Sunday, July 23, 2017

Chocolate and Roasted Cherry "Scones"

These Chocolate and Roasted Cherry Scones are gluten free, dairy free and full of Summer cherry flavour.

Chocolate and Roasted Cherry Scones

There is a good reason why I don't "get" the whole Paleo diet thing.

Growing up eating everything and anything (granted "paleo" wasn't even a thing back then), I became used to the textures and tastes of certain things. If we wanted a cupcake, we had a cupcake. Biscuits were flaky and buttery. Cookies were (ideally) chewy and full of good stuff. Flour was just something that was a "given" when you baked treats. When I started baking gluten free, most of the recipes I made were (and are) designed to emulate the "regular" treats in texture and taste, and by and large they do.

The Paleo thing, though, is a whole other ball-game. The creators of the diet claim the food "approved" for consumption is what the cavemen ate, like fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, and nuts, but no grain. Grains are what give most baked goods structure and body, not to mention the texture we're accustomed to. Take those away, and what you make might be called a cookie, but you'll definitely know it isn't. Whether the grainless diet arugument holds water is up for debate, but for my two cents, I'd rather eat a real cupcake than an unsweetened, dehydrated mass of ground seeds and nuts smeared in avocado and called a cupcake. If you're going to eat like a caveman, it's whole, unprocessed foods and that's it. None of them had Vitamixes, ovens or freezers, after all.

But I digress. Someone had given me a copy of Brittany Angell's book Every Last Crumb for Christmas a couple years ago, touting her scone recipe as being nothing short of amazing. I'm willing to give anything a go, and gave the recipe an honest shot.

As you can see above, my "scones" look nothing like traditional scones, and they certainly didn't act like traditional scones as I was trying to make them, the mixture being more "batter" than "dough". I don't understand why I had an issue that clearly other bloggers and Brittany Angell didn't (except I went for the "non-dried" fruit option), but I had to make these in a springform pan and bake them for a significant amount of time before cutting wedges was even an option. My changes are given in the recipe below, which still tasted delicious, albeit more of a cake than something to spread jam on. I wound up compromising in the end, melting some almond butter for a drizzle overtop when served.

Have you had any experiences baking Paleo? What are your tips / frustrations?


Adapted from Brittany Angell's book Every Last Crumb

Chocolate and Roasted Cherry "Scones"
Makes 8
¾ cup fresh or thawed frozen pitted cherries, halved
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour (I used a mix of 3 oz (1 cup) almond and 1.5 oz (½ cup) pumpkin seed flour)
2 tbsp ground chia seed
½ cup arrowroot starch
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ cup Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
¼ cup non-hydrogenated shortening
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
⅓ cup jaggery or fine-grind raw sugar
¾ tsp apple cider vinegar
⅓ cup sugar-free chocolate chips

*Use any ground nuts or seeds that you prefer. Tapioca can be substituted for the arrowroot.
  1. Heat oven to 450F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Spread the cherries out in one layer on the sheet.
  3. Roast for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through. Set aside and let cool
  4. Reduce the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk the almond and pumpkin seed flours, chia seed, arrowroot starch, baking soda and salt.
  6. Cut in the Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and shortening until the mixture consists of pea-sized lumps.
  7. In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the vanilla, jaggery and vinegar. Pour into the flour mixture and mix just until the dough comes together.
  8. Stir in the chocolate chips and cooled cherry-chocolate mixture.
  9. Spread in a lined 6” springform pan, place on the baking sheet and bake 20 minutes.
  10. Score into 8 scones with a bench scraper or sharp knife (do not separate the pieces)
  11. Return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes longer.
  12. Remove the springform ring and bake a final 15 minutes.
  13. Cool 30 minutes, then cut along the score lines and separate the pieces.
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 309.7

  • Total Fat: 23.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 46.5 mg
  • Sodium: 80.7 mg
  • Total Carbs: 18.8 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 4.4 g
  • Protein: 6.4 g

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