No major inspiration for today’s recipe! My parents were staying the night, and I wanted to treat them to scones for breakfast since they are one of my mom’s favorites, and something she has been missing since going gluten-free. I also wanted to treat myself because I had to get out of bed eight times last night between nursing the baby (who has a cold) and trying to get my 6-year old to stop babbling and go back to sleep after waking up at 4am.

I divided the dough in half and mixed frozen blueberries (the baby’s favorite fruit) into part of it, and chocolate chips into the rest. They held their shape perfectly as they baked, and came out with crisp exteriors and moist interiors, along with that crumbly texture characteristic of scones. I actually liked them way better than regular wheat scones, which always seemed so dry and bland to me.

Blueberry scones at left, chocolate chip at right. Notice how nicely these held their shape in the oven!

This recipe could easily be adapted to any flavor of scone and would also make divine buttermilk biscuits; I’ve included notes for adaptation below, as well as an adaptation that makes a sandwich bread substitute, and even a cookie variant. Talk about versatility–this recipe is like the little black dress of grain-free baking!

Basic Grain-Free Scones

2 C almond flour
½ C arrowroot starch
2 T sucanat or coconut sugar
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 C yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract or other flavorings
2 T pastured butter, melted
1 C blueberries, chocolate chips or other mix-ins

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the almond flour, arrowroot, sea salt, sucanat, baking powder and soda. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla and yogurt.

Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until just combined. Gently mix in the butter, then the blueberries. Form the batter into a ball and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Press into a circle and cut into 8 wedges.

Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cool on a wire rack.

Variations:
For paleo-friendly and dairy-free, substitute coconut yogurt or pureed fruit or squash, and coconut oil in place of butter.

For basic buttermilk biscuits, substitute buttermilk for yogurt and omit sucanat and vanilla.

For garlic cheddar biscuits, make basic buttermilk biscuits and use shredded sharp cheddar cheese as the mix-in, then brush finished biscuits with garlic butter. These can either be formed as drop biscuits or lightly rolled out with a sprinkle of arrowroot starch and cut out into biscuit shapes.

For flatbread rounds reminiscent of soft sandwich bread, increase arrowroot to 3/4 C, increase yogurt to 1/2 C, add a second egg, omit baking powder, and season (or don’t!) as desired. Scoop in 6 portions onto a baking sheet and spread with a spoon into 4-6″ rounds; bake at 350F for 15 minutes. This variant is based on the recipe here, and makes great peanut butter and honey sandwiches, tuna melts, personal pizza crusts; baked rounds can also be toasted in a regular toaster. Another option is to bake 1/4-1/2 C portions in ramekins for something more like English muffins.

For big soft cookies: Increase sucanat to 1/3 C, and dose out in 1/4 C dollops onto a baking sheet. These could variously be flavored with vanilla and chocolate chips; lemon extract and poppseeds; cinnamon (think snickerdoodle) or other spices; and probably many others. I look forward to experimenting!

Source: Adapted from Frisky Lemon.