Cheese and Chive Bread

 Hello there! Today's post will be another recipe that I would like to share with you. It comes from an old children's cookbook that I have from when I was younger, which is called Kids in the Kitchen and is by Sara Lewis. It wasn't a very nice day outside, and we were in need of something to have for lunch, so I thought that I would make an old favourite of mine which is a cheese and chive bread. Although it is described as a bread in the recipe, it is actually a scone like consistency. It is really quick and easy to make, so if you want something homemade for lunch, or to take to a friends, this is great!

Ingredients:

-250g self-raising flour

-pinch of salt and pepper 

-40g butter

-125g cheddar cheese

-small bunch of fresh chives

-1 egg

-150ml milk

-1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

Process:

-The first thing that I did was grate the cheese into a small bowl. You can then cut up the chives with a pair of scissors and mix this together.

-In a large mixing bowl, put in the flour with the salt and pepper.

-Cut the butter into pieces, add this to the flour mix, and rub in with your fingers until it resembles fine crumbs. (If you can, leave the butter at room temperature for about half an hour before making this, but if you take it straight from the fridge just pop it into the microwave for a few seconds until soft)

-Add the grated cheese and cut chives to this and mix together.

-Beat the egg in a cup/mug and add to the mixture, but leave enough to brush on the top at the end.

-Add the mustard and then using a wooden spoon gradually mix in the milk to make a soft but not sticky ball. The recipe calls for 150ml of milk, but I only used 100ml and found that actually I needed to add a bit more flour so the dough was the right consistency.

-Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. As my oven heats up quite quickly I only needed to turn it on here, but if yours takes ages to get to the right temperature, you will need to do this a few steps back.

-Once your mixture is in a ball, sprinkle your work surface with flour and knead the dough. I thought that you would need a rolling pin, but reading on I discovered that you just have to 'pat' it into a circle about 18cm wide rather than actually rolling it.

-Cut this into six segments and space them apart on a baking tray.

-Now it's time to bring back that egg you've been saving as you need to brush the top of the rolls with it.

-Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes or until they have risen and are golden.

-Once out of the oven leave to cool until they are just warm- I don't want any of you to eat them hot and get a tummy ache! We had ours warm with butter after I made them, but the day after I used a cold one to dip into my soup. (Can you tell from my food that the temperature has suddenly become freezing in England?)

If you have a go at making them, please email me a picture, or tweet me @jesslouisekeen!

Love Jess xxx