Gluten Free (or not) Scones

These days my proclivities tend toward the non-flour, the gluten free.   In pasta - my favorite is the Tinkyáda Joy Organic Brown Rice Pastas (http://www.tinkyada.com/) with the same toothsome as a regular wheat dough, their pastas are just right for any Italian dish you fancy while also being perfect asian noodles or a big pot of mac n cheese.

Wheat does not make my stomach happy.   I've been tested for gluten sensitivity,  and it came up negative. However,  Kaiser Permanente's test is so broad, only a celiac would likely test positive.  Regardless, I try to listen to my body and stay away from the dreaded grain as much as possible (it's probably the glyphosates but that's a subject for another rant).  And if someone puts a platter of cheese and fresh baguette in front of me, all bets are off.   I still want to bake though, and especially now in this time of COVID-19 shelter in place, when grocery store shelves are wiped clean of toilet paper (no pun intended) and all the wheat flour in the western hemisphere.

Thankfully I was able to grab a bag of Cup 4 Cup - an excellent flour substitute containing rice, cornstarch, tapioca flour, potato starch, dried milk with a little xanthan gum added.   https://www.cup4cup.com/  What the hell is xanthan gum anyway?  Read here to find out more (or not, you may be sort of unpleasantly surprised where this common food additive originates...).  I also love the Bob's Red Mill brand of all flours, and they have one called "1 to 1"
 https://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-1-to-1-baking-flour.html

Gluten Free Appley-Fruit and Seed Scones

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

 Whisk together these dry ingredients
2 cups Cup 4 Cup flour (or any gluten-free flour)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 - 1  tsp ground ginger

Cut in
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter (until it is coarse pea consistency)

Chop up and add to the dry flour/butter mixture until equally distributed:
1 apple
blueberries or other fruit
1/3 cup sunflower seeds (or whatever you have on hand)
(you can experiment here - branch out and use sesame?  Pumpkin?  nuts instead of seeds_

(basically some fruit and seeds, amounts can vary)

Scramble together:
1 egg and 1/3 cup yogurt or half and half or milk
(you'll want about 2/3 cup liquid)

Add egg/milk mixture to dry ingredients, using a fork to gently combine.  You may need to get your hands in there.  Don't overwork this dough, making sure to get most of the dry bits off the bottom of the bowl.  Add a little more milk if the dough is too dry.

Pull dough out of the bowl and onto a cutting board.  It may be a little loose and crumbly - that's okay.  Lightly shape into a disk about 8" across and 2" thick.  (don't skimp on the height, as this will guarantee nice, thick scones).    With a sharp knife cut the dough into 6 equal pie shaped wedges.  Place these wedges about 1/4" apart on baking sheet.

Bake at 350F for about 20-30 minutes until nice and evenly browned.  Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before you slather the hell out of them with butter and consume while standing over kitchen sink.

Hey, why does my photo show beautiful sugary crystals?  Well, believe it or not, I was out of regular sugar and substituted  large crystalled Demerara instead.  Go ahead and experiment with whatever sugar you like.  Demerara is expensive and unnecessary, so I don't recommend running out for some for this recipe.

VARIATION - you should experiment!
This morning during that hazy pre-coffee moment I was happy to be paying attention because as I began to pour the half and half in my coffee, I noticed it was a bit lumpy.  Oh shoot, this one had gone bad (and thankfully I had a backup).  Did I throw it out?  No! I decided to repurpose it for a batch of scones.  Think of the curdled half and half as an off-kilter cousin to buttermilk.  It wasn't so bad that it smelled rotten and had only just begun to curdle (and if yours does, I recommend pouring straight down the sink and making scones from your fresh half and half).  Checking the pantry, I noticed I had buckwheat flour, so substituted one cup of buckwheat and used Bob's 1 to 1 gluten free flour for the rest.  I didn't have any almonds or seeds, so I used  pine nuts.  I also didn't have any fresh fruit (bad summertime person) so used some dried cherries and blueberries.   

This time the dough was a little too crumbly so I added a tiny bit more half and half (but you can use water if you have to) - and followed the directions above. 

The dough looks greyish?!  That is the buckwheat, it gives a nice purpley grey hue!  Buckwheat is a delicious high protein grain alternative, and not related to wheat at all but to rhubarb.  Buckwheat also contains a good amount of protein and essential electrolytes magnesium, calcium and potassium.  If you have a good vitamix, I recommend grinding your own buckwheat flour, as it is more stable in it's seed form. 

SUBSTITUES
I'm a huge fan of substituting if I don't have things on hand, and I encourage you to do this too.  For example, if you want to make these vegan, go ahead and substitute the butter with any vegan margarine out there.  Use oat milk or almond milk instead of the milk, and just skip the eggs or use egg substitute (I'd call one out but if you are vegan, you probably know of some good ones)  I have read that ground flax seeds mixed with water can produce egg white like consistency.  If you decide to skip the eggs, you will likely have a crumbly dough and end product.  Be brave!