Sunny Summer Citrus Scones (gluten & dairy-free, vegan)

 Summer may be almost over the horizon, but it's not too late for one more delicious celebration of the bright fresh flavors of this season. These scones are light, tender, buttery and delicious... and also free of most common allergens. I hope you enjoy them.

Sunny Summer Citrus Scones

vegan + no wheat/gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, almonds, rice, potato, sorghum

Makes about ten 2-3" scones

(Bake for about 18 minutes)

 

Preheat oven to 350 F* 

Make (non-dairy) "buttermilk

Combine, and let sit until needed ~

1/3 alternative milk (I use SoDelicious Unsweet Original coconut milk)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice 

(bottled juice is fine, but I used the juice from the lemon I zested for this recipe- zest first, then juice)

Dry ingredients

In a large bowl, combine:

2 cups gluten-free flour mix (I use 1 cup each of millet flour** and arrowroot starch)

 (plus more for rolling out dough)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum***

1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk together very thoroughly. The texture will change when they're well-enough combined.

Partly mixed...

Fully mixed...

See how the texture changed there? 

(The xanthan gum is activated by two things: movement and hydration. Mixing begins the process, which is completed after the liquid is added.)

Cut in***&

1/3 cup butter alternative (I use Spectrum palm kernel oil shortening)

  

Wet ingredients

- the "buttermilk" mixture

3 Tablespoons honey (or agave nectar- though it may change the texture- see link in notes on flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

zest of 1 small orange -and- 1 lemon 

(if your orange and lemon are large, only zest half of each)

Stir together and add to dry ingredients. Start stirring together, then add

2 teaspoons melted butter-flavored coconut oil

(plain coconut oil will still give a nice, buttery texture- I just like the flavor boost of the buttery kind)

Stir until combined, and dough starts to thicken. ***&&

 

Turn dough out onto surface lightly dusted with gluten-free flour mix.Gather dough together. Gently pat it out, fold it over onto itself; repeat a few times. Pat or roll until about 3/4- 1" thick. (They will not rise much as they bake. The height of the dough will probably be the height of the finished scones.) Cut using sharp cutter, dipping cutter in flour mix between cuts so the dough won't stick as badly. Set scones on parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving space between them. Gather scraps together, pat out and cut more scones. Repeat until all dough is used.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes, until bottoms are a light golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack. If left on the pan, the bottoms will continue to cook, making them tough and overly dark. Store airtight in the refrigerator; eat within 3-5 days.

Enjoy!

 

-------

*My oven is a small, gas-powered RV oven. It cooks high and unevenly. If you have a standard oven, you may need to bake at a higher temperature- like 375 or 400.

**Note on flour: You may need to adjust the amounts of liquid and fat. If you're using a more coarse flour, use 1/3 cup each of milk and shortening. If your flour is more fine, you may need to increase both to 1/2 cup. 

See my post on brands of millet flour and their textures for details (also, a note on agave nectar):

https://sticks-and-twigs.blogspot.com/2020/09/matters-of-flour-and-sweet.html

*** Xanthan gum serves a purpose similar to gluten in wheat flour. I know it's expensive to buy a whole bag, but you only use a small amount per recipe so it lasts a long time. The difference it makes is important, so it is definitely worth the investment.

***& Cutting in:

I use a pastry blender. You can also work the shortening in using your hands. Either way works fine. 

***&& As mentioned above, the xanthan gum is activated by movement and hydration. You don't want to over-mix the dough, but keep stirring just until it thickens. The change should be pretty obvious, as in just a few moments it goes from almost a batter consistency to a soft dough.

 

 

Matters of Flour and Sweet

 There is a reason that I haven't posted many recipes over the past several months. I've been struggling with the texture of my bakes; trying to figure out what changed them. Finally, I think I've solved the mystery. Two factors have been at play: flour texture and changing sweetener

*Flour

I use millet flour, mixed with arrowroot or tapioca starch, because these are the only alternative flours that my body will currently tolerate. In the past, I would stock up on millet flour through the Azure Standard company. Azure is a natural foods co-op that delivers nearly nationwide. They carried "superfine" millet flour, which was processed in a unique way that resulted in a very fine, soft flour. Now that we live on the road, it's not as simple to be a part of Azure. I did place an order when we planned to be home last winter, but the magical millet flour was out of stock. They'd had large quantities on hand, and then it suddenly all went away. I suspect that someone, maybe a chain of health-food stores, swooped in and bought all of it. That's frustrating and feels a little unfair. With that option gone, I had to start relying on what's available in stores. This was probably good in a way. Since I publish recipes using this specific flour, it's good for me to know that people may have trouble finding it. There are a couple of primary brands that produce millet flour. Sometimes I'd find one; sometimes the other. One time I filled my canister with what I had on hand, which was a mixture of the two brands. As I put the canister away, I noticed something strange. It almost looked like sand art.

That day, the lights started to dawn. I suddenly realized that my struggles with baking just might be due to differences in flour! 

A more coarse flour will not absorb liquid or fat as well. This would explain why I would follow my own recipe exactly, and end up with something closer to pancake batter than scone dough! After thinking through which flour was the lighter layer, I thought my problems were solved...but still faced struggles with almost every bake.

Finally, I went online and ordered some of both the usual brands of millet flour, as well as a third brand I found on Amazon. 

 

 

I opened all three and did a side-by-side comparison. Can you see the subtle color difference between them?

I picked up a pinch of each flour and rubbed it between my fingers. One of the standard brands felt silky and fine (the one in the middle). The other, darker flour (on the left) had a gritty feeling. The third brand fell somewhere between gritty and smooth. I finally had my answer!

Because I hate to waste food, I mixed all three in my canister rather than throwing out the coarsest one. Together, the texture is not bad. Now I know, though, which one works best for me. If I can't find the smooth one in stores, I can always buy it online. I'm sure you're waiting with bated breath to know which was the winner. 😉 I won't keep you in suspense any longer...

And the winner, of the finest, most silky millet flour award, is...

Bob's Red Mill! 

Also...it's a good thing I had these pictures. As I wrote this, I was thinking it was Arrowhead that turned out to be the finer flour. I had to go back to this side-by-side to remember which was truly the best. And..it's Bob's! Not that Arrowhead is not a good flour. It's just a slightly coarser grind, almost like a semolina wheat flour. You can use it, and it will work very well, as long as you use slightly less fat and liquid. The Relative flour would also work fine, as long as adjustments are made. Should I add notes to this effect with my recipes? That the amounts need to be adjusted slightly, depending on the brand of flour? It does affect the results. Yeah, I probably will. 

The other discovery I recently made did not require the same degree of research, but did solve a bewildering problem.

* Sweet

Over the past couple of months, sometimes my scones would have this funky texture. Rather than being light and tender, they would seem gummy and rubbery...almost stretchy. It was very odd. Recently, I had two different scone recipes that sounded good, so I made them both on the same day. I used honey for the first, but that emptied the bottle. For the second batch, I switched to agave nectar. They're both liquid sweeteners, so this should be fine, right? Ha! 

The first batch, a recipe I'll be sharing soon, turned out beautifully. The second had that same odd, wet, rubbery texture.  Aha!!! It was...the agave nectar!

Though both are liquid sweeteners, there is something about agave nectar that changes the whole result. 

I'd switched to agave nectar, as honey is a little higher on the glycemic index and can be inflammatory. Now I know that agave nectar changes things in a way that I do not enjoy.

My new options: use honey, but use less of it. Use another sweetener.

I'd been boosting the sweetness level in the recipe and had actually doubled the amount of honey. I'll try backing it off again and see what I think. I've also thought of using coconut nectar instead. That is fairly low on the glycemic scale, but has a different, almost caramel-like flavor. Will it be too strong a flavor? Will the change it brings be tasty or a little too much? I'll let you know. 

~ Thank you for joining me on this fascinating journey 😉 into the science and alchemy of alternative baking. I hope it's proven informative and helpful.

Thanks for stopping by.