I remember these goat cheese hot honey scones coming to me in a bolt of lightning type of idea. What was I doing? No idea. But I’m glad, because they turned out fantastic. I know hot honey has been having a moment and maybe already is old news but I had a bottle and went to work.
I love the idea of hot honey. I like spicy things and sweet and spicy is such a nice combo. I don’t know what I was expecting but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as spicy as it was the first time I tried it. I wouldn’t say it’s an overwhelming spicy, it’s definitely not. But I’ve learned many things that have a regular spicy and spicier version (think salsa) the mild is not spicy at all. Not the case with hot honey.
Goat cheese with honey is my favorite. I love putting it on toast and bread, so the thought of goat cheese with honey and spice? Even nicer. Then add the deliciousness of a scone? Oh my goodness yes.
Scones often can be sort of dairy heavy, so in making these we reduce the butter a bit and replace with goat cheese. This isn’t to make them less dairy heavy, but to not overwhelm the other flavors. Goat cheese isn’t a particularly strong flavor so you won’t be overwhelmed with that flavor when you bite into it, they feel (at least to me) a little more creamy and luscious in your mouth. There will be little pockets of creamy goat cheese from the bigger chunks and a velvety mouthfeel everywhere else.
If you’ve never made scones, my Best Vanilla Cream Scones recipe is an excellent place to start as it shares a lot of tips for baking scones in general. Plus it’s my best scone recipe and the base for most of my scone recipes on the site.
Baking Tips
When I first recipe tested and tried these, I noticed the heat was very faint. I tested adding a little more, but honestly it didn’t make these much spicier, it just messed with the consistency a little bit. If you want spicy, use the extra hot version of hot honey vs the regular version, in the same proportions. If you’re worried that these will be terribly spicy as is, I can promise you they are not. There’s a low level of heat that’s left on the tongue after you eat some but unless you have never eaten spicy food, it’s not spicy at all.
These scones can be frozen, either before baking (place the tray in the freezer for 1-2 hours then transfer to a plastic/silicone bag, or let cool completely after baking and store in a freezer safe container.
Goat Cheese Hot Honey Scones Key Ingredients
- Goat Cheese – Goat cheese is most commonly found in logs in a mostly soft, spreadable form. You CAN use this kind, but you will need to chop/crumble it yourself. However, they do make (and I recommend) goat cheese crumbles which will save you work. I recommend breaking any large chunks before adding to the dough.
- Hot Honey – I used probably the most recognizable/accessible brand, Mike’s Hot Honey in the regular version. As I said in my baking tips, if you love TONS of spice I’d use the extra hot version.
- Heavy Cream – As with any scone recipe, not just these goat cheese hot honey scones, the best cream you can find is your best friend. I always splurge on good local cream if it’s available, it’s going to improve your scones and they will taste fantastic.
Ingredients
- 300 g AP Flour 2½ cups
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 36 g Granulated Sugar 3 tbsp
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- 113 g Goat Cheese Crumbles 4 oz, cold
- 56 g Unsalted butter 4 tbsp, cold/semi-frozen
- 75 g Hot Honey ~3½ tbsp
- 1 large Egg cold, beaten
- ½ tsp Vanilla
- 175 g Heavy Whipping Cream cold, ⅔-¾ cup
- Heavy Cream + Demerara Sugar for top of scones
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment, set aside. Place your butter in the freezer for about 20 minutes to help firm up.
- In a medium-large bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon and mix until combined.
- Grate your butter into the flour mix. Fluff the butter into the dry ingredients.
- Dump your goat cheese crumbles into the dry ingredients and mix. Make sure to crumble any larger chunks into smaller pieces.
- Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour your egg, vanilla, hot honey, and heavy cream into the center. I always start with the minimum amount of liquid for the cream and add more if necessary. Start with the ⅔ cup, and if there is too much dry flour add small tsp amounts in the dry spots and mix in. Your dough should still be pretty dry, it shouldn't be wet so add only if necessary.
- When dough is rough, use your hands to bring the dough more into a mass in the center of the bowl. Press it into a disc like shape, and fold the dough over onto itself. Repeat 2-3 more times.
- Move dough to your lined baking sheet and press into a disc that's about 1 inch thick.
- Using a bench scraper or a knife, cut straight down (don't use a sawing motion) and cut your dough into 8 wedges.
- Separate the dough leaving 1-2 inches space between the scones.
- Place your scones into the freezer (or fridge if you don't have space in your freezer) and preheat your oven to 425°F.
- When your oven has come to temperature, remove scones from freezer. Brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
- Place your scones on the middle rack of your oven and reduce the temperature to 375 immediately. Bake for 20-23 minutes. Scones will be well browned on top and bottom, remove to a wire cooling rack.
- Let scones cool for about 15-20 minutes before enjoying. Scones are best the day of baking but can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days and reheated in the oven in foil.
