Loaded Baked Potato Scones

I don’t think I have to explain my undying love of potatoes to you. I think you just get it. If I were to say to you that potatoes are the best vegetable/starch ever, like in all the worlds, well you would know I wasn’t lying. You’d most likely agree with me, because umm hello, potatoes. I have this obsession with potatoes. That’s where Potato Tacos and Potato Balls come into the picture. Not like a “they’re so good I’m obsessed can’t get enough of them” kind of obsession. While yes that’s true, it’s more like a “I need to eat potato everything and anything because they’re that good,” kind of obsession. I think it’s a healthy addiction. Nothing to worry about. It’s quite common if you really think about it. Don’t look at me like that!

I know that at some point I’ll be asked if these are scones or biscuits, and to tell you the truth, I’m not quite sure myself. I have no idea. Let’s be frank, they look exactly the same. All I know is that they’re flaky and delicious and I want to eat them all. I guess we can call them biscuit scones. Biscones. Or sconsuits. Hey look at us, we’re inventing new things. Aren’t we clever? The answer is yes. Always, yes. In all honesty, jokes aside, scones and biscuits, they’re pretty much the same thing, right? I mean, I can’t really tell the difference. Some sources claim to know the answer. The answer being that scones have eggs in the dough. Um no. I know plenty of scones that don’t have eggs in them so therefore, are they biscuits? Others claim that scones are scones if they are triangular and biscuits are biscuits if they are circular. This might be the case but at the same time, I’ve seen circular scones so I don’t think there’s a right answer here. I think the people who invented each of them got together and decided to play a trick on all of us. They wanted to mess with our heads. 

The bottom line is I made these potato scones/biscuits with bacon and cheese and I can’t think of anything more delicious at the moment. They’re something out of this world, especially right out of the oven all warm and flaky and delicious looking. Am I convincing you yet? These biscuits/scones are sort of like the ultimate snack, perfect for on-the-go. It’s potatoes, cheese and bacon and bread in a small package that you can eat with one hand while you (safely) drive to work or school or where ever else you drive. How about now? Are you convinced? These scones/biscuits are all like, “Hey look at us, we’re loaded with potatoes and crispy bacon and delicious cheese. You need to eat us!” They’re calling out to you because they know you can’t resist. Don’t fight it anymore, go on and make these biscuits/scones for yourself. 

I’m happy to report that these scones take about no time at all, and that you can easily make them in advance. Just bake them off right before you’re going to eat them. But wait for it, the best part is that you can freeze them too! Cut them into the scone shapes you want and then pop them into the freezer, unbaked. Then when you want a warm fresh scone with potatoes and cheese and bacon in it, well then, you just plop them on a baking sheet, brush them with some egg wash and bake them. It’s that simple. Well, of course you have to go through the steps of actually making the scones, then after, it’s that simple. 

 Let’s get this potato party started, though because I want potato scones already. We need to throw some all-purpose flour into a large mixing bowl. To that, we’re going to add baking powder and salt. Give the dry ingredients a stir or a whisk or a sift (if you’re into that sort of thing). 

Once the dry ingredients are mixed, you can add the cold cubed butter. Make sure it’s super cold. In fact, cube the butter and then put it back in the fridge to chill. You can even put it in the freezer for a bit to make it super duper cold even faster. 

**Note: It’s important for the butter to be mega cold because cold butter is what makes flaky scones and biscuits. The butter creates air pockets in the bread while it’s baking, and air pockets means that your scones and biscuits are going to be flaky dot com.**

Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or you can use a potato masher, or two knives (like in the olden days) or you can just use your hands, but do it fast because the heat from your paws might warm the butter too much. Do you really want to take that chance? 

Cut the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs, the size of peas. 

Let’s add some baked potato ingredients to this. Like cheese? Yeah, we definitely need to add cheese because cheese makes everything better. I’m using a white Irish cheddar, something about potatoes makes me want to invite Irish cheddar to the party. I don’t know what it is. Then throw in a heaping amount of crispy bacon that has been chopped up. Make sure you save some bacon for the scones, don’t go snacking on all of it. I’ve been there and done that. Just keep snacking on it and then when the time comes to add the bacon, it’s all gone and all of a sudden we don’t know what happened to it. We look around to see if someone is there and took it. Maybe blame the dog. Poor Fido. 

Give the cheese and bacon a gentle stir to evenly incorporate into the flour and crumbled butter mixture. 

Let’s add the potato to the mix. So I know I called this recipe loaded “baked potato” scones. I did this mostly because they taste like baked potatoes, when in reality the potatoes going in here aren’t even baked. They’re just leftover mashed potatoes from last night’s dinner. In reality, I guess these scones should be called loaded ‘mashed potato’ scones. That doesn’t have the same ring to it. Anyhow, I digress, so we’re using mashed potatoes.

**Tip: If you don’t have leftover mashed potatoes lying around, I mean how could you not? Then you can easily make your own for this recipe. Just peel and dice up 2 large russet potatoes (or 4 small), throw them into a pot and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. Drain and mash with a pat of butter, a splash of milk and season with salt and pepper. Presto, instant mashed potatoes.**

If you’ve made fresh mashed potatoes for this recipe, then allow them to cool completely before adding them to the bowl. They need to be cold. 

Stir the mashed potatoes into the mixture and then pour in the buttermilk. 

**Tip: Don’t have buttermilk on hand? Pour 1 cup of milk into a bowl or measuring cup and add 4½ teaspoons white vinegar or fresh lemon juice to it. Stir and let stand for about 10 to 15 minutes. It’ll look curdled. That’s okay. That’s a good thing. BOOM. You’ve got instant buttermilk. Use it in the scones.**

Gently fold in the buttermilk and stir until the dough comes today. It will be slightly sticky so don’t think you’ve done something wrong or have added too much milk. You’re doing a swell job. Keep up the good work. 

Turn the dough over onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out (or pat it out) into a large rectangle. Mine looks more oval than square, sorry about that. It should be about half of an inch thick. Using a round cutter, cut out the scones. You can also cut the scones into triangles. By making them circular, I’m dancing on the thin line between biscuit and scone. I don’t know what I’m making anymore. Do you?

We must remind ourselves that these scones/biscuits aren’t baked yet. We must remind ourselves that we’ll appear crazy if we start to eat raw dough by the handful. Forget about the bacon and cheese until they’re baked. Transfer the scones onto a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. 

In a small bowl, whisk together an egg yolk with a splash of water. A tiny splash. Brush the scones  with the egg wash. This will make them golden brown and shiny. I’m all about golden brown scones. 

Bake the scones in a preheated 425° F oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. You might want to rotate the baking sheet, halfway through baking. Just to ensure even browning and baking. 

While those scones are cooling for a bit, let’s make a sauce. You know how baked potatoes normally have sour cream in them right? Of course you know, what are you living under a rock? Well, in case you didn’t know, yes, baked potatoes have sour cream. SO because I want these to be as authentic as possible, we’re going to make a sour cream and green onion sauce to go alongside these precious potato scones. It’s ridiculously easy. 

Put sour cream into a bowl. Add some grated garlic, sliced scallions (green onions), and season with salt and pepper. Stir it together and give yourself a round of applause because you did it. 

That’s it. That’s all you have to do for the sauce. Nothing too complicated because after all, I just want you guys to eat some potato scones as quickly as possible. That’s the main goal here. Well that, and to eat as many potato scones as possible. Two distinct things, my friends. 

You can open these apart and make them into tiny sandwiches of some sort. Layer in your favorite sandwich things. I guess that would make them more biscuits than scones. But like I said earlier, these can easily be either/or. I’ll tell you what, if you want, you can open them apart and make sandwiches out of them, and then just call them biscuits. And if you eat them for breakfast with some coffee or in the afternoon with some tea, then feel free to call them scones. There, that settles it. That’s what we’ll do. We’re all on the same page now. That’s good. I feel better now. 

I personally don’t really care what we call them just as long as they’re in my life on a daily basis. I seldom make things that my entire family loves. Usually there will be one person who doesn’t like something I make. These however, these potato scones, were a hit across the board. Well, except for one sister who claims to be allergic to bacon (she isn’t). But I just made some without bacon for her and it was a win win. More bacon for the rest of us, is what I always say. 

Loaded Baked Potato Scones

These scones are perfect to put together if you have some leftover mashed potatoes from the night before. Loaded with bacon and cheese, and served with a creamy sour cream green onion sauce, these loaded baked potato scones are great to serve alongside dinner or just as a delicious snack during the day.

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, super cold and diced
• ½ cup white cheddar shredded
• 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes or made fresh, but cooled
• ¾ to 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg yolk beaten with a splash of water
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup sliced green onions
• 2 garlic cloves grated
• salt and pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the cold cubed butter, and cut in with a pastry cutter or your fingers, until it resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas. Add the chopped bacon and shredded cheese, and toss to evenly combine. Add the cold mashed potatoes and stir a bit to mix together. Pour in about half of the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon, until the dough comes together. It will be slightly sticky. Keep adding milk, as needed. You might not need the full cup.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat or roll out into a large rectangle, about half of an inch thick. Cut out into circles, or triangles, and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Leave some space in between for spreading. Brush the scones with the egg yolk (whisked with water). Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Serve warm with a dollop of the sour cream and onion sauce. The scones can be made in advance, stored in the fridge, and baked off right before serving. They can also be frozen before you bake them. Place them on a baking sheet right from the freezer, brush with egg wash and bake right before you need them. Leftover baked scones, can be stored in the fridge and rewarmed in the oven for a few minutes. Enjoy!
• For the Sauce: Combine the sour cream, grated garlic, sliced green onions and a bit of salt and pepper, in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Serve with the scones. Will keep in the fridge, covered, for a couple of days.

Notes

yield: about 12 to 15 scones

Author: The Candid Appetite