Recipe: Singing Hinnies

Keeping the classics alive with a series of regional recipes.

I love it, but the old banana bread is taking a bashing on social media right now as a bit of a cliché. But people gotta bake using what they’ve got, right?

Here’s an alternative. And being an old recipe, it should be stuff most people have (barring lard, which can be easily subbed out). ‘Singing Hinnies’ are a Northumbrian classic. Essentially a twist on a griddled scone, the etymology (since at least c.1820) comes from the noise they’re making when they’re on the griddle. A gentle fry can sometimes become a high-pitched squeal.

Hinny is of course, a regional term of affection or endearment – ‘yalreet hinny?’ – though knowing today’s crowd, could cause the same offence as “pet”, “love” or “dear” 😒

I actually prefer them to a scone. A lot of (poor) scones are too cake-like, whereas these come out much more flaky and crumbly. As with scones, light, cold work and fingers help here to prevent the dough becoming tough. or chewy.

Anyway, it’s not a difficult recipe by any means. it’s just scones but instead of being baked, they’re done on a griddle pan. Hence griddle scones. They’re also very similar to Welsh Cakes, if you know those. And I believe it’s really important to keep the old traditions alive. Otherwise we’d all be adding cream to ‘carbonara’, putting cheddar on ‘margherita’ pizzas, and other regional bastardisations. Give it a go next time you fancy a sweet treat.

Singin’ Hinnies

Makes approx. 16. Takes an hour max (inc. chilling & baking time)

Ingredients
200g plain flour
50g cold unsalted butter, cubed
50g cold lard, cubed
75g currants, raisins and/or sultanas
25g white sugar
50ml milk
1ts baking powder
Pinch of salt
Jam & butter (to serve)

Method 

1. Sift your flour, salt, and baking powder into a clean bowl.
2. Making sure both are very cold, cut your lard and butter into cubes as small as you can be bothered with.
3. Using your fingertips, mix the lard and butter into the flour mixture. The goal here is not to melt the butter/lard, so work quickly, smushing the lumps until the mixture is well combined and resembles breadcrumbs. This took me about five solid minutes of smushing, but you could also do this in your processor.

4. Add your sugar, raisins/sultanas/currants and milk to combine to a rough dough. You might not need all of the milk, so use just enough to combine. If the mix feels at all like the fats are warm, get it back in the fridge to firm up.
5. Roll your dough out onto a lightly floured surface to a thickness of around 7-8mm. It’s fine if your dough is cracking and brittle like mine. It’s best to handle it as little as possible at this point. Again, this might be a good time to rest and chill the dough for 15 minutes or so.

6. Using a 5cm round fluted cutter, punch out discs as close as possible to one another, and gently dock the tops of each round with a fork. If re-using offcuts, try not to overwork the dough too much, and chill again before cutting out more.
7. Wipe a heavy pan or griddle with some lard. On a low heat, cook the dough for around 8 minutes per side or until a pleasing golden brown.
8. Enjoy while warm with butter and jam, or honey, or even rolled in caster sugar.  Reminisce about days gone by, or dream of going to the pub. Singing hinnies freeze well, so bang a few in the freezer for later.

Modern twist

Signing hinnies are obviously a very traditional treat but I don’t feel like they suffer for it. But if you want to bring the little snacks into modern day life, you could:

• Add the zest of half a lemon to the dough to brighten up the flavour a little
• Soak the dried fruit in a fresh cup of Earl Grey for an extra nod to the dish’s local roots
• Use all butter for convenience. This will detract from the flavour, but who always has lard?

The only places I’ve ever seen singing hinnies have been in Blackfriars, and sister restaurant which carries the eponymous name, Hinnies. Which is a shame. I think these should be celebrated in cafes and with afternoon tea across the North East. So make your own and keep the recipe alive. These were Hinnies take, a bit more biscuit-like than mine with nearly a crunch to them, but the flavour profile was much the same.

Enjoy!