Strawberry Glazed, Toasted Almond & Cinnamon Scones

I was quite literally blown away by these delicious tea time (or anytime, really) morcels.  Scones are one thing I’ve always loved since I was a little girl and ever since becoming vegan I only ever attempted them once while in Culinary School, but I’ve never tested different flavour combinations and flours. These divine scones happened by accident - I was in the mood to create some sort of delicious treat on Sunday and decided to see what I had in the house. I found roasted almonds, raisins, a variety of different flours and some strawberry jam and with the chilly day that was Sunday, I decided it was a designated scone day …  because lets be honest, somehow scones and tea make everything that much cosier and warmer, at least in my mind. 

Ingredients:

For the Scones

• 1 Cup Cake Flour
• 1/4 Cup Gluten Free Flour Mix
• 1/4 Cup Teff Flour
• 1/2 Cup Oat Flour
• 6 Tablespoons of Organic Raw Brown Sugar or Coconut Blossom Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1.5 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 1.5 Teaspoon Ground Cardamom
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Cup Raisins
• 1/3 - 1/2 Cup Whole, Roasted Almonds, roughly processed/chopped
• 5 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, solid
• 2/3 Cup plant milk, (I used soya milk)

For the Glaze

• 1/2 Cup Strawberry Jam
• 1 Tablespoon of Maple Syrup (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons filtered Water 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius or 400 degrees farenheit
2. Combine all the flours, spices, sugar, salt and baking powder together and mix well. 
3. Work the coconut oil into the flours with your fingertips until they resemble coarse bread crumbs and then continue to add the raisins and chopped almonds into the mix
4. Add the plant based milk of your choice and work dough, bringing it together. Once it’s together in a firm ball of dough lightly flour the surface of your work space with flour and knead the dough 7-10 times. 
5. You can now create whatever scone shape you desire. My preference for these scones is to create a ball and then flatten the ball evenly until it’s about 2cm thick. Now cut the dough ball into 8 slices or wedges. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place the wedges separately onto the paper, giving them some space to expand in the oven. 
6. Place into the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown and the room is filled with the lovely scent of baked goods and love. 
7. While the scones are baking, place a small sauce pan on the stove and place the glaze ingredients into it. On a slow heat, warm up the strawberry jam, water and maple syrup. Once heated, turn the heat off and your glaze is now ready. When the scones come out of the oven, wait for about 5 minutes and then you can glaze them liberally with the strawberry glaze. Best served with a dollop or two of whipped coconut cream (made by simply freezing tins of coconut milk and then open them up and you’ll find a thick layer of coconut that has separated from the water - you can either simply spoon that on and enjoy or you can whisk that with some cinnamon and vanilla).
8. Tuck in with a good company and a good ol’ cuppa tea.