COCONUT SCONES

I bought some beautiful and extremely flavorful strawberries today at the grocery store. I prepared them with a little sugar and put thin in the fridge to macerate a bit. I really wanted some good strawberry shortcake, but I didn't have a lot of things in the house to make a shortcake from scratch. I hate using cake mixes. So, I started looking for recipes. I liked the thought of making scones, so I set off on that journey!

I found several recipes, and then modified them all together, adding several things that I wanted to help flavor and texturize the scones. 

My experiment was tremendously successful!!  (At least I thought so!!}

 

COCONUT SCONES

Servings: 8 scones

Ingredients

For Dough

• 1 ½ cups almond flour plus ¾ cup AP flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• ½ cup organic coconut flakes
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup coconut cream (skimmed off the top of a can of very cold coconut milk)

For Topping

• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon organic granulated sugar…or more.

Instructions

1.    Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I used a round stoneware baking pan.

2.    Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and coconut in the bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade. Pulse several times to combine.

3.    Add the cold butter and pulse quickly until mixture resembles course meal with pea-size clumps of butter within.

4.    Beat egg and coconut cream until smooth in a small bowl, pour into flour mixture, and pulse just until mixture comes together in clumps. The dough should be a bit sticky.

5.    Dust a work surface lightly with flour, then dump scone dough onto surface. Knead very gently a few times until dough comes together into a ball. (Sprinkle more flour, little by little, if dough is too sticky to work with.) Press dough into a flat circle about 3/4-inch high, then use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until tops are lightly golden and firm to the touch. 

ORANGE-SCENTED QUINOA

I saw a cooking show today on TV where the host made an orange-scented rice, which sounded good, although she made it with chicken stock. It did, however, trigger the thought process that led me to make this quinoa for dinner tonight.

We have begun eating more and more quinoa, because we love the flavor, and because it's so very healthy. I buy organic quinoa, usually at Trader Joe's, and most often it's the mixed color variety.

Here's the recipe, as closely as I can remember:

ORANGE-SCENTED QUINOA

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
2 cups water
1 tablespoon organic vegetable boullion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
the zest of a small orange

Rinse and drain the quinoa. Place in a saucepan with the water and all the other ingredients. Stir well, and heat to boiling. Reduce head to simmer, cover pan, and cook until all the water is dissolved...about 15-20 minutes. Watch carefully and stir intermittently to prevent sticking.