Khapli Wheat Cheese Scones

Recipe: A Nutritious Tea-Time Snack

Khapli wheat turns out to be an unexpectedly good fit for a cheese scone, for a reason that's the opposite of what makes it tricky in yeasted bread. Scones need minimal gluten development, which is the whole point of cutting cold butter into flour: to create fat pockets that steam into flaky layers, not to build an elastic dough. Khapli atta's naturally lower gluten strength means there's less risk of overworking the dough and making it tough. Aashirvaad Chakki Khapli Atta comes in here in place of plain flour, at the same weight, keeping the recipe's original heavy cheese-to-flour ratio, which gives these scones their cheesy edge. The technique itself barely changes for the scones. Cold butter still needs to be cut into the khapli atta until the largest pieces are pea-sized. A food processor makes quick work of this, though rubbing it in by hand with cold fingers works too. The cheese goes in next. Where khapli atta needs a slightly gentler hand is at the milk stage, because it's a different flour structure from plain wheat flour; the dough might look rough and stickier before it comes together, so resist the urge to add extra flour to dry it out. Shape the khapli dough into a disc exactly as you would with plain flour, brush the top with milk, scatter over more cheese, and cut into wedges rather than rounds, for this avoids the extra flour dusting and scrap-rerolling that round cutters usually need, which is more important with khapli wheat dough since it's more delicate to rework a second time. A hot oven for a relatively short bake gives the scones a good rise and a shiny, golden cheese crust on top before the khapli has a chance to dry out.