Scones may just be my favourite coffee shop indulgence. They’re flaky, buttery and available in just about any flavour. The problem is, they are also often absolute calorie/fat/sugar bombs, which I can do without. So I thought I would try to create a better scone! One that would taste like the 500 calorie evil things sold by an unnamed ubiquitous Seattle-based coffee shop, but less evil.
I’ve replaced the usual buttermilk with low-fat plain yogurt and added in ground flax seed for an omega-3 and fibre boost, along with fresh cranberries and a bit of lemon zest for some antioxidant punch. Unfortunately I didn’t have any whole wheat flour around, or else I would have tossed in some of that as well.
The recipe is loosely based on this one as I needed a basic scone recipe to work around. Mine baked much quicker than the recipe prescribed so they turned out a bit more browned that I would have wished, so I’ve reduced the baking time below. Also, even though I’ve made these as Lemon Cranberry scones, the recipe could easily be adapted to make blueberry, or raisin, or orange, or chocolate, or… anything you want to toss in, scones.
The smell of these while they were baking was absolutely intoxicating, I was really quite tempted to grab one out of the oven but the prospect of eating raw dough fortunately prevented me from doing so and they were well worth the wait. The were just sweet enough to accommodate the tartness of the raw cranberries and the lemon was a good complement. If you use sweetened dried cranberries, I suggest cutting down the sugar as they won’t be as tart. I was worried that the flax would change the texture too much and take away the flakiness that scones are so well known for, but luckily it didn’t; So omega-3’s and fibre it is!
I made these while waiting to go out for New Year’s festivities and warmed them up in the toaster oven the next morning for my family’s impromptu New Year breakfast and they were just as good as the day before.
Are these identical to commercially made coffee house scones? No. But are they absolutely delicious and a great compromise? Most certainly.
These can also easily be made egg-free if necessary (see below) and I’ve added instructions for an optional lemon icing drizzle.
Less Evil Lemon Cranberry Scones
Yield: 8 scones
- 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
- Zest of half a lemon
- 1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed (brown or gold, but make sure it’s ground, your body doesn’t break down the whole seeds well so it’s hard to get the benefits from it)
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1/2 egg (I obviously didn’t have half an egg lying around so I used the other half to make myself some French toast) (Egg can be replaced by about 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch to make this egg free)
- Preset oven to 400F
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add cranberries and lemon zest.
- Stir in the 1/3 cup yogurt just until moistened
- Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead 6-8 times. Pat into an 8-in. circle. Cut into eight wedges. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Mix milk and egg and brush on top of scones.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks.
Optional lemon icing drizzle
- 1/4 cup of icing sugar
- A couple drops of lemon juice (to taste)
- ~1 teaspoon of water (until you get the right consistency)
- Mix all ingredients together and drizzle over scones once cooled
- Allow to set and serve
Per scone (without icing):
164 calories | 9.3g sugar | 6.7g fat
Happy 2011,
CollegeBakerGirl
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