Lunch time on Saturday and I was starving. With the whole family in the house, husband shifting dirt from our renovation and two daughters doing homework I thought, scones. Doesn’t take long to whip up a batch of scones, we could be eating in half an hour. (It was already 2.30, so late lunch it is) Scones are a great way to bring the family together over hot cheese and/or date scones straight out of the oven with plenty of jam and whipped cream. Mmmmmmmm.
I have made this recipe many times. It can be halved if you don’t want to make so many, but they are still good the next day if you keep them in an airtight container. One time my husband and I were working in the Basque country in Spain on a kiwifruit orchard. We lived in a house on the orchard, so came home for morning tea. 
We had half an hour so I whipped up a batch of scones. They’re that quick!!
Scone recipe:
- 3 cups of flour
- 4 tablespoons of baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 100g of butter
- milk to mix
- flavours to choose :
- 1/2 cup dates, (optional tsp of cinnamon and grated orange rind)
- a cup of cheese
Combine all the dry ingredients. Add the butter (softened) and rub it into the dry ingredients until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. 
Add the flavour combination that you want, and if you want both, divide the mixture in half and add the sweet ingredients to one, the cheese to the other. Then add the milk and mix quickly and gently with a knife until just combined. The secret to good scones is not to over mix. 
Turn out the mixture onto a floured bench and shape into a rectangle, then cut out the scones and shape onto a floured tray. 
Cover the cheese scones with a slice of cheese. 
Bake at 200 degrees (fan bake) until golden brown, (about 10-15 minutes).
Eat HOT with lashings of butter and cream!!
