Gluten Free Lemon Blueberry Scones

Katherine Ingui took it upon herself to bake gluten-free scones last week, using fresh blueberries from her parents’ summer crop.
By Katherine Ingui

I’ve never considered a gluten-free diet, hence my love of all things wheat, but some of my closest friends have dismissed gluten based on their health needs. This can be very challenging to consider when cooking a big meal or baking fresh goods to share. Being the lover of food that I am, I feel responsible for everyone’s experience with the food I prepare. I simply want everyone to be satisfied and full.

I took it upon myself to bake gluten-free scones last week, using fresh blueberries from my parents’ summer crop. Every year we have more blueberries than we can pick, and my mother has been making some pretty mean blueberry coffee cakes lately that are seriously to die for. I would never lie about coffee cake. I invited a group of friends to take a lazy day off to sit on my front porch, sip coffee, and be guinea pigs for my first attempt at a new gluten-free recipe.

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I found an article on gluten-free baking on glutenfreegirl.com that explained how one should approach baking without using any gluten. She made it sound easy, and this is why: basically scones are composed of flour, egg, butter, and liquid. Add some sugar, fruit, and love and boom- scones are born. I’ve made scones a handful of times before, but never were the recipes this health conscious.

Knowing the basic make-up made the next step easy. I had to make my own whole-grain gluten free mix, which is essentially 70% whole grains and 30% starches. I went with oat flour and cornstarch for this recipe, and let me just say, it was the easiest thing to mix up and use. Plus, it made so much that I had plenty to save for later. I used this mix, added blueberries, rind and juice from a lemon, plain soy milk (for the lactose-intolerants in the group), and used one less egg (for the last “brushing” step) and popped the scones in the oven.

My kitchen smelled heavenly. Bon Iver was playing. My house was full of friends and fellowship. I made soy chai lattes for everyone and when the scones were ready to serve, I had gluten-free friends applauding my first attempt. The spiced chai complimented the lemon-blueberry combo, which was an extra treat in itself. So I learned that it’s easier than I thought to bake without gluten. Even if you aren’t gluten-free, consider this scone recipe; it was hands-down delicious.

Gluten-Free Lemon-Blueberry Scones
Recipe Type: Baking
Author: Katherine Ingui, adapted from Shauna James Ahern at glutenfreegirl.com
Prep time: 45 mins
Cook time: 50 mins
Total time: 1 hour 35 mins
Serves: 8
An easy way to utilize a love for scones, fresh blueberries, and a need for gluten-free options. I altered the original recipe, which calls for currants and buttermilk, instead using fresh blueberries, lemon, and soy milk, to satisfy lactose-intolerant needs.
Ingredients
• 390 grams (1 3/4 cups) !Whole Grain Gluten-Free Mix
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 70 grams (1/3 cup) raw cane sugar
• rind of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
• 114 grams (1/2 cup or 1 US stick) cold butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 120 grams (1/2 cup) soy milk, or buttermilk
• 120 grams (1/2 cup) fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1 cold egg
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons raw cane sugar
Instructions
Whole Grain Gluten-Free Mix
• Measure 700g (5.4 cups) oat flour and 300g (2.25 cups) cornstarch. Mix together.
• Preheat the oven to 350° and grease an 8-inch pie pan (I didn’t use glass). You can always line a baking sheet with parchment paper, but I used a pan so that my scones would be thicker.
• In a bowl of a stand mixer, pour the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sucanat, and lemon rind; mix on low until they are combined well.
• Remove the bowl from the stand and add pieces of butter. Put the bowl into the freezer for 5-15 mins (I only kept mine in for 5 mins).
• While the bowl is in the freezer, combine soy milk, yogurt, and egg. Whisk together well.
• Put the bowl back on the stand mixer and mix on low until the butter has broken down and the pieces become dime-sized.
• Pour the liquid mixture into the flour-butter mixture with mixer on low. Let the dough come together, leaving a little flour on the bottom, and turn off mixer.
• Remove the bowl from stand and turn over the dough with your hands. Incorporate the loose flour into the dough until all is mixed. Be sure not to over-you want moist scones.
• Put the dough into the baking dish and pat down until the dough is an inch or so thick (my dough was about an inch and a half). Brush the egg yolk over the top (I skipped this step) and sprinkle with raw sugar. Cut the dough into 8 wedges. Put the dough into the freezer for 15 mins.
• Put the dough into the oven and bake for 50 minutes. The dough should be golden brown and firm (you can test with a toothpick to be sure). Let the scones cool for 30 mins on a wire rack and slice the wedges.
• Serve!
Notes
My batch disappeared in minutes, but you can store yours in an airtight container for 3 days or freeze the dough for up to 7 days.

The recipe itself is a template – use whatever is in your kitchen to create a wonderful afternoon treat.