Does anyone else wish they had time to make fresh scones in the morning?

Well, there is a way of having piping hot scones for that morning tea shout or for the lunch box without having to get up an extra half hour early.

I’m not sure why I haven’t thought about it earlier – especially given that I use this technique for muffins. You simply make them the night before and cook from frozen. Genius. (I’ll add here that I’m not the brains behind this, someone gave me the muffin tip a few years back.)

I gave these a whirl yesterday and they were perfect. As a variation to usual scones, I made savoury pinwheels for the little guy to take to a friend’s house.

What you’ll need

Scone base

450g plain flour

6 tsp baking powder

Pinch pepper (or cayenne)

50g butter, cubed

300ml milk (you my need a splash more)

Topping

3 Tbsp chutney (I used Barker’s Capsicum and Apricot)

100g grated cheese

How to make them

Line one or two baking dishes with baking paper (I used two slice tins, about 17×22 cm each).

Sift together the dry ingredients (if not using cheese as a topping, I’d also add some salt to the dry ingredients). Add the butter and rub in until you get a fine crumb texture.

Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk. Use a knife to “cut” it in, bringing together the mixture without excessive mixing.

Turn the dough on to a very lightly floured piece of baking paper and use your hands to form a rectangle – mine was about 25 (long) x 22 (wide) x 2 (high).

Spread the chutney over the dough and top with the cheese (cover the entire piece of dough with both ingredients, leaving a small “margin” along one long end).

Using the baking paper to help, roll the dough (lengthwise) into a log shape – finishing at the “margin” edge.

Using a very sharp knife, chop into even pieces (10-12).

Pop the pinwheels on to the prepared trays, close-ish but allowing room to spread. Cover the trays with cling film and pop into the freezer until you want to cook them.

Turn oven to 230-240°C (depending on how hot your oven cooks). I’d go for the hotter option if cooking from the freezer. When the oven has heated to temperature, pop the tray/s in and bake for about 15 minutes.

If cooking the pinwheels straight away (not from freezer), I would  probably cook them at 230°C and look at them from 12 minutes as they will cook more quickly.

These will earn you brownie points in the office and the kids envious looks from other children in the playground. No one needs to know that you didn’t get up at 5.00am to bake them!