Cranks Cheese Scones

Cranks Cheese Scones: We love these very cheesy scones, and I often bake them to accompany soups, stews and casseroles in place of bread. They make the most divine sandwiches, as well as being an essential element for the savoury part of an afternoon tea.

This recipe for Cranks Cheese Scones is a real blast from the past! My mum, whose old Cranks cookbook I now have, used to bake these all the time. We love these very cheesy scones, and I often bake them to accompany soups, stews and casseroles in place of bread.

They make the most divine sandwiches, as well as being an essential element for the savoury part of an afternoon tea. If you buy these in an Cranks restaurant, or shop, they will be in the shape of a clover leaf, but as you can see from my photos, I have used a normal round scone cutter for my recipe. 

For those who may remember, Cranks started back in 1961 on Carnaby Street in London. Carnaby Street at the time, was the heart of the swinging 60’s, and although vegetarianism was around, the opening of the first Cranks restaurant put it more firmly on the culinary map.

Never mind American Whole Foods which most of us all know now; Cranks was way ahead of them, and were promoting the concept of whole foods, vegetarianism and even veganism way back in the 1960’s.

Their first restaurant promoted the use of organic and unrefined ingredients and produce. Their early menu was mainly salads, but not the limp lettuce leaves most people were used to at the time, but salads made from grains, pulses and exotic spices. It was simply a revelation!

Of all the recipes in the Cranks Recipe Book, I think today’s Cranks Cheese Scones, and the Cheese Baps are the most popular. And not just for home bakers, but they were both extremely popular in all of the Cranks restaurants and shops too.

In fact, their Cheese Bap Sandwich, which was filled with mustard and cress, was awarded the accolade of best sandwich in London by the Evening Standard. My mum used to bake both the Cranks cheese scones and the cheese baps, and served them both stuffed full of fresh cress in the manner of the award winning sandwich.

The original recipe ingredients were as follows:

* Wholemeal flour instead of plain brown flour, which I used

* Cayenne pepper instead of smoked paprika, which I used

Variations:

* Use any strong cheese you have to hand. Smoked cheese works very well as does a mixture of flavoured cheese and plain Cheddar.

* Add some chopped wild garlic when it is in season, or fresh chives.

* Add chopped spring onions, or finely diced red onion.

* Add crispy fried bacon or smoked lardons for a cheese and bacon breakfast scone.

If you love cheese scones, than today’s recipe for Cranks Cheese Scones is a winner. Although they have no eggs as a rising agent, they are lovely and light and extremely cheesy. 2 tablespoons of baking powder may seem like a lot, and I must admit to being sceptical about the amount, but you really cannot taste it once they are baked.

I used a very strong cheese for these when I baked them last, a vintage Cheddar cheese that was languishing in the back of the fridge from Christmas. But, you can make these with any cheese you have to hand, as I have mentioned above in the Original Recipe and Variations on Cranks Cheese Scones section.

You’ll find the full and printable recipe at the end of this post.

• Put the flour, baking powder, salt and smoked paprika in a mixing bowl and mix together.
• Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.

• Stir in 225g of the grated cheese and sufficient milk from the 300mls to give soft manageable dough.
• Knead gently, then roll out to 2.5cm (1″) thickness.
• Stamp out 7.5cm (3″) rounds with a fluted scone cutter.

• Brush with milk and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.
• Bake in the oven at 200°C / 400°F / gas mark 6 for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool on a wire tray.