Scones were on the Sunday New York Times “Meh” List in August: don’t believe it! I’ve been collecting and perfecting scone recipes since 1978 – think they’re wonderful for breakfast, “elevenses”, afternoon tea, or peach shortcake biscuits. One of my favorite recipes is for a savory scone with bacon, cheddar cheese, and chives….
I’ve posted a couple of scone recipes, this one originally in… October? Wanted to remind you on St. Patrick’s Day scones can be on the GF menu! They are the perfect vehicle for jam and clotted cream or butter. Kate’s in Maine makes wonderful butter. We live in Maine, home to STONEWALL KITCHEN. STONEWALL makes an excellent Blueberry Orange Marmalade, but one of our favorite jam companies is Scandinavian Delights – Blueberry, Raspberry, Mixed Berry, in that order. The following recipe is the easiest, most consistent of my collection. (I’m told by a young assistant that clicks on links we provided went up when we started printing entire url addresses in the body of the text instead of using the “highlight” shortcut. Click the highlighted words above to access these three sites if you are so inclined.) Also, scroll back in our archives to see photos of our kitchen scone production.
Scones
Oven: 425 F “Bake”, large cookie sheet, ungreased or covered with parchment paper.
Ingredients
12 oz. (about 2 cups) GF Flour Mix
2 oz. (about ½ cup) almond flour (remember, you can grind your own in a coffee mill.)
4 oz. sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder (make certain it’s fresh, not past it’s expiration date.)
¼ Teaspoon xantham gum (optional)
¼ Teaspoon sea salt
1½ cup dried fruit (apricots, currants, prunes, golden raisins, figs, cranberries… alone or in combination.)
Zest of one orange (about 1 tablespoon, packed.)
1 large egg
1 ¼ cup heavy cream (approximately)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
- Mix the flours, sugar, baking powder, xantham gum, and salt in a medium large bowl.
- Grate in the orange zest; whisk to coat.
- Add the dried fruit; stir to coat.
- Crack the egg into a 16 oz. glass measuring cup.
- Add the heavy cream to the egg to equal 1¼ cup; whisk to combine.
- In a small bowl combine the 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Stir the egg/cream mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly (GF!) floured surface.
- Gently knead into a ball – divide the ball in half.
- Gently form each portion into a 1½ inch thick disk.
- Pat each disk with the cream remaining in the measuring cup and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar.
- Cut each disk into 8 wedges, place wedges on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake on a rack in the center of the oven for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly firm to the touch.
Add ½ cup pistachio nuts for St. Patrick’s Day scones!
Enjoy!
Gluten Free Gus 
Ooh la! Those scones look great!
Delicious! I can’t wait to try these! 🙂
I agree – how could scones be on a ‘meh’ list ever? There are so many different ways they can be prepared. Thanks for the recipe!
Those scones sure look yummy.
Yummy!!
Yum they look good. Here is a link to my recipe, and you can of course sub the cinnamon chips for dried fruit or leave out completely. https://fibot.wordpress.com/?s=gluten+free+scones enjoy!!
Thanks! Just double checked to make sure (Hershey’s) Cinnamon Chips are gluten free. Yep: SUGAR; NONFAT MILK; PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (PALM KERNEL AND SOYBEAN OIL); PALM KERNEL OIL; CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: CORNSTARCH; ARTIFICIAL COLORS ( YELLOW 6 LAKE; YELLOW 5 LAKE; BLUE 2 L AKE) ; NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR; SALT; PALM OIL; SOY LECITHIN. Their disclaimer says that the chips can be processed on equipment that handles peanuts. There is another company who writes their chips are processed on equipment that handles nuts and wheat, but not Hershey’s.
I know!!!! How good?! Something that I was SUPER excited to discover when I realised!
oooh – those look good. I almost made some scones to have with dinner yesterday, but ended up with just some roasted potatoes. (I didn’t feel like baking on a Sunday afternoon – I just wanted to nap). 😉
I’ll try these out, though, thanks.
This is yummy! I made some scones over the weekend and they are almost all gone! Shall try this recipe next.
These look delicious! I tried my hand at making scones once…I think I’ll have to give it another try and use your recipe! Thanks 🙂
Ohhh this is exactly what we were looking for, thanks! These look yummy!
Scones, “meh”? Never!!
Have you ever made your scones with coconut milk instead of the heavy cream? I have been doing some subbing as I am lactose intolerant and have found coconut milk to be one of the best substitutes for cream. I rate it highest and then almond milk, soy and rice, in that order.
Like your suggestion and might add a little coconut oil to boost the fat content (since I think you’re not using butter either….) Thanks!
I tried making hot cross buns today with coconut oil and coconut milk. They are in the rising stage right now. I will let you know how they turn out.
So proud of you! Thanks for taking this in the lactose free direction – Can’t wait to hear!! (P.S. Did you add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to the coconut milk?)
~ Gus’s Mom
Hiya! I love your scone recipes. Scones are such a great lunchbox food, too. Here in Australia, we are not allowed to send nuts to school because so may children have anaphylactic nut allergies. If I take out the almond meal, can you recommend something to substitute it? I have sesame flour which has a similar texture, or maybe coconut flour?
Almond flour adds body, structure, and flavor to baked goods (think of the body and structure of nut butter.) Sesame and flax seed flour are good alternatives. Flax seed meal is a little slippery, not always unwelcome since there is no gluten to create “last.” Sesame flour may have too distinct a flavor for scones, especially if the seeds are toasted. The third option is to make the recipe with 100% GF flour mix; the scones may be a little “shorter”, but the egg in our recipe provides enough body and structure for them to hold up to your best jam!
Good luck! ~ Gus’s Mom
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