Accidental Discovery

If you’re a regular reader, you may already know how much I love a good mocha (read “My Precious In A Cup”).  What you won’t know is that a couple weeks ago as I was standing in front of the coffee stand waiting for a cup of hot frothy goodness, I happened to glance at the pastry basket and discovered some freshly made scones.  “Yum,” I mumbled, “those look delightful.”

Still Revving Up

My brain instantly started churning, which if you could actually hear it at that time of day probably sounds an awful lot like the coffee grinder the young woman was using to grind my roast.

Now since hubby and I are using more whole grains for their many health benefits, I began to wonder if anyone had ever tried whole wheat flour in their scones.  Naturally, I thought about this all the way home, and by the time I made it back to the house, the caffeine had done its magic, and I envisioned a new scone recipe project.  Wow, I’m furiously glad I did.

On A Mission

What I discovered after a bit of research was, yes, there were recipes for whole wheat scones.  However, being the type of cook who reads a recipe and then has to do her own thing (read “Playing By The Rules Of The Kitchen”), I viewed the recipes I found as a starting point.

My first attempt at making scones turned out surprisingly good. In that version, I used all whole wheat flour and regular milk.  I mention this in case you don’t have all the ingredients I listed below.  These scones are still worth making—just use 2 cups of flour overall and you’ll be fine.

As I got to thinking about how to give my original recipe more “kick”, I switched to whole wheat pastry flour, tried the other grains, and opted for buttermilk.  This last rendition is our now current favorite.  I just want to add, these are so good we eat them plain.  I’m sure many of you might want to add a little butter, honey, or a delicious jam, but really you can go without.

Ingredients:

Scones:

1 ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour (if you use regular whole wheat flour the scones will be denser)

¼ cup oat meal (run through a blender/chopper for a smoother texture)

¼ cup flax seed meal

¼ cup wheat germ

3 tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 ½ teaspoon baking powder

5 tablespoons cold butter

1 egg (room temperature, lightly beaten)

7-9 tablespoons buttermilk

 

Lemon Sugar Glaze

2 tablespoons sugar

The juice from ½ a small fresh lemon (look for “Baby” lemons if they have them)

1 tablespoon water

 

Mixing Them Up

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the scone dry ingredients in a large bowl (everything from flour through baking powder above).  Using a knife cut in the butter, until there are small pea size bits in the mixture. Stir in the egg and enough of the buttermilk to make a soft dough.

Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it about 10 times (you don’t want to over do this). Pat into a round disk about ½ inch thick. Slice into 8 pieces. Place on an non-greased baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes (until golden brown).

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While the scones are baking, mix up the Lemon Sugar Glaze—combine the sugar, lemon juice and water. Mix well.

When the scones are done, remove the pan from oven and brush the tops of the scones with the glaze.  Serve immediately.  Store any leftovers in a plastic bag (they should be okay for 3-4 days).

If you want to try your own thing, scones can easily be embellished with currents, raisins, or any other dried fruit you prefer. Just mix them into the dough with the egg & buttermilk.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do.

By Carol Austin
© 2011 Javabird LLC.  All rights reserved.

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If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to see:
The Frosting Straight From Heaven
Or to see the complete list of our recipes click here.

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