Eat Well, Be Well, Live Well

You can take the grain out of my baking, but you can’t take the baker out of me!

I admit, although I feel great on my Paleo-esque diet, I can’t deny I miss biting into the yeasty, chewy center of a loaf of pain au levain. And I firmly believe that people that feel deprived are, well, deprived. So I indulge every now and then (once every two weeks or so), usually only to be reminded that I’m not missing much. That yeasty chewy bread tastes mighty good going down but it doesn’t make me feel great an hour or so later. I’m not even gluten intolerant. It’s usually that the bread got consumed with red wine, butter and a slice of Brie, and the combination makes me feel tired, bloated, and just kind of yucky overall.

But back to the baking… I love to bake. It’s therapeutic for me, and my family loves my baking. I still bake muffins and breads for my family using grains, but instead of a daily occurrence, it’s been reduced to once  a week. To fill out the other days, I’ve been making grain-free baked goods. These have also been well-received by my family, and I’ll continue to post some of my tried and tested recipes from time to time. For example, the rosemary raisin crackers I posted a couple of months ago have become a favorite, and they make regular crackers seem bland, textureless and boring. I can’t imagine ever going back to eating crackers from a box!

I’ve been serving up a version of these scones nearly every weekend, to the delight of my family. They’re fast and easy to prepare, and you can easily change their “theme”–currants, mini chocolate chips, or chopped dried apricots for a sweet approach, or chopped sage or rosemary for a savory twist. They’re also filling, so just one per person is usually enough.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup blanched almond flour

4 tbsp coconut flour, plus a little more for rolling

2 tbsp honey or maple syrup

1 large egg

3 tbsp coconut milk (or almond), divided

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tbsp coconut oil or ghee

1/4 cup dried currants or Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips*

1 tsp coconut crystals or turbinado sugar

*Please see my note above and consider any number of different dried fruits, chopped or 1 tbsp finely chopped herbs for a savory scone (omitting the cinnamon).

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the egg. Whisk in 2 tbsp coconut milk, vanilla extract and honey or maple syrup. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the flours, baking soda and salt using a fork to break down any lumps in the almond flour. Add to the wet ingredients and stir just until blended. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the ghee or coconut oil until it’s in pea-sized bits. Fold in the currants or chips or whatever you’re adding for interest.

Sprinkle a little coconut flour on a sheet of parchment paper. Gather the dough into a loose ball and pat it down into an even round, approximately 1-inch thick. Use a large knife to cut the round into six wedges. Separate them a little using the knife like a spatula. Slide the sheet of parchment with the scones onto a baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops of the scones with the remaining 1 tbsp of coconut milk and sprinkle with turbinado or coconut crystals.

Bake for 15-18 minutes turning the sheet halfway through. The scones should be slightly golden on their edges.

Serve immediately. Makes 6 scones. These also reheat well as long as you’re careful not to reheat them too much.

Happy grain-free baking!

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