Pesto Scones

This Small Batch Pesto Scone recipe is the perfect Savory Scone Recipe. They are flaky and tender, and full of flavour from the sundried tomato pesto and cheese. This easy cheese scone recipe can be put together quickly for whenever you need a scone fix! This small batch scone recipe makes 6 scones.

Thank you to Filippo Berio for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own. Thank you so much for supporting the businesses who support Cloudy Kitchen!

Pesto Scones - the Perfect Savory Scone Recipe

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for these pesto and cheese small batch scones! I developed these a few months ago and have had them firmly on repeat ever since. Pesto and cheese is such a delicious addition to a scone recipe for a fun wee twist on the favourite! These savory scones are cheesy, and flaky, and just so, so delicious.

I scaled down this recipe during testing and then it worked out so well I decided to keep this as a small batch recipe. 6 scones to me is the perfect amount, and the recipe is incredibly easy to double if you're looking for a few more scones.

A quick note - These are, to me, what I call a savory scone. They are probably closer in texture to what people in the US call a 'biscuit'. We don't have biscuits in NZ (we do but we call them cookies), and our scones are beautiful and flaky like US biscuits are. The more you know!

How to make Pesto Scones

This pesto scone recipe took a little more working than I thought - turns out adding pesto and cheese to scones isn't as easy as just making a quick sub. I wanted to jam as much pesto flavouring into the scones as I could, so I substituted some of the butter with pesto, which gets mixed in when the butter goes in.

Adding in the pesto in with the butter before the milk gives it a chance to properly incorporate through the mixture. Once the milk goes in, you want to keep mixing to a minimum, to avoid over mixing the scones, which can cause them to be a little tough.

The mixture may seem a wee bit wetter than other scone recipes but don't add more flour unless you really have to - a bench scraper is your friend here. You can add a tiny bit when rolling out if needed.

Pesto Scones made with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

I used my favourite sun dried tomato pesto from Filippo Berio to flavour these scones. They have an amazing range and any of their pestos would have worked in these scones. However, I love how the sun dried tomato pesto provides flavour and compliments the cheese in the recipe so, so well. Cheese and pesto is such a winning combination, and it works incredibly in these pesto scones! Adding the cheese and pesto directly to the scone mixture means that it is incorporated within the layers.

Small Batch Savory Scones

These Small Batch Savory Scones are Super Easy to make. There are a few steps, but they all happen quickly. The dough needs 15 minutes in the freezer before baking but aside from that there is very little down time for these scones.

1. Combine your dry ingredients - I use All-purpose flour and baking powder here. It gets mixed with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you wanted to add in other seasonings, here is the place to add them.
2. Rub in butter and pesto - The Filippo Berio Sun Dried Tomato pesto gets added in with the butter, and rubbed in (similar to how you make pie dough)
3. Add the cheese - I used parmesan and cheddar here, but add in anything that you like. Just shoot for 120g of cheese all up. You can add some extra on the tops later too if you want. These really are a choose your own adventure situation.
4. Mix in the milk - Once the butter, pesto and cheese are in, the milk goes in and is mixed to incorporate. You want to make sure that you don't over mix here. A few pockets of dry is fine, and it will sort itself out when you roll out the scones.
5. Laminate the dough - More on this in a bit, but a wee secret to lovely flaky scones is to laminate the dough.
6. Cut out the scones - Once you have finished the laminations, shape the dough into a rectangle and cut into squares.
7. Chill - Pop the scones into the freezer for a wee chill, just to get everything nice and cold before it goes into the oven.
8. Bake - Brush the tops of the scones with milk, and add extra cheese if you like. Pop the scones into the oven to transform into perfect, flaky small batch pesto scones.

Why is it important to have cold ingredients when making scones?

The temperature of the ingredients plays a big role in this recipe. Similar to how you keep pie dough nice and cold, the same applies to scones. Cold ingredients and cold chunks of butter in the recipe gives layers. When the cold butter hits the hot oven, it turns into steam, and you get perfect, flaky layers.

It is important to start with everything cold - the milk, the butter, the pesto, etc. I like to grate the cheese and put it back in the fridge until ready to use. Same with the butter - cut it up first then pop it in the fridge until you are making the scone mixture.

If at any time if it feels like things are getting too warm, pop the scone mixture into the fridge for 5-10 minutes to let it chill up.

A Sneaky Trick to Super Flaky Scones - Laminating your Scone Dough.

A great way to ensure that you have nice layers in your scones is to do a few laminations. This is a technique is sometimes used in making biscuits and I applied it to my scone recipe a few years ago and it works great.

Basically you roll the dough out then perform a few letter folds similar to how you would making puff pastry. Here's how it works:

1. When you are finished mixing the dough, turn it out onto your surface and pat it into a rectangle 12"x6" (30x15cm). Square off the edges with a bench scraper as you go to keep things nice and even.
2. Fold it in thirds like a letter, then pat out again into a rectangle.
3. Perform one more fold, then pat out into a rectangle 5"x8" (12x20cm). Proceed with the recipe.

FAQ for Pesto Scones

For more recipes using Filippo Berio Products, check out:

• Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
• No Knead Focaccia
• Carrot Cake Loaf with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
• Small Batch Dairy Free Brownies

Made this recipe and love it?

If you made this recipe then I would LOVE for you to leave me a review below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram if you make it!

A note on salt and oven temperature

It is important to note the type of salt that is called for in a recipe. I use Diamond Crystal salt throughout my recipes - if you use a different sort of kosher salt or regular table salt you will need to adjust accordingly as some salt is 'saltier' than others. Morton's salt is twice as salty, so you will need half the quantity. Same goes for a regular table salt. I am working to get gram measurements throughout my recipes for salt but still getting there.

All oven temperatures are conventional unless otherwise stated. If you are baking on fan / convection, you will need to adjust the temperature. An oven thermometer is a great investment to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.

Using the double / triple function in the recipe card

You will notice that there is a '1X' '2X' '3X' button in my recipe card. This can be used for doubling or tripling a recipe. However, please note that this only doubles the ingredient quantities in the ingredients list and NOT in the method. If there are quantities or pan sizes in the method of the recipe (for example weigh out 150g brown butter), you will need to scale this number manually. It will also not change the baking time in the recipe so you will need to adjust this yourself too. It is always a good idea to read through a recipe fully before doubling it just to check this. If you would like to scale this recipe or convert for another pan size, use my calculator!

Tools and equipment

For a list of my go-to tools and equipment, I have a post you can refer to here.

Why is this recipe in grams?

I post my recipes in grams as it is the most accurate way to bake. Cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide. There is no way for me to provide one cup measure that works for everyone. However, posting in weight fixes this issue. If you would like the recipe in cups you are welcome to convert it yourself via google, but please do not ask me to do it for you as I am not comfortable providing a recipe using a method that I have not tested. Baking with a scale is easy, accurate, and also makes cleanup super simple. Here is the scale that I use if you would like a recommendation! Here's to accurate baking!

Recipe For Pesto Scones

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