Almond Scones
Have I got a treat for you….Let’s call it ‘Scone Love’.
Scones are the one thing I haven’t attempted since living gluten free. I’m not sure why…maybe I was afraid of the results. What a sad day it would be to attempt making scones gluten free only to have one of my favorite pairings with coffee turn out to be a dry, hard, crumbled ball of dough. I’d rather remember them as the melt in your mouth sweet
little pastries of days gone by. And if my memory serves me correctly, I think the last scone I had was a petite vanilla bean scone from Starbucks…oh joy. Serious calories, but pure heaven.
little pastries of days gone by. And if my memory serves me correctly, I think the last scone I had was a petite vanilla bean scone from Starbucks…oh joy. Serious calories, but pure heaven.
So let’s say I DID give the gluten free scone making a try…where would I start? I remembered my first attempt at making scones (pre-gluten free days) when a friend and I were discussing how scones can either be terribly dry or moist and wonderful. We began searching recipes and methods and one weekend set out to make them.
They were amazing…we decided we were the best scone makers ever.
That was such a long time ago, would I even have the recipe any more? Into the archives of my recipe stash I went. Lo and behold, paper clipped to a few coffee cake recipes was a yellowed article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune titled, “Drop Scones, light and fluffy”. That’s it! I found it.
The top of the paper reads: Wednesday, October 28th, 1998, Jeanne Jones Column.
There wasn’t a question now as to whether I would attempt converting this recipe to gluten free. Here goes:
There were a few changes I wanted to make to this recipe, but it was a basic starting point and that’s what I needed.
- What flours would I use to convert to gluten free to ensure a moist, flaky scone?
- This was a ‘Drop Scone’ recipe and I wanted triangle shaped scones (would I be able to roll-out the converted recipe when gluten free dough tends to be more of a batter?)
- The recipe was very basic with raisins; I wanted almond flavored with almonds and drizzled icing
I’m happy to say these scones turned out beautifully! And they rolled out (with hands) just fine. Don’t be afraid to go back to the basics of regular baking; you need to add a dusting of flour to form dough (batter) into the desired shape. The dough is delicate, but that’s good! It ensures a tender, soft, melt in your mouth scone. These scones are lightly sweetened, so if you prefer a very sweet scone, you might want to add a little more sugar. The drizzle of icing adds just the right amount of sweetness for my taste. I also made them smaller than usual scones…this recipe makes 24 scones (3-4″ triangles).
Scones are back on the menu and I couldn’t be happier to share them with you.
~ Scone Love ~
Ingredients:
Flour Blend:
- 2 cups sweet white rice flour
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 1 cup tapioca starch
- 1 cup potato starch
Whisk the flour blend together and store in a tightly sealed container to use as an all purpose flour (to which you will need to add Xantham gum or Guar gum and salt as needed in your recipe).
Recipe:
- Use 2 cups of the above mixture
- 2 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup sugar (these are lightly sweet, add more to your preference)
- ½ tsp guar gum
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup cold butter, cut into cubes
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 2 eggs beaten
- ½ cup cream (little more for brushing on top)
- ½ tsp almond extract
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tbsp sugar in the raw for top (Turbinado Sugar)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, lightly dust some of the flour blend over parchment.
Mix the 2 cups of flour blend, baking powder, sugar, guar gum, and salt together with a whisk until well blended. Add the butter cubes and with your hands blend into the flour mixture until the entire mixture is crumbly, spend the time, it’s important to get the butter into the entire mixture (you can use a pastry blender if you prefer). Stir in the sliced almonds. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine eggs, cream, almond and vanilla extracts until combined. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and blend until moistened, being careful not to over-mix.
Sprinkle a dusting of the flour mixture over the top of dough and transfer to the prepared floured baking sheet. With hands, form the dough into a circle about 1” thick. Dust with a little flour if needed, but gently pressing shouldn’t require much.
With a dusting of flour on a large sharp knife, cut the dough into squares, then diagonally to create triangles. You should have 24 triangles. Gently separate the triangles with a spatula to separate into individual triangles.
Brush the top of each with cream and sprinkle the tops with Turbinado sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 12-13 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack (use metal spatula).
Make your favorite icing and add ¼ tsp almond extract. Drizzle over top and sprinkle with sliced almonds.
