a cheesy beer scone?! This scrumptious recipe comes to us by way of our good friends at The Culinary School of the Rockies (see sidebar note) in Boulder, Co., and are we ever grateful to them! Their recipe suggests using an ale, a lager or a pilsner, but having none of those on hand,
I used a wheat beer I love which I thought would go really well with the cheese. I was not wrong; it was a great choice, but it would be fun to experiment with a darker ale type of beer next time.
In addition to the beer, these scones contain no less than ¾ of a cup of chopped chives… do you realize how many chives that is?
I fortunately have them growing in abundance in my garden, but I had to make 3 trips out there to fulfill this recipe’s requirements. To be unprecise, ¾ of a cup of chives equals about 3 fistfuls. But I would not suggest skimping on the chives. They’re mighty good in here.
Not only do we have copious amounts of beer and chives, but big nuggets of cheddar cheese which makes these scones about perfect, I’d say. I can imagine serving them with soup, chili beans or stew, but they’re so good with beer that I may try making them a little smaller next time just for that purpose.
So, many thanks to those good people at CSR who continue to turn out great food and great chefs. We’re pretty happy about our cheesy beer scones.
Cheesy Beer Scones
For a printable recipe, click here
Recipe courtesy of the Culinary School of the Rockies
Makes about 12
2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¾ cup minced fresh chives
1 1/2 cusp coarsely shredded cheddar cheese
¾ cup (or more) chilled beer, such as an ale,lager or pilsner
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 425°F. Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour (I just used parchment paper). Whisk first 3 ingredients in large bowl. Stir in chives and cheese. Whisk ¾ cup beer, 1 egg, oil, and mustard in small bowl. Gradually add beer mixture to dry ingredients, tossing until moist clumps form and adding more beer by tablespoonfuls if dough is dry (I ended up using a little more than a cup of beer). Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; knead just until dough comes together.
Pat out dough to 1-inch-thick round. Using 2 ½-inch-diameter cutter, cut out scones. Gather dough scraps and repeat. Transfer to prepared sheet. Whisk remaining egg in small cup; brush over scones. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake scones until golden on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 14 minutes. Cool scones on sheet 5 minutes. Transfer to basket. Serve warm and enjoy!
Reader Comments (18)
These look absolutely amazing. I am definitely eating some of these this weekend. I love your blog!
This is such an irresistable scone you baked, I love things that are really different, unique and taste good!
thanks for blogging about this recipe! As always, you're the best!
Having made beer bread numerous times, I've found that the best beer for bread is the worst beer to drink. Not that you really want PBR or Stag laying around, but their beer-iness really comes through in breads. This looks like a great recipe, so thanks for sharing.
Thanks for that tip, John. I'd be willing to buy some bad beer now and then for these scones. I'd really like to taste the beer more. So, hear that folks? Buy some bad beer and make these even better!
These look incredible!
I love that this recipe uses cheese for the fat instead of butter. Sounds delicious. I will have to give them a try.
I used to work at a restaurant/brewery in NC and every year they went to the great american beer festival to compete.
I love baking with beer!
I do too, Adrianna! How fun to compete in the beer festival. And feel free to share any beer recipes you might have lying around.
I just prepare and are very good. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you made these, Sonia. Aren't they wonderful? Thanks for letting us know!
OH WOW Patrice, I have a lot to catch up on here! These cheesy beer scones would go perfect with your chili beans. What a perfect fall meal.
We loved these with the chili beans, Marie. I usually make corn bread to go with the beans, but these scones were perfect.
I'm making these today! Thanks for the recipe.
We're getting most of the New Belgium beers in Atlanta now, but I'm still waiting on Sunshine. It's my favorite.
Great recipe, and great website! I can't wait to start making more of your recipes! Thanks!
Cheese scones are to.die.for!! The addition of the beer, that's just brilliant. I find a lot more "breads" are starting to incorporate beer ... pretty cool, if you ask me.
Don't use bad beer! The reason "bad beer" works well in bread recipes is due to the higher carbonation level. Use good beer, but use FRESH draft good beer and you'll see amazing results. I made these with fresh Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I also suggest hitting up Oskar Blues or Great Divide. As long as the beer is super fresh, you'll get better results. I also use beer in ice creams (kona stout ice cream, apricot Belgian Ale ice cream) cupcakes and savory dishes like roasted butternut squash and soups.
OK, Tamre. Good point. That kona stout ice cream sounds incredble, and I'm so adding beer to my squash soup next time! Thanks for that, Tamre!