04 Apr Recipe: Chive Pull-aparts

These pull-aparts are simply scone dough rolled up with a savoury filling, so the trick is not to handle the dough any more than necessary.

You can use any filling you fancy, such as chopped herbs, nduja, cheese, anchovies, or tapenade, and serve them as a starter or alongside your favourite soup for dunking. They’re great for an after-school snack!

Once you’ve mastered the technique, you can also make sweet pull-aparts such as this Hazelnut & Butterscotch version.

Makes 12 pieces

Ingredients

150g cold salted butter, plus extra for brushing

3 cups self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

1¼ cups milk

1 bunch chives, chopped

Method

• Preheat oven to 220°C.
• Using the tips of your fingers, rub half the butter into the flour, leaving the remaining butter at room temperature to soften.
• Stir most of the milk into the flour mixture, adding a little more at a time as needed to form a soft dough. You may not need it all.
• Tip onto a lightly floured bench and pat into a rectangular shape.
• Gently roll and pat into a neat 25cm x 30cm rectangle.
• Combine the remaining butter and chives and spread the dough out to the edges.
• Roll firmly from a long side into a Swiss roll.
• Cut into 12 rounds and arrange, cut side up, in a single layer in a 23cm greased cake tin.
• Brush with a little extra melted butter and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden, then remove from oven and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
• Turn out of tin and place, right side-up, onto a wire rack.
• Serve warm or at room temperature as a snack or an accompaniment to soup.

You’ll find a print-friendly version of this recipe here, as well as a step-by-step video of my buttermilk scones, another easy favourite.

Roberta Muir is the author of four cookbooks, a certified cheese judge and Sherry educator, a restaurant reviewer, and a cooking teacher. She also has a Master of Arts degree in Gastronomy. You can find out more about her via her weekly newsletter.