Luncheon Meat Scones (with Airfryer Option!)

We were eating some homemade cheese and butter scones one baking weekend when Jason had a bright idea. “Why don’t you make luncheon meat scones?”

I looked at him, eyes wide opened.. then I thought about it seriously in the next two seconds. I think it is quite do-able! I used my go-to recipe for scones, from Joy of Baking. Stephanie’s recipes are straightforward and extremely easy to follow, even for a novice baker like me. Most recipes are accompanied by a step-by-step video, and you really can’t go wrong. I used the basic scones recipe in the link but sifted the flour, replaced the buttermilk with regular milk, and tossed in some airfried luncheon meat. If I would change one thing, I would not have pre-airfried the luncheon meat. I think that will make the scones more moist. I also did not use a food processor or mixer and did everything by hand.

As usual, I did two versions- oven baked and airfried. I usually oven bake my goodies but when there’s some extras that can’t fit into the baking pan, I pop them into the airfryer at a reduced temperature, instead of waiting for the entire first batch to be ready. This way, I don’t have to wait. I am very impatient. When airfrying, line the airfrying net with baking paper, spray on some cooking oil, then place the scones mounds about 1-2 inches apart. I then sprayed on somemore cooking oil. Scones don’t expand much after baking so you don’t have to worry about it becoming joined together. The oven baked version calls for 18 minutes at 200 degrees. I airfried these for 15 minutes, preheated, at 180 degrees to great results!

Makes about 10 scones with the recipe below, adapted from Joyofbaking.com
(I doubled the recipe and my oven baking tray could fit about 16. The rest I airfried.)

What I used:

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
2/3 – 3/4 cup (160 – 180 ml) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
5 slices luncheon meat, chopped into bite sized pieces (I used Yu Pin King from Cold Storage)

1. Cut your nails! You don’t want to rub butter into the flour, with long nails :P
2. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees or preheat your airfryer to 180 degrees. Line your baking tray with baking paper. If airfrying, simply line the baking net with baking paper and spray on some oil.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix well.
4. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mixture with dry fingers until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs.
5. Add the vanilla extract and milk, bit by bit, until the dough comes together easily. You do not have to finish using all the milk if your dough is already at the right consistency. Do watch the video! Scatter the chopped luncheon meat into the dough.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface (believe it or not, I used my vegetable cutting board) and knead gently. Be careful not to crush all the luncheon meat! Form into a 7-inch round that is approx 1 inch thick. Use a 2.5 inch cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. I did not have a cookie cutter and used Aegon’s water bottle “mouth”. Seriously, you improvise in the kitchen. And it works PLUS gave it the ridged pattern around the sides. Haha!
7. Transfer the scones to the lightly oiled baking sheet and brush the tops of the scones with a little milk.
8. Bake for about 18 minutes and check if done by inserting a fork or toothpick in the middle. If airfrying, airfry for 15 minutes and check if done, using the same method.
9. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before storing. (Or better yet, skip this step entirely and eat it straightaway, like we did. No need to store!)

How much I spent: 

$2.40 for butter from Phoon Huat
$1 for milk
Everything else from my pantry!

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I made these sometime back. I really should make them again!