My first experience of enjoying scones was at Wisdom Tea House. We tried Chocolate chip scones and Raspberry scones. It was love at first bite – not very sweet, melt-in your mouth and crumbly. They were served with lemon curd . Scones are generally not very sweet and hence they are almost always served with jelly, clotted cream or lemon curd.
| The Royal Biscuits ! |
I prefer baking cakes and cookies at home as it gives me enough options to pick the ingredients ( whole wheat over white flour ) and control the amount of sugar and butter that goes into their making.
Carrying on the tradition of baking something sweet on Valentine’s day, this year I baked scones for my boys. An essential part of the fashionable ritual of taking tea in England, scones are biscuit like pastries or quick breads. These are traditionally made from wheat flour but modern tea houses use oatmeal and barley too. Once the dough is ready you can roll them into wedge shape or in round, square and diamond shapes. A perfect combination of crisp exterior and soft, flaky interior they can be relished independently or, more traditionally, paired with tea with jam and clotted cream, just the way they do in England.
After browsing a few scone recipes on Internet, I concluded that a dry, firm dough is what we need to make light and fluffy scones. We make such kind of dough for many Indian sweets and breads. Backed by my experience of making Indian breads, I thought of creating my own recipe. I made the following changes to the recipes I browsed :
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Using whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour.
- No eggs.
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Replacing butter with vegetable oil. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter in case you prefer that.
Do try this recipe when you want to inspire a little royalty in your own home.
Makes : 8 scones
Course: Appetizer / Breakfast/Dessert
Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Baking time : 25 minutes
Ingredients
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2 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour + more for dusting
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6 tbsp sugar
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1 tbsp baking powder
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1 tsp baking soda
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½ tsp kosher salt
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1 cup raisins and walnuts ( any ratio )
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1 tsp vanilla flavor
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1/4 cup Canola oil
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1 cup heavy cream/ whole milk
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Meanwhile mix all the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins and walnuts in a medium bowl.
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Pour in vanilla, oil and heavy cream / milk.
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Mix with hands and knead into a dough. Add more cream / milk , if needed, one tablespoon at a time until it comes together to form a dry dough.
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Flour an 8 inch cake pan and press dough evenly into pan.
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Flip upside down to release the dough and cut into 8 even pieces.
Please note the dough may be wet and sticky. But, resist the urge to add more flour to it or your scones might end up being a little tough. Just flour up your hands, pat it out as best you can on the baking sheet, and score the wedges with a knife.
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Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake scones for about 20 -25 minutes until lightly golden.
Future variations
You can substitute walnuts and raisins with any of these – dried cranberries, chocolate chips, pecans, blueberries or just about any dried fruit you love.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve them hot with a cup of tea or masala chai.
- You can pair them with store bought jam ( I used Strawberry jam ).
- They taste best when warm. So make sure you microwave them for about 20 seconds if serving next day.
Did you know ?
- This quick bread is believed to have taken its name from the Stone of Destiny ( Scone ), the place where Scottish kings were once crowned.
- The tradition of serving afternoon tea with scones, cream, and jam originated in Devon, England more than 1000 years ago. A local abbey was sacked by Vikings and the Earl of Devon financially stepped in to rebuild it. The grateful residents of the abbey fed his workers with bread, cream, and jam with tea each day.
I love scones but I never tried eggless ones. The look delicious!
Yes making anything homemade is always so good. These sound delicious and I happen to LOVE scones. Perfect for breakfast to tea/coffee time.
I have never tried to make scones at home but I love them!
Glad to have found a healthier version of scones. I just love everything with whole wheat in it.
I just love scones! I always feel so lady like nibbling on one with some clotted cream. I love how easy your recipe is and that you used whole wheat flour!
Oo these look so yummy! I would love to eat one of these warm with some jam!
It’s so funny, because of the dense consistency of scones, I always assumed that they were egg-less. This was a revelation to me. I would like to try my hand at making these at least once.
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