Guilt free Gruyere cheese scones - modified Emeril Lagasse recipe

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I've been scouring the web and friends heads for a good super oozy gooey cheese scone recipe for a while now, and haven't been able to find one that wasn't too eggy, too flat, too dense or the worst - not cheesy enough.  So I took a swing at an bacon-cheddar scone a la Emeril Lagasse recipe, replacing the cream with buttermilk (and cutting the fat substantially while giving it a new flavor twist) and cutting out the peppers and bacon so I could let a big hunk of Gruyere sitting pretty in my fridge shine.


I assembled all my ingredients and grated my cheese.

Mixed all dry ingredients, cut in the butter with a fork (forgot to buy a pastry cutter), formed a well, then added in wet ingredients and cheese, mixing very gently so my dough doesn't get tough.

Then, I threatened, poked, prodded, patted and generally touched the soft dough as little as possible into a flat disk about 3/4inch high, sliced it with a sharp knife into 8 pieces, separated them ever so gently and gave them a quick milk wash.  I used parchment paper at the time, but now I know my pans from Lagostina 5-piece Bakeware Set - things rarely stick to it so I plunk things directly onto the pan now.

And afterwards, my house smelled divine, and these babies looked it too!

Tah Dah! Much lower fat buttermilk Gruyere cheese scones that are slightly dense, yet still quite flaky and loaded with cheese!  They didn't even make it to a plate for pictures. Nom!

Recipe!  The only changes I'd suggest for next time is to finely chop up the cheese if you want molten cheese pockets as grated cheese gives you more subtle flavour throughout.  Want it even healthier? Use a sharp or more aged cheese so you get more flavour (and less fat!), and add 1 Tbsp lemon juice to 1cup skim milk and let sit for 5min to make a really low fat "buttermilk".
Ingredients Makes 16 wedges
3 cups all-purpose flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 tablespoon sugar 
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (omit if using salted butter) 
1 stick (or 1/2cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 
12 ounces sharp Gruyere cheese, grated (about 3 cups) - or any old sharp cheese
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions or chives
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup buttermilk, plus 2 tablespoons set aside for milk wash
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
2) In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter, cheese, green onions, and pepper with a pastry blender or fork, and work just until it starts to form lumps and come together.
3) Make a well and add 1 cup buttermilk and work just until it becomes a sticky dough.
4) Turn out onto a lightly floured parchment paper and pat until it comes together. Form into 2 large circles, about 7 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick and cut each into 8 wedges with a sharp knife, leaving 1/2-inch space between each wedge. 
5) Pop parchment paper onto a backing sheet. Paint the tops of the wedges lightly with the remaining 2 tablespoons of buttermilk and bake until golden brown, 22 to 23 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the baking sheet. Serve warm.