Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Vegan Low-Fat Buttermilk Drop Scones with Dried Fruit


I always thought I didn't like scones.  It turns out that I don't like stale scones.  Warm, fresh scones straight from the oven are a different story entirely.  They're fast, easy, delicious, and divine with a cup of coffee or Oaxacan hot chocolate.

I veganized this recipe from The New All Purpose Joy of Cooking.  It really is a great book, even for vegetarians and vegans.

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 TB ground flax seeds (you can grind whole flax seeds in a dry blender)
  • 3 TB water
  • 1 TB white vinegar
  • ~1 c. soy milk
  • 3 TB oil
  • 1/2 c. dried fruit such as raisins, currants, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, chopped apricots, or chopped pears
  • cinnamon sugar
PREPARATION
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a cookie sheet.
  2.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
  3. In a smaller bowl, whisk the ground flax seeds and water until the mixture is viscous.
  4. Put the vinegar in a measuring cup.  Add soy milk to equal one cup.
  5. Whisk the oil into the flaxseed/water mixture until combined.  Whisk in vinegar/soy milk mixture and dried fruit.
  6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are just moistened (don't over mix!).  The batter will be very sticky.
  7. Using a half-cup measuring cup, ice cream scoop, or a soup ladle, drop the scones onto the greased cookie sheet, leaving at least one inch between scones.  Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.
  8. Bake on the center rack at 400°F until the tops of the scones are golden, 12-15 minutes.  My oven maxes out at 350°F, so I baked my scones for 20-30 minutes. 
  9. Make sure you eat at lease one scone straight out of the oven! 
Makes about 7 scones.