Maple Cream Scones

Still here. Just have been finding other things to keep me busy the past few weeks with getting ready for baby #2. It is a very exhausting and exhilarating experience to get ready for another life in your house. I have a few more weeks to go before d-day, but hoping to go early. Knowing this is very unlikely, but a girl can hope can't she ;)

We also recently enjoyed a family outing to a local farm that taps over a 100 maple trees to gather maple sap for maple syrup. We learned that it can take anywhere from 46-60 gallons of maple sap to make only ONE gallon of maple syrup. And that depends on the thickness of the sap which is usually determined on what time of the season it is being tapped. My son loved watching the sap being boiled down to syrup and I bet he will be talking about the 'sugar shack' and drinking the syrup sample from a cup for weeks. We also stocked up on a gallon of the sweet stuff, so hope to be able to save it for the many months to come. It was also a fun way to spend a Saturday in the gloomy spring weather we have been having. It was snowing here yesterday and doesn't look to be any major warm-ups anytime soon.... so maybe May will bring us warmer weather and spring flowers. More hoping here...

In the meantime...I have been baking. No surprises here. We have made a few fun birthday cakes that I hope to post soon. Of course we have been making lots of pancakes with the gift of fresh and local maple syrup, and have been trying to up the green smoothies intake and fresher options as we try and bring a lighter spring appetite into being. This is my go to pancake recipe, and I have subbed the buckwheat for a combo of millet and rice flours, and have subbed the lemon juice for other juices or seed milk. It seems like we always have a good outcome so it's fun to play around with flavors, fruit and other spices.

These maple cream scones were inspired by a thought about how fabulous the flavor maple is and the need to pair it with a warm beverage on a cold spring day. And that's just what these scones promise. A simple gluten-free baked good that doesn't involve sugar, junk or gloom. Enjoy!

Maple Cream Scone Recipe 
{gluten, dairy and nut-free, vegan}

1 cup of sifted 'sweet white' sorghum flour
1/2 cup of millet flour
1/2 cup of white rice flour
1 TB of GMO-free baking powder
2 TB of finely ground golden flax seed (meal)
1 ts. of cardamon (or if too strong, use cinnamon instead)
1/2 ts. of sea salt

1/3 cup of pure maple syrup
1/2 cup of chopped or semi-soft vegan butter (Earth Balance-soy-free, or use organic coconut oil or butter) I used a combo of both options to have a little buttery flavor added as well

1/3 cup of coconut cream (I used a vegan option of the new barista original creamer from So Delicious)
1/3 cup of non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious no sugar added coconut)
1 TB of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of pitted and chopped dates (about 15-16 dates)

In a large mixing bowl, add all of the above dry ingredients. Mix well together and then in a blender add the cream, milk, cider and dates, blend well until you get a liquidy puddling-like substance. Then add that to the dry mix along with the maple syrup and butter/oil. Mix with a spatula and let it also sit and soak up moisture for a few minutes. Do not over mix. Biscuits and scones works better if they are not mixed to oblivion. 

This recipe will make 12 smaller scones are 6 very large one. I made the large ones to be able to freeze them and pull one out at a time to share with one other person when defrosted. 

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-22 minutes until golden brown and stiff. If you want to pull from the oven 5 minutes before done and brush with more maple syrup and then bake again for 5 more minutes you will end up with a nice glaze of maple in the final product. 

Let cool for at least 15 minutes before moving from cookie sheet. Then enjoy with a nice tea, coffee or other favorite warm beverage. 

This recipe is pretty simple and contains some of my most favorite ingredients of dates, maple syrup and coconut. 

I hope you enjoy and make some space for rest, growth and play this weekend.

Much love and life to you!

Raspberry Coconut Scones (vegan)

Hello fall raspberries! You are my new best friend. Can you believe I have never been raspberry picking?! I know, appalling! I changed that today and hauled my sweet boy to an organic raspberry farm on the outside of the city. It was a glorious day, perfect picking weather and of course I had a wonderful time. I was so in love with each berry. So sweet and beautiful. I took way too many pictures of these berries, and I promise I will only share a few so that you can enjoy them too, and perhaps find some fall raspberries of your own.

Um, hello, don't these just look delicious. I have been sneaking one here and there...just to make sure they are still as wonderful as I thought, and...they are. If you are a local reader and you are interested in where I picked, just ask me and I will send you to the place I went to. I think they may have a few more days or weeks of picking... not really sure how long the fall season of raspberries goes. But, I must say that it is pretty fabulous that raspberries have a season in the early summer and the early fall. How kind of them...

I also realized when I got home that I have never posted an official raspberry recipe on my blog. I mean, raspberries have been a part of my life. I love them, but to think I didn't give them proper love and affection with a recipe of their own is saddening. So, once again, I changed that today... and created a recipe of their own. Plus, you didn't think I was going to pick raspberries and NOT bake with them did you...

To be honest, when I think about raspberries in baked goods... I think of scones. When growing up in the bakery I worked at in high school and college, raspberry cream cheese scones were on the menu most days of the week. I remember making, eating, and sharing those like nostalgic memories from the glory days of adolescence. But now, I am a gluten-free baker that chooses to avoid the dairy, so I must make a delicious raspberry scone minus cream cheese and gluten... I turn to coconut flour for this one. Just a bit of it... it has a lot of fiber and protein...AND amazing flavor. So, this scone is called a raspberry coconut scone because of that. If you are avoiding coconut, then I would make this recipe with a GF flour blend, if you are avoiding grains, then I would say use 1 cup of almond flour or meal instead of the tapioca and millet. If you have other questions then email me and maybe we can figure out some subs.

Raspberry Coconut Scone Recipe (vegan)

1/3 cup of organic coconut flour

1/3 cup of tapioca flour

2/3 cup of organic millet flour

1 ts. of baking powder

1 ts. of baking soda

1/2 ts. of sea salt

1 juiced fresh lemon (2 TB of juice)

1/4 cup of maple syrup

1/3 cup of apple juice

3 TB of warmed coconut oil

1 cup of raspberries

Mix all of the dry ingredients first, then add the wet. Mix well and lastly add the raspberries. BE VERY CAREFUL to just fold them in and not let them bleed too much into the batter. Then form little handfuls (1/3 cup ish) in your hand or spoon and put them on a parchment-papered cooking sheet. The batter is in between a muffin batter and cookie batter. This recipe makes 8 scones or 10-12 baby-scones. So basically pretty sticky, but because of the coconut flour there is some stiffness and form to it. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until they are golden brown and the raspberries are all pretty and baked. Let cool for 10 minutes before moving to avoid breakage. They are a bit crumbly, but they taste fabulous!

Enjoy with tea, and perhaps with some quiet time. Ponder life's gifts.

Fall is just around the corner now. I think Friday it starts at like 5:05am or something...I guess I will have to share a "welcome to fall" post on the official day of fall. Maybe some pumpkin... I think so!

Much love to you as always!