The Girls of Golden Ears Cheesecrafters
I love cheese, and I have to say, I think I totally take it for granted.
Let me tell you, working a half a day with Jenna and Emma at Golden Ears Cheese Crafters makes you appreciate what goes into making cheese, especially cheddar… (spoiler– lots of lifting big drums, hand turning big bricks of curd, and then smashing big bricks of curd through an industrial french fry press… it was awesome!!)
This is an amazing, family run affair and their heart shows up all over it. I had some of the best ham and cheese sandwiches in their shop I’ve had in ages, and I’m still fascinated by this fenugreek havarti they showed me, it was amazing… on top of that their chive Neufchatel (cream cheese) is as good as the boursin my mom used to make us as kids, and that’s saying something 😉
Here’s a quick recipe for cheddar and chive Neufchatel scones, loosely derived from my Mom’s version…
(I’ve also found this recipe to work exceptionally well as a gluten free recipe by substituting the AP flour with an equal amount Nextjen Gluten free flour – that’s the beauty of their product, in most scenarios it’s an exact cup for cup ratio to regular flour, which makes life easy when you’re saying no to gluten 😉 )
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour (or Nextjen GF Flour)
- 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3 each Free-Range Eggs
- ½ cup Whipping Cream
- 12 Tbsp (6oz) cold cubed Butter
- ¼ cup (4oz) grated Golden Ears Cheddar
- ¼ cup (4oz) Golden Ears Chive Neufchatel creamcheese
- Preheat oven to 400*.
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
- Prepare mixer with a paddle attachment- chill the bowl in advance if possible.
- Combine eggs and cream, whisk lightly to incorporate together- reserve.
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a the chilled mixing bowl.
- Add cold cubed butter and mix on low speed until butter is broken down to pea sized pieces.
- Add egg and cream mixture, continue to mix on low speed until just incorporated.
- Fold in grated cheddar by hand.
- Remove from bowl, transfer to floured table or cutting board, and gently pat the dough into a loose ball.
- Flatten the ball out into a disc roughly 10" across; cut into pie shaped wedges.
- Place the wedges on the baking sheet and bake in 400* oven for 15-20 min.
- Once golden and clean to a toothpick test, remove and allow to cool for 5-10 min,
- Cut open and slather with chive Neufchatel cheese to serve.
- Enjoy 😉