The Scone Ranger

I love scones with fruit in them and could happily eat one every day.  But many of the recipes have some various assortments  of butter, lard, eggs AND cream and many of them also lack whole grains. I always use lard instead of Crisco which is really horrible for your body, but I was trying to make something overall lower in fat.

This version with whole wheat pastry flour makes a very tender whole grain muffins that's wonderful with blackberries in it. Even better each scone is only 275 calories! (with butter) Whole whest pastry flour is milled from soft white wheat, and regular whole wheat flour is milled from hard red wheat. The whole wheat pastry flour has a lower protein content and makes very tender whole grain baked goods.  So if you have someone that doesn't "like whole wheat" or you want more whole grain nutrition try using the whole wheat pastry flour instead of whole wheat all purpose flour.

Blackberry Scones

 This recipe is vegetarian but you can also easily make it vegan with two simple substitutions. 

• 1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour I like Bob's Red Mill brand)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (you can use 2 cups of whole wheat flour if you can't find the pastry flour)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons raw cane sugar (turbinado) 
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• pinch of cardamom or nutmeg
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (or Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
• 1 cup blackberries (fresh or frozen, but if using frozen chop into smaller pieces so they don't make the batter too cold so they cook evenly)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plain low fat Greek yogurt  (don't use non-fat as it has extra sugar)
• 1/2 cup low fat milk  (almond milk)

For topping: 2 Tablespoons of whole oatmeal and a pinch or two of raw sugar

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 425 F and spray a baking sheet with some non stick spray

Combine dry ingredients in a medium to large bowl and whisk to blend.

Slice butter (or Buttery Sticks) into small chunks and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter  (or knife and fork) until it looks like very course meal and doesn't have noticeable clumps of butter.

Gently stir whole fresh or chopped frozen berries into the dry ingredients.

Combine yogurt and milk in a small bowl and blend well with a spoon.  Add vanilla and stir. 

Gently mix  the milk/yogurt mixture in the dry mixture with a spoon, using your hands to knead the last bits of flour into the dough.  Don't overwork.

Pat dough onto prepared pan into a circle that's about an inch high.  Cut into 8 slices and gently separate.OR pat into individual rounds after dividing the dough into six pieces.  Remember the less you work the dough, the more tender they will be.

Pulse oatmeal and sugar in food processor or regular blender and sprinkle onto the tops.

Bake  15 minutes or until they are light brown.