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Savory green scones for upcoming St. Patrick’s Day – or any time

Recipe: Spinach scones with cheddar cheese and garlic chives

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED FEB 23, 2025

Flaky and savory, these spinach scones celebrate spring. Debbie Arrington

It’s almost March and time for baking of the green – green variations of familiar foods in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

These easy, cheesy savory scones make the most of early-season spinach or other baby greens. It’s a way to use up garden thinnings – all those little plants that get pulled to make room for others to mature.

Chop the fresh spinach or greens by hand or pop the leaves in the food processor. It takes about 2 cups loosely packed leaves to make ½ cup finely chopped.

Green onions and chives are sprouting now, too. I used garlic chives; they also add a subtle garlic flavor was well as more bright green. Green onion tops (or thinnings) or other chive varieties are fine, too.

These scones have another plus – no eggs necessary!

This recipe freezes well. Make a batch now and be ready for any green occasion.

Spinach scones

Makes 8 scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold butter (1 stick)

½ cup low-fat milk

¼ cup cream

½ cup finely chopped fresh spinach

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic chives

½ cup cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Cut butter into cubes and add to flour mixture. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter into flour mixture.

Mix together milk and cream. Add to flour-butter mixture until just moistened. Fold in spinach, chives and grated cheese.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. With floured hands, gently knead dough 5 or 6 times until spinach and cheese well distributed.

Pat dough into an 8-inch round about 1-1/2 inches thick. With a sharp knife dusted with flour, cut the round into 8 wedges.

Live a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the wedges onto the baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and transfer scones to a rack to cool for a few minutes.

Serve warm.

(Note: These scones freeze well.)

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipe recipes winter February farm to fork Sacramento gardening brunch green St. Patrick's Day scones spinachproduce management farmers markets

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Garden checklist for week of May 10

Take it easy during that high heat – then get to work! Your garden is calling.

* Remember to irrigate your tender transplants. Seedlings need consistent moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants. Water early in the morning for best results.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly feeding program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

* Don’t forget to weed! Those invaders are growing fast.

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