mmm scones!

Today I decided to try my hand at a pastry I have always loved but have never ventured to make--the scone. I'd been searching for the perfect scone recipe for quite some time, and just last week discovered this one on VegWeb for oatmeal cinnamon scones. VegWeb is a great recipe resource because readers post vegan recipes, and many of them are whole grain or healthy in other ways too. This scones recipe is whole wheat and vegan, perfect! So this morning, I pulled up the recipe, did a few minor alterations, and set out to make a batch of the perfect scones.

The biggest thing I decided to change about the recipe was the add-ins. The original recipe called for raisins, and raisin scones aren't my favorite, nor did we have any raisins lying around. The substitutes called for in the recipe were for dried fruit, and we didn't have any of that either. So, I decided to use fresh fruit, and told myself that the worst that could happen would be that I'd have to add in a little extra flour to compensate for the water content.

Apple scones are by far my favorite, so I chopped up a gala apple and sauteed it on the stove with a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and half the brown sugar called for in the recipe--1/4 cup. The other 1/4 cup I stirred in with the dry ingredients as normal. The recipe states that you can add another 1/2 cup of sugar if you are so inclined, but I would advise against this if you are already a scone lover, as you probably won't appreciate an overly-sweetened version.

After sauteeing the apple, I mixed up the dough. The only other way I changed the recipe was that I chopped the oatmeal in the Magic Bullet so that the scones would be smoother on the inside but still have the oatmeal flavor.....oh! And I added a little vanilla. So after that, I made the dough into a round cake like so, that looks something like a raw hamburger pattie in the photo (but was, in reality, much bigger):

Next, I cut it into eight slices, like a pie. Then, I laid each one out on the cookie sheet and topped with a leftover mixture I had tucked away after making banana bread muffins several weeks ago. The topping included oatmeal, cinnamon, brown sugar, and roasted sunflower seeds.

Then the scones baked for 15 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

And then, ta-da! Delicious!

And since I'm not British, but I am Southern, I enjoyed my scone with a glass of iced tea.


Mmmm!