Davey Scones’ Locker!
I lied in my last post when I said I’d been away at college the past few months. Actually, I’ve been traipsing the Coral Sea on a bedraggled schooner with several diverse characters including Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson, Michael Crichton’s Lazue (hawk-eyed female, raised as a man), and the obligatory Jack Sparrow. Our mission? Capture all shark-finning boats, train the fishermen onboard to be marine biologists, perform emergency surgery on the sharks, and of course, take all the fishermen’s treasure for ourselves.
We managed to overtake one ship just as its captain was about to slice off the dorsal fin of a reef shark. Madame Ching the pirate queen shocked him with a spontaneous performance of “Call Me Maybe,” which made him drop the thrashing fish to the deck.
Noticing the peculiar shape of the shark’s stomach, I came over and performed CPR until he coughed up none other than Auntie Teach’s Recipe Book. Allegedly handwritten by the aunt of Edward Teach (Blackbeard) in the Golden Age, this pudgy, homespun volume of recipes to fuel illegal activity on the high seas has been sought after for centuries by foodies and historians alike!
I decided to sell it to a museum as an act of charity that also made me a lot of money. But before doing that, on our last day on the pirate ship, I flipped to a random shark-bile-soaked page and made the recipe lovingly scrawled (and personalized with drips of rum) for “Anti-Scurvy Scones.”
When traveling at sea for weeks, particularly before refrigerators were invented, getting fresh fruits and vegetables was a serious problem. Sailors used to drink lime juice to avoid nasty diseases resulting from a lack of certain vitamins.
Auntie Teach’s recipe includes flavorful limeade, as well as coconut flakes that could have been harvested from local islands, dried cranberries that would have been brought onboard to replace fresh fruit, and white chocolate chips to sweeten the deal. She packs even more nutrient-rich fruit into these breakfast delights with the surprise inner filling: passionately tart red raspberry compote made from frozen raspberries. As our formerly shark-finning friends loved smoothies, they had a freezer full of the berries for me to mush to pulp.
Over a breakfast of hot scones oozing gooey raspberry filling, we discussed the state of sharks in today’s changing world, as well as practical matters such as the leeches in Jack’s boots and how terrible the internet service was in the middle of the ocean.
By the time we got back to the states to drop me off at college, everyone was begging me for this recipe. I promised to publish it on my blog. And a pirate always keeps her word, especially if she doesn’t want to be troubled with revenge while trying to finish school. So here it is.
Click here for the full recipe: “Pirate” Scones (Key Lime Coconut Surprise)
Like reading about swashbuckling environmental pirates as much as you like healthy treats? Check out my free ebook People with Fishtails on Smashwords and Amazon, and my active author blog, aseaworthyfrigate.wordpress.com for more.
Image credits in order of appearance (excluding scone pictures which were taken and edited by me using iphoto and Ribbit):
“Nordsee”. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nordsee.jpg#/media/File:Nordsee.jpg
“Wreck of the Dart (Sketched on the Morning after the Storm of the 25th Octr 1842) at Madeira” by Emily Geneviève Smith – National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wreck_of_the_Dart_(Sketched_on_the_Morning_after_the_Storm_of_the_25th_Octr_1842)_at_Madeira.jpg#/media/File:Wreck_of_the_Dart_(Sketched_on_the_Morning_after_the_Storm_of_the_25th_Octr_1842)_at_Madeira.jpg
Soft Apricot Cranberry Oatmeal Scones
Passover has been over for almost a week now, and that means we need to re-stock our kitchen with staples such as bread, pretzels, and of course some tasty leavened pastries! Personally, I wasn’t bothered so much by the different dietary guidelines during this Passover. I found it gave me a chance to explore different types of food, such as plantains and stuffed peppers, as well as getting to do a lot of baking and cooking since my family couldn’t just be lazy and buy take-out meals like we normally do during the rest of the year! That said, certain members of the family (a.k.a. the guys) were really tortured during those eight days with no hamburgers, Subway sandwiches, pizza, bagels, etc. As soon as Passover ended they splurged on a whole bunch of gluten-loaded, leavened fast food. Meanwhile, I began brainstorming for how I’d fill our pantry with all the healthy baked goods we’d been missing out on.
One of the first things I bought after Passover was a big container of oats. I was thinking of making a batch of granola, my mom’s favorite, but the scone envy overtook me somehow and I decided it would be scones. Make that healthy, vegan-friendly, lower-fat, whole grain oatmeal scones, packed with fresh and dried fruit and sweetened with Truvia baking blend and organic maple syrup. I improvised a maple glaze that I thought would add a nice touch. However, it is really subtle. When my mom tried a scone, she asked me, “what’s this wet stuff on top?” So I guess the glaze isn’t really crucial, and the scones will taste good, if a slight bit less maple-y, without it. (Cutting the glaze would also make them even lower in fat, sugar, and calories.)
In my opinion, the best thing about these scones is their texture. They are splendidly soft, yet firm and dense, with a buttery flavor from the Earth Balance, but aren’t too rich to enjoy. There’s just the right proportion of oats to add a special something without taking over. Chunky apricot, chewy dried cranberries, and crunchy pistachios add flavor and contribute to the interesting texture.
I hope you enjoy this easy recipe! Perfect for an informal breakfast or anytime snack.
Soft Apricot Cranberry Oatmeal Scones
makes about 12 medium-sized scones
Ingredients:
scone dough
- 1- 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup oats (I used quick-cooking)
- 1 tbs baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- generous dash of cinnamon
- pinch or two of nutmeg
- 2 tbs Truvia baking blend
- 2 tbs Earth Balance Original or Whipped Buttery Spread (just use whatever you have on hand)
- 1/4 cup organic 100% pure light amber maple syrup
- 2/3 cup plain almond milk (I used Almond Breeze brand)
- 2 small apricots
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 2 tbs whole shelled pistachios
for wash
- 1 tbs plain almond milk
optional maple glaze
- 2 tbs Earth Balance Original or Whipped Buttery Spread
- 1-1/2 tbs organic 100% pure light amber maple syrup
- 1-1/2 tbs Truvia baking blend
- small dash cinnamon
Directions:
For scones: Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, and apply cooking spray generously.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and Truvia baking blend. Mix.
Cut in the 2 tbs Earth Balance in small pieces. Add 1/4 cup maple syrup and 2/3 cup almond milk. Mix well. Mixture will be sticky and thick.
Chop apricots into small chunks and discard stones. Pour chunks into scone dough mixture. Add dried cranberries and pistachios. Stir gently just until ingredients are evenly combined.
Drop handfuls of batter onto prepared cookie sheet, at least an inch or two apart from one another. Make them as big or as small, as wide or as tall, as suits your fancy. You can make a lot of little scones, or a few big scones – I made 15 medium-sized ones.
Bake scones at 425 Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes or until they are golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.
For glaze: In a small bowl, combine 2 tbs Earth Balance, 1-1/2 tbs maple syrup, 1-1/2 tbs Truvia baking blend, and a small dash of cinnamon. Use a spoon to gently mix until ingredients are well blended. Spoon glaze evenly over scones once they have cooled for at least 10-15 minutes.
Enjoy scones warm!
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Mini Mint Chocolate Cheer Scones
A Last Minute Holiday Recipe: Mini Mint Chocolate Cheer Scones
I call these scones “Mint Chocolate Cheer” because I made them during the winter holiday season, and they brought cheer to all who tasted them! With their colorful candies and adorable miniature size, they’d make a picturesque addition to a festive holiday table.
My inspiration for these scones occurred at dinnertime yesterday evening. We’d gone to Whole Foods market, where I chose some salad to take home. My mom, having recently eaten lunch, treated herself to a huge scone from the pastry section. So we sat across the kitchen table from one another, me nibbling my bed of greens while my mom feasted on this gorgeous pastry adorned with swirls of seductive chocolate. Something had to be done about this injustice! Health nuts are allowed to eat scones too…aren’t they?
My mom raved about the perfect taste and texture of the store-bought scone. It was like a dense muffin, she told me, crisp on the outside but soft and dense on the inside. “I’m afraid the only way to get that perfect texture is with a lot of butter,” she said with resignation. But I wasn’t about to be discouraged from my new lofty aspiration: to create some amazing scones of my own, bursting with chocolate, boasting the best texture of all the scones in the land, to grace my plate with the object of my envy. Oh, and completely free of butter.
With dinner concluded and my resolution set in stone, I turned to the oven to carry out my dream. As I made these scones with peanut butter and Earth Balance to replace the butter, whole wheat flour replacing half the all purpose stuff, and a light milk wash to substitute the traditional egg wash, I began to worry that my scones would fall flat. I’ve produced plenty of failed scones in my time, and sometimes wondered if it’s even possible to make healthy ones. When these babies went in the oven, my heart was filled with butterflies. Either I’d create something great, or I’d be scraping my charred dreams off the cookie sheet for the rest of the evening in sconeless solitude.
With the squeal of the oven timer, the results were in. And I’m pleased to report that they fell under the former category: the golden brown beauties tasted as lovely as the colorful candies I’d mixed into the dough. To top it all off oven-toasted coconut flakes graced each triangular triumph with some extra flair. Oh, and the texture was just right: a crisp, golden exterior gave way to a dense, soft and satisfying interior. And since they’re healthy mini scones, all health nuts are free to bask in the glory of these perfectly delicious cuties.
Click here for the full recipe!
Ringo Starr Scones
You come on like a dream, peaches and cream, lips like strawberry wine…
I have Ringo Starr to thank for the inspiration to make these scones. Well, him and my dad. For my sixteenth birthday a little over a week ago, he sent me the link to a video of Ringo Starr performing the song “You’re Sixteen, You’re Beautiful, and You’re Mine.” I’d actually never heard the song before. I didn’t want to like it… I don’t generally approve of love songs written by older men towards very young woman. They have a tendency to strike me as a little, um…wrong? I can’t imagine dating someone as old as that.
But as I listened to the song, I couldn’t help but start to like it. The music was great, and Ringo Starr does have a nice vocal talent, even if he is singing about something a little off. And when I heard the line about “peaches and cream”, I suddenly remembered how I used to love peaches cut up in a bowl with coffee creamer when I was younger. After that I just knew I had to bake something peaches-and-cream flavored. It became a bit of an obsession, until I finally got some extra time on Thursday to turn my vision into a reality. The end result was scrumptious! Thank you, Ringo Starr! (But I still would never date you.)
These scones are 100% whole wheat, with some steel-cut oats for an extra touch of nutrition. Each scone has nearly 3 grams of fiber, which is pretty good for a baked treat. (For even more fiber, you could even try replacing some of the flour with more steel-cut oats.) The texture is hearty, yet light. I think using all whole wheat flour gave the scones an almost nutty taste, which was also pleasant. I baked peach chunks into the scones, and each one has a dollop of “cream” in the center made from white chocolate and Greek yogurt. It actually does taste like sweet cream!
Peaches ‘N’ Cream Scones
based on this recipe from King Arthur Flour
makes 14 medium scones
Ingredients:
for scones
- 2 cups King Arthur whole wheat flour (or other brand whole wheat flour of your choice)
- 1/3 cup quick cook steel cut oats
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- a dash of cinnamon
- 5 tbls Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread
- 3 tbls organic light agave syrup
- 1 Chobani brand peach flavored Greek yogurt
- 1 egg (I used 3 tbls Egg Beaters)
- 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 small to medium peach, diced into little pieces
for “cream” filling
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 tbl plain Greek yogurt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.
To make the “cream filling”, microwave the white chocolate until melted. Add the one tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt and stir until combined. Set this aside while preparing the scone batter.
To make the scone batter: in a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, oats, and cinnamon. Mix well to combine.
Cut in the Earth Balance and mix it into the dry ingredients. Then add the agave syrup, peach yogurt, egg or Egg Beaters, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Mix just until combined but be careful not to over mix. Now add in the peach pieces and stir.
Drop about half the scone batter onto the prepared cookie sheet in 14 different little blobs, leaving some space between each. Use a spoon to place a dollop of the white chocolate/yogurt mixture onto the center of each blob of batter. Now, use the remaining batter to cover over the “cream” on each one of the scones.
Bake scones in the preheated oven for 13 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.
Beautiful, and deliciously mine!
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True Healthy Me 
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