Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Healthier Banana Chocolate Chip Scones

With less sugar, calories and fat, and more fibre than a storebought scone, these Healthier Banana Chocolate Chip Scones topped with almonds and raw sugar make a great teatime treat!

Healthier Banana Chocolate Chip Scones

Scones are a rarity in this household. Mom and I both adore them (and their cousins, buttermilk biscuits), but I can no longer eat them and she doesn't trust herself around their buttery, sweet natures. On the rare occasion a biscuit or two might pop up at dinnertime, but scones? No dice. Too many calories, too much fat, and not filling enough to warrant the indulgence.

Then I came across a recipe that allows for sweet, tender and just-crumbly biscuits that also happens to be whole grain and a little bit better for the waistline. While searching for a use-up for bananas that wasn't traditional banana bread, Chemistry Cachet's blog popped up. The science (obviously) looked promising and I decided to give it a shot, making a few modifications to use what I had and nix what I didn't. The result was exactly what I had in mind: nutty and sweet, soft and flaky, and perfect room temperature or slightly warmed and topped with a dollop of homemade yogurt. Not only that, but they had both nuts and chocolate going for them - definite bonuses in our book.

Taste and texture aside, these scones are nutritional halos in the scone world. While sweet and nutty, each wedge will only set you back about 170 calories and 7 grams of fat, and contain just over 5 grams of sugar while 3.7 grams of fibre offset the carb load. These are not piddlingly tiny scones, either - one wedge is plenty for having with afternoon tea and is filling enough to last through to dinner. For comparison, a banana chocolate chip scone from COBS has  260 calories, 10 grams of fat and 17 grams of sugar, with only 1 gram of fibre.

Have you "healthified" a recipe lately? What would you love to make "better for you" but still great-tasting?


Healthier Banana Chocolate Chip Scones
Adapted from Chemistry Cachet
Makes 8
1 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 ½ tbsp flax meal
⅓ cup jaggery
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp walnut oil
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
1 extra large (or 3 mini) ripe bananas
¼ cup dairy-free mini chocolate chips
2 tbsp flaked almonds
1 tsp jaggery
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and flax meal.
  3. In a blender, puree jaggery, vanilla, almond milk, oil and banana.
  4. Add to the dry mixture, mixing well to form a soft dough. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  5. Form into a ball once everything is mixed together.
  6. Put on a parchment lined baking sheet and pat into a disc.
  7. Sprinkle with almonds and jaggery.
  8. Cut into 8 wedges, but do not separate.
  9. Bake about 25 minutes.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 172.2
Total Fat: 7.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 6.3 mg
Total Carbs: 22.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.7 g
Protein: 3.7 g

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