Easy Ham and Cheese Scones

A few weeks ago I was making our apple pie scones and suddenly had the brilliant idea of making a savory version, easy ham and cheese scones!

The only way I could ever convince our family to ditch the amazingly wonderful sweet version of a scone was clearly to add cheese. Cheese makes everything better. And bacon. Shoot, I need to try a bacon version!

Grab your leftover Easter ham and make these buttery and flaky scones!

What Ingredients are Needed for Ham and Cheese Scones?

Tender scones are just a few pantry staples away! A good scone needs only a few ingredients, butter (or shortening if you must), buttermilk, salt, and baking powder. Everything else is just to adjust the flavor. Here is a complete list of all the ingredients you will need:

• Flour: gives structure to the scones and regular all purpose flour is all you need
• Sugar: adds a touch of sweetness to balance out all the savory ingredients
• Baking Powder: the true raising agent that adds the real height you’re looking for. Do not use a substitute.
• Salt: necessary in both sweet and savory dishes as it provides the flavor. Yes, cheese and ham are in there, but everything needs seasoning. I love that salt not only flavors a dish but it also makes the other ingredients stand out even more.
• Unsalted Butter: gives you those tender, flakey layers and margarine just wont cut it in this case. As the steam rises so does that beautiful hunk of dough, creating a pillow of bread once cooked.
• Buttermilk: use for savory scones while cream is great for a sweet scone. This allows for the dough to come together but still have enough fat to keep it a tender dough.
• Colby Jack Cheese: we love colby jack, but you could use cheddar cheese, swiss, pepper jack or really any type of cheese you love.
• Diced Ham: a perfect way to use leftover spiraled ham or you can buy cubed ham from the store.
• Fresh Chives: fresh herbs make all the difference when it comes to flavor but if you need to use dried chives, use just 1 teaspoon. You could also use scallions.
  • TIP: If you’re not a chives fine, you can use fresh parsley or thyme.
• Butter: I know butter has already been listed, but we use it again brushed on top as a finishing touch on these perfect scones.

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Recommended Equipment

Pizza Cutter – This is a MUST in our house. The Dexas pizza cutter isn’t a steel blade, but a plastic blade and if you watch our videos you’ll notice I use a plastic pizza wheel all the time to cut dough. It is so much easier than a knife and wont harm any pans or counter tops. This pa

Egg roll in a bowl ramen is an irresistible skillet of deconstructed egg rolls tossed with ramen noodles and I’m telling you now that you are going to love it.

I’ve been holding out on you, my friends. I first made this over a month ago and I’ve made it four more times since then. It was an immediate family favorite from the very first bite, and right now, I can’t get enough of it.

Egg Roll Ramen Skillet

The key to stress-free stir-fry recipes is prepping everything in advance. And this egg roll in a bowl with ramen works the same way. You’ll want to have the ingredients prepared and lined up next to the stove before you turn on the heat.

The bulk of the prep time for this recipe is spent slicing the vegetables. If you can find a bag of shredded matchstick carrots at the store, you’ll have everything prepped in just minutes. (And if you need to slice the carrots yourself, don’t stress, it honestly doesn’t take all that much time or effort!)

Once everything is assembled and ready to cook, the actual cooking time is barely ten minutes. You’ll need a large, deep skillet to stir fry. I typically use a pan like this one or this one

Savory deli meats are piled high on a toasted hoagie roll, then topped with an unforgettable tangy slaw and gooey provolone cheese to make this Italian Grinder Sandwich your new favorite lunch.

Italian Grinder Sandwich

The slight crunch and crackle of toasted bread, soft and warm meats topped with gooey, melted cheese, crisp onions and peppers in an incredible slaw. What’s not to love? Put them all together and it’s pure lunch heaven.

Toasted hoagies are bursting with incredible flavor and all of my favorite grinder sandwich ingredients. This Italian grinder sandwich may be the best sub sandwich I’ve had in the past year.

This recipe is extremely versatile, making it great for large gatherings. Everyone can pick out their favorite lunch meats, just swap out the turkey for roast beef or pepperoni, etc. Or, you can just pile them on. I won’t judge.

Kids adore this quick lunch. But, especially for little mouths, cured sliced meats can be difficult to chew. If you chop up the meats, it makes it easier to manage. And, what child wouldn’t want their own, special “chopped” grinder sandwich?

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Apple Cider Braised Pork Recipe [+Video]

This braised pork recipe is a flavor-packed pork dish braised in apple cider and chicken stock until fork tender. We also add some fresh herbs, roasted garlic and onions for even more rich flavor.

Combining the savory pork with the sweet apple cider and apple slices makes this the perfect comfort food for a cool fall evening!

Recommended Equipment

• Large Dutch Oven

Before You Begin…

We will start by getting the pork ready to be braised. Pat dry the chunks of pork shoulder and season them with salt and pepper. Then you will brown the chunks on all sides. This locks in the juices and adds so much flavor to the pork. Don’t skip this step!

What is Braising?

Braising a method for cooking meat. It uses a combination of both wet and dry heat to cook the meat until it is super tender and saucy. In this recipe we sear the pork using a dry heat, and then the pork is cooked in a little bit of liquid (wet heat) over a longer period of time. Braising creates deep and rich flavors and fall apart tender meat. It’s one of my favorite ways to cook meat.

What Do I Need to Make Apple Cider Braised Pork?

Here are the items you will need to make this recipe:

• Pork Butt: I prefer to buy a bone-in pork butter because it has better flavor and then cut it off the bone into large chunks for this recipe.
  • PRO TIP: I buy a big pork butt and chop it in half, remove the bone and then quarter each half and freeze them in two bags for two separate rounds of braised pork.
• Canola Oil: used to brown the pork chunks
• Braising Liquid: Apple Cider, Chicken Stock, Apple Cider Vinegar, Dark Brown Sugar, Dijon Mustard, Salt and Pepper
• Aromatics: Garlic, Rosemary, Thyme, and Red Onion
• Butter: adds richness and flavor to the pork while keeping it moist
• Granny Smith Apples: added for the last little bit of cooking to add more flavor and they make a delicious addition to the meal

This is meant to just be an overview of the ingredients. Keep scrolling down to the recipe card to see all the measurements needed for each ingred

Browned Butter Pork and Butternut Squash Lasagna

This isn’t your traditional lasagna, but oh good heavens, the flavors of pork, butternut squash, browned butter, sage, and cheese is pure comfort! Browned butter pork and butternut squash lasagna is about to be your new favorite lasagna recipe!

You won’t find tomatoes, ricotta cheese or tomato sauce in this lasagna, but it is bringing all the feelings of warm winter comfort food to our family! The flavors are the most amazing combination! I mean it’s got pork, one of my all time favorite meats, browned butter-pure heaven, carbs-who doesn’t love carbs, and melty, gooey, delicious cheese. BOO-YAH!

I love comfort food more than anything else. Sure smoked pulled pork is stinking delicious, and Hawaiian Pulled Pork is absolutely mouth watering, but make me choose between one of those recipes and a comfort food like Browned Butter Butternut and Pork Lasagna and hands down the lasagna wins.

Creating Butternut Squash Lasagna

As soon as I got the email from the National Pork Board to create a few recipes for them I knew I’d say yes to working with them, but then they wanted comfort recipes?! Heck yeah I’m on board with that. And this lasagna was born. And we loved it. And now you will too.

I was looking through the recipe section on the Pork Be Inspired site and man, everything looks so juicy and delicious! I’ve found many a wonderful recipe there, but I was actually trying to make sure that there wasn’t a recipe like this one, which there isn’t. Butternut squash actually smells comforting. It’s so warm, nutty, and creamy. I just knew that a combination of my favorite fall/winter flavor with pork was totally the way to go. Oh, and there’s a secret in the puree, Ginger Snap cookies. Trust me, it’s exactly what the puree needs.

Ingredients for Butternut Squash Lasagna

I’m going to divide this recipe into 3 different parts – the butternut squash, the browned butter sauce (béchamel sauce) and the lasagna layers.

For the Squash

• Butternut Squash: peeled and chopped, ready for roasting
• Olive Oil: helps roast and caramelize the squash
• Salt & Black Pepper: adds flavor
• Sage: you’ll want fresh sage and we will use it to add flavor to the butternut squash puree
• Ginger Snap Cookies: an unexcepted ingredient but the flavor it adds it crucial

For the Browned Butter Sauce

• Butter: browned for added flavor and creates the base for the béchamel
• Garlic: adds flavor and can be increased or decreased to your liking
• Flour: combined with the butter is creates the creamy base for the béchamel
• Low Fat Milk: helps thin out the sauce
• Half and Half: adds creaminess and richness
• Nutmeg: adds flavor and warmth
• Salt and Black Pepper: adds flavor

For the Lasag