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healthy scones

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Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

March 30, 2021

Pretty little bursts of berry sprinkled throughout *the best* gluten free scones, for a delicious breakfast upgrade!

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The first day of spring, and a new recipe to celebrate!

We welcomed the first days of spring last weekend with all the hiking, biking, and even Lake Michigan toe dipping! All that fresh spring air got us excited about the amazing produce that will be growing here shortly, and with Easter next weekend, I decided to grab some berries and try a new breakfast treat for our Easter brunch this Sunday!

A familiar scone base, with a sweet berry change up!

If you’ve been around these parts in the last year, you know that last spring I perfected a Funfetti Birthday Scone for my middle kiddo’s birthday! That scone base then became a Thanksgiving morning treat with warm fall spices and molasses in my Pumpkin Scones. So for this spring inspired version, I used pretty berries! I cannot wait to get our hands on fresh Michigan berries this summer and make them again!

Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

The Method :: The Scone Dough

Scones can feel intimidating, especially with squishy berries in the mix, but I promise this is not fussy. A simple dry ingredient combination, and let the butter shine! Crumble the cold butter into your flour, and then mix in your buttermilk. (I left instructions for making your own buttermilk or coconut buttermilk, which will give these scones a fluffed up, soft texture on the inside.) Once your dough is moist with buttermilk, you’ll fold in the berries gently with a rubber scraper to start, and then I found using my hands was the easiest way to get it all to come together into a loose dough.Once you flour your counter, use your hands to gently form a disk, then use a rolling pin to gently roll the disk to about just over an inch. After cutting your disk into eighths, place the scones a baking tray to bake. You can brush the tops of your scones with more milk and sprinkle a bit of sugar to make for a crispy, top.

Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones
Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones
Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

The Method :: The Lemon Glaze

We played around with this lemon glaze a lot! My husband and I enjoyed a good tablespoon of lemon juice, while the kids were more into just a couple teaspoons. It really depends on your palate, so I recommend starting out with a teaspoon and working up from there to your taste. Remember the glaze will be drizzled over very lightly sweetened scones, so the sweet lemon flavor will blend into the scone some too. Berries and fresh lemon – what’s not to love?!

Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones
Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

Freezer friendly!

I popped this whole batch of scones in the freezer for Easter this weekend! After a few days, I took them out to see how they would thaw and feel, and they are perfect. That means you can bake ahead of time if you want. Or you could even get the dough ready and cut out into triangles, and freeze the dough triangles so that you can bake them fresh on the morning you want to eat them.

Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

Berry Ideas

One of the things I am super pumped to hear from YOU is all of the great berry combos that you are able to make with these scones this summer! Please keep me posted on your favorites, and others will be able to try your favorite combinations. From blackberries and raspberries, to mulberries, blueberries, strawberries, and more!

Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

Let’s talk about swaps

I am pretty sure most Gluten Free Flour blends will swap in the recipe fine. Scones are treats in my house, so I don’t worry about the protein content, or try to get extra special “healthy” flours into the dough, because I don’t serve them daily. This is meant to go with a brunch table for Easter, or for a special breakfast in the summer served with sausage and eggs. I do think if you are not gluten free, and want to use an all purpose flour, it should work ok. I also think that if you are dairy free, you could use a good quality palm shortening instead of the butter.

Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

Ingredients

  • 1 cup buttermilk or coconut buttermilk to make 1 cup of buttermilk, put 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup, and fill with full fat milk or coconut milk to the 1 cup line. Stir together and let it sit while you get the rest of the ingredients together
  • 3 cups Namaste GF Flour Blend fluff the flour before measuring so it isn’t packed down
  • ¼ cup organic pure cane sugar plus a little more for sprinkling the tops of the scones if you wish
  • 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp zest from a lemon this is the zest from 1 small lemon
  • 8 oz cold butter 2 sticks, cut into cubes
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups berries if using strawberries, be sure to cut them about the same size as any other berries in the scone so they mix uniformly.
  • 1/3 cup organic powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tsp juice from the lemon you zested for the scone

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Make your buttermilk first if you don’t have store-bought buttermilk.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cane sugar, baking powder, sea salt, and lemon zest
  • Use a pastry cutter or your hands to cut the cold butter into the flour. You want to still be able to see small pieces of butter throughout. See the picture above for reference. I do not have a pastry cutter – I just use my hands!
  • Pour the buttermilk and vanilla extract into the flour/butter mixture and use a rubber scraper to mix. Add the berries to fold in gently. I use the rubber scraper to start, and finish with my hands gently.
  • Flour your counter, turn the dough out onto the floured surface, and gently make a disk with your hands. You can use a rolling pin to gently roll the dough to about 1 inch thick, and then use your hands again to shape the disk into a perfect circle.
  • Cut the disk into eighths, and place the triangles onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a light coating of milk or coconut milk, and sprinkle with a little sugar if you wish.
  • Bake the scones at 375 degrees for 30 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool the scones completely before icing.
  • To make the icing, whisk the powdered sugar and 1 tbsp of lemon juice in a small dish and drizzle over the tops of the cooled scones. The icing will dry and harden within about 20 minutes.

Notes

  • You can swap the lemon juice in the icing for coconut milk or regular milk/cream if you don’t want the extra lemon flavor.
  • If you want a thicker glaze, add more powdered sugar, or decrease the amount of liquid in the glaze (lemon juice or coconut milk)
  • The scones freeze very well! Just cool completely, put the icing on and let it harden, and then freeze them in freezer bags.
Gluten Free Mixed Berry Scones

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Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

October 21, 2020

The most perfect buttery scones swirled with sweet pumpkin and warm fall spices!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

Product links in this post are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything, and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of “what brand do you use?” Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldn’t use on my own family.

Fall fun, and a new pumpkin breakfast treat!

We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect fall weekend for picking out pumpkins for Halloween! Pretty blue skies, and even a little warmth to the sun had my little Michigander kiddos peeling off their coats despite the crisp 50 degree air! The hayride was filled with anticipation, and when their eyes saw caught a glimpse of the pumpkin patch, you would have thought it was Christmas morning. These fields were packed! The girls will be working on carving their Halloween pumpkins this weekend, so I decided to work on a fun pumpkin scone recipe for them to savor this fun season!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

A birthday treat favorite with a fall twist!

Last spring we created what has become our household birthday breakfast tradition in these Funfetti Birthday Scones. I had a feeling I could use that recipe for just about any scone flavor, so this summer I played around with various summer berries with some successes that I’ll probably share next summer! I fell in love with the warm spices of pumpkin pie in these scones, and they are going to be so perfect for Halloween morning and Thanksgiving brunch!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

The Method :: The Pumpkin Scone Dough

I promise this scone batter is easy to work with and fuss free. Scones used to intimidate me because I’ve had numerous overly dry scones in my life! While the crispy, almost crunchy outside of a scone is a staple texture, one that falls apart in a crumble is not my idea of a great breakfast treat! These scones will gift you with a crispy outside and a super buttery, flaky inside – just perfect with your cup of coffee (or your favorite pumpkin spice latte!). Simply use a fork or pastry cutter to break up the butter into the dry ingredients, and then mix in the wet ingredients until a dough of cookie batter texture forms.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

The Method :: Rolling & Cutting the Pumpkin Scone Dough

Once you’ve kneaded your pumpkin scone dough, you can flour your rolling surface and create a disk. Roll your disk out to about 1 inch or so, and then make sure the edges are smooth using your hands to form it into a perfect circle. I like to use my pizza wheel to cut the disk into eighths.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze
Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

The Method :: Baking the Scones

Before you bake off your scones, you can sprinkle the tops with a bit of sugar if you are feeling sassy enough 🙂 You’ll want to completely cool your scones before moving on to the fun part – the brown sugar glaze!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

The Method :: The Brown Sugar Glaze

Once the scones have cooled, you’ll whisk the glaze ingredients in a small dish and then let the kids have at it with the drizzle! It doesn’t have to be perfect and they will feel so proud to make their own swirly glaze designs!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

How mild is the pumpkin pie spice?

Your home is going smell amazing while these scones are baking! If you love the aroma of pumpkin pie, you will be wanting to bake these off every weekend! I felt like the pumpkin pie spice flavor was very mild – in fact my non-pumpkin anything husband tried a slice of the scone and really liked it. That said you could swap the pumpkin pie spice for cinnamon if you think that might go over better.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

Tips and swaps for the Brown Sugar Glaze

While we simply adore the dark brown sugar flavor that a full teaspoon of molasses gives, I understand that some may find that strong. If you prefer a milder, light brown sugar taste, just use half of a teaspoon. I also think that the glaze would be amazing as a Cinnamon Glaze! Leave the molasses out and sprinkle in some cinnamon if you think your crew would love that! The glaze drizzles so nicely and then will harden on the scone within about 20 minutes.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

Freezer Friendly

Scones freeze so nicely! You can either freeze the scone dough, or you can bake the scones off and freeze them that way. I prefer to freeze them without the glaze, and then just glaze them when they thaw out, but you could glaze and freeze. This makes for a very nice make ahead breakfast or brunch idea for Thanksgiving – make the scones days in advance for your company, and you won’t have to bake them on Thanksgiving morning!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Scones:

For the Brown Sugar Glaze:

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Whisk the coconut milk, pumpkin puree, molasses, vanilla, and vinegar until smooth. I use my 2 cup Pyrex liquid measuring cup so that I can just measure the coconut milk and pumpkin right in the cup, add the molasses and vinegar, and whisk. Set this mixture aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cane sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and sea salt.
  • Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the cold butter into the flour. You want to still be able to see small pieces of butter throughout.
  • Pour the coconut milk/pumpkin mixture into the flour/butter mixture and use a rubber scraper to mix. I use the rubber scraper to start, and finish with my hands.
  • Flour your counter, and knead the dough a few times. Make a disk with your hands, roll the dough to about 1 inch thick, and then use your hands again to shape the disk into a perfect circle.
  • Cut the disk into eighths, and place the triangles onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. (At this point, you can brush the tops of the scones with a light coating of milk or coconut milk, and sprinkle with a little sugar if you wish.)
  • Bake the scones at 375 degrees for 30 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool the scones completely before drizzling the glaze on top.
  • To make the brown sugar glaze, whisk the powdered sugar, molasses, and milk in a small dish and drizzle over the tops of the cooled scones. The glaze will dry and harden within about 20 minutes.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

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