Za'atar Feta Scones #recipe from Molly MacRae

Can you ever have too many scone recipes? Here’s one for savory, zesty scones that are the perfect accompaniment for salads, soups, stews, eggs, you name it. Za’atar has been mentioned in a number of recipes at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen over the years. I think Leslie Budewitz likes it as much as I do. Among other recipes she’s posted with za’atar are her Red Pepper and Orzo Soup and Turkish Scrambled Eggs with Tomato. Za’atar is one of those seasonings that varies depending on the brand or country of origin. I’ve included an easy recipe, below, to make your own.

Za’atar Feta Scones

 

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon za’atar seasoning (store bought or homemade according to recipe below)

Zest of 1 lemon

1 1/2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

4 ounces crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup butter cut into 1/4-inch cubes and chilled (or frozen)

 

Wet ingredients

1 large egg

1/3 cup plain, thick Greek yogurt

Juice of 1 lemon

 

To sprinkle on top

2 tablespoons milk or cream

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (optional if, like me, you ran out)

1 teaspoon za’atar seasoning

 

Homemade za’atar seasoning

1 teaspoon each dried thyme (or oregano), cumin, coriander, toasted sesame seeds, and sumac.

Rounded 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients together. Store leftover za’atar in an airtight jar.

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients, except butter and cheeses. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of green peas. Add cheeses and toss to thoroughly coat with flour.

In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour whisked wet ingredients into it.

Gently fold the flour into the wet ingredients until the flour is taken up and you can get your hands in the bowl to knead a few times and form a ball.

Transfer the ball to a pizza pan lined with parchment paper. Gently pat the ball into a flat disk, about 8 inches across, keeping the edges neat.

Brush the disk with the milk or cream and then sprinkle with the sesame seeds and za’atar.

Cut the disk into eight pie wedges but don’t separate them.

Bake the scones for fifteen minutes, then remove from oven and gently separate the wedges with a pie server so that air can circulate around them.

Return to the oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes more. 

🍂🍂🍂

Take time this fall to curl up with a trio of cozies – a drink, a treat, and a good book. May I suggest a bit of armchair travel, too?  Visit Ocracoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries.

 

Or travel to the Scottish Highlands in the Highland Bookshop Mysteries.

 

Spend time in northeast Tennessee in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, two stand-alone mysteries, and a collection of short stories.

 

Or travel from Cape Cod on the east coast to Monterey on the west coast, with a stop in Ohio along the way in my very gentle mysteries written as Margaret Welch.

 

Happy reading!

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.