These were so delicious and perfect to serve with some veggies and gravy (and meat if you are not a vegetarian)..
Potato scones
- 4 tablespoons (6 tablespoons in the US) of self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon (1.5 tablespoons in the US) margarine or cooking fat
- 4 tablespoons (6 tablespoons in the US) of mashed potatoes (drained and then mashed with nothing added although leftover mash would work too)
Method
- Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and rub in the margarine.
- Add the mashed potato until light and creamy
- Mix together to form a soft dough (add a little milk if needs be)
- Press out into a round and slice into 6
- Brush the top with milk
- Bake in a moderate oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown
Are the mashed potatoes supposed to be just potatoes mashed up, or “leftover” mashed potatoes with butter and milk in them?
Just potatoes mashed up after being drained xx
Thanks! I’ve never made potato scones before, despite loving both potatoes and scones, because I was never sure about that!
I’m guessing that 1940s mash probably didn’t include much butter and milk, with supplies so short! (Well, milk maybe, but not butter.)
I’d say left over mash would work fine too! I used drained plain mashed potatoes and mixed that in with the flour and marg mixture and didn’t add in any milk- it wasn’t needed. They taste really SCRUMMY!!! 🙂
I’m making potato scones for breakfast today, using dripping. The potatoes are boiling as we speak! I’m very much looking forward to these, and I’m very hungry so I may add a slice of Spam to my serving.
The potato scones are REALLY very nice!!!! 🙂
OMG! I’m eating my share as we speak, with a slice of Spam cooked all brown and crisp in its own fat – and the scones are DELICIOUS! Fortunately I cooked and mashed plenty of potatoes, which, knowing that the sight of peelings Deeply hurts Lord Woolton’s feelings, I merely scrubbed before cooking. Guess what’s for breakfast tomorrow morning?
Potato scones for breakfast, with 1 oz of cheese. Oh my, this could be addictive.
Oh my… my mouth is watering!! 🙂
Today I made a version of rumbledethumps – basically a bubble-and-squeak. I used 2 cups mashed potatoes, 2 cups mashed sweetpotatoes, I big carrot, mashed, 4 cups shredded cooked cabbage, and 1 leek, shredded and sauteed in 4 tablespoons dripping. When well mashed up together, I added 1 can Spam (leftovers from yesterday) and 1 egg, and beat it up well. Then I used 1 cupful at a time to make a nice fat patty, with about 1/4 cup oatmeal per patty to stop it sticking to my hands and the board, and popped each patty onto a baking sheet dredged with dry cornmeal (it makes a nice crunchy crust when fried). They’re firming up right now. It makes 10 hefty patties. Just now I’ll wrap 6 in plastic and stick them in the freezer. I plan to eat one for breakfast tomorrow and one on Friday, and the remaining 2 unfrozen ones are for my spouse’s breakfasts. He’s still sleeping when I leave the house so he’ll have to heat up his own…
A good all-in-one meal; I will double the meat in the next batch to bring up the protein level.
I used my bamboo steamer to steam all the vegetables except the cabbage, which wouldn’t fit in whole. This saved me pots and time, while retaining most of the vitamins. Again, I just scrubbed the veggies thoroughly and didn’t peel. Many of the minerals are in or just under the skin, and for potatoes the protein is also concentrated just under the skin. The peels add healthy fibre too.
This isn’t exactly a WWII recipe – it’s fairly close to champ, and to bubble-and-squeak, but it’s definitely within the genre. I’m going to be very healthy on this eating plan, and hopefully I will see a reduction in my belly fat.
Rumbledethumps- I’ve never heard that word!!!! I do like reading your replies!!! C xxxx
You’re so nice, Carolyn! Even my spouse likes rumbledethumps. I like the potato scones so much I’m going to use it as pastry and make some little pies to take to school. Well, to be honest, I’m probably going to make some honking great pies to take to school. I get very hungry at midday.
I’ve finally got a batch of these in the oven to have with dinner tonight– looking forward to finally trying them!
Yum, really easy and good. Now I’m looking forward to a leftover scone with my soup for lunch tomorrow.
i like cheese 🙂
These are different from the potato scones that I am used to. My mother called them faj sometimes. They had no leavening in them. They were thin and flat and cooked in a pan that was almost dry so they had little brown spots on them. A bakery (long gone) called them Irish potato scones.
I made potatoe scones once for some elderly folk while doing reminiscence on wartime memories. I used left over mashed potatoe (which had some added milk) and they were sweetened with a few sultanas added to the mixture. They were surprisingly nice.
My mother used to make Lefse – potatoes, flour, etc, cooked in a dry skillet, looked like flour tortillas. I’m going to try your scones recipe soon!
I used this recipe as dumplings in a delicious vegetable, split pea & barley stew. I added some dried herbs and about 1/4 teaspoon of dijon mustard and mr mash instead of making mashed potato and they were delicious. I’m going to make them as scones as they were intended next week but can never resist messing around with recipes! Thanks so much for the recipe! Going to make your chocolate (or ginger I haven’t decided yet) cake tomorrow and add pears since I have lots and they aren’t particularly nice raw. I’m really enjoying your blog, Thanks for writing it! 🙂
I have a crazy question. Did they have chocolate chips in the 1940s during rations? How about chocolate bars? I would LOVE to add chocolate chip bits to this recipe, but would like to stay true to ingredients available in the 1940s.
Thanks,
~Tam Francis ~
http://www.girlinthejitterbugdress.com
The chocolate chip or morsel as they were known as, was invented in 1937. A woman by the name of Ruth Whitfield cut up a Hershey bar and added it to her cookies. She worked at the Toll House Inn in MA, hence, Toll House cookies. The Hershey company made her a deal and the chocolate “chip” was born. I’m not sure if it caught on in Great Britain during rationing since chocolate was scarce at first. Maybe after the Americans arrived? Anyway, I say go for it.
Sue, thanks. I wasn’t going to go for a total British theme, (more a mix of the Yanks and the Brits–hee hee), but I did want to stay in the period of ingredients that were available. I thought it would be fun for my guests and fun to post on my blog. I think chocolate must have been available because in a lot of the old movies the soldiers have American Chocolate bars. LOL 🙂
Thanks for taking time to reply.
~ Tam Francis ~
http://www.girlinthejitterbugdress.com
For Suzanne Ubick and Carolyn – Rumbledethumps are a Scottish side dish made from mashed spuds, cabbage, butter and spring onions all mixed together but not normally served fried as a patty – that’s English bubble and squeak – just read The 2 Fat Ladies on the subject.
For Pat Driver on fadge (not faj), it’s a sort of Scottish farl (quarter of a soda bread loaf) or triangular scone cooked on a griddle. The Scottish tattie pancake is what you are describing basically it’s just left over mash mixed with plain flour, rolled thinly & fried – to go with a full Scottish breakfast fry up, always available in Scottish bakeries, it’s a staple.