These spelt flour scones with chocolate are vegan, very lightly sweetened with maple syrup, and surprisingly buttery thanks to coconut oil. Plus, they're packed with delicious bittersweet chocolate in every bite.
Spelt Flour Scones with Chocolate
In Morocco, March was my favorite month of the year: breezy, sunny, still cool, with the countryside slowly flooding with green. In San Francisco, March was likewise brisk and some years particularly rainy; the farmers' markets started to get more interesting and the windy first days of spring flung blossoms down to carpet park slopes and sidewalks. In Saudi Arabia, March is probably the last month we can still call "bearable"; today the high will be 100 F and it's pretty dusty out there. Despite living in the desert there is a surprising amount of foliage, flowers, and trees in the area in which we live but it's all often covered in a thin layer of dust. This time of year is when we miss opening the doors to let in fresh air (too dusty and hot) and already start counting down the months til November.
I feel a slight twinge of guilt when I turn on the oven during these high-temperature days yet when I counter the outside temperature by dialing up the air conditioner I figure it will balance out. For there are little bites to bake and dinner to cook. Roasting vegetables is one of my favorite ways to put together an easy and nutritious meal, especially when they're paired with quinoa, sunflower seeds, and perhaps a piece of baked salmon for the fish-eaters in the house. And my penchant for using spelt flour continues shown to good advantage in these little refined sugar-free treats I made last week.
Scone? Breakfast cookie? Afternoon tea treat? All of the above? Does it matter?
Vegan, very lightly sweetened with maple syrup, and kept from being too healthy by the addition of chopped chocolate, these little scones are surprisingly buttery (even though there's no butter, just coconut oil), flaky, and tender. Spelt flour makes for a lovely texture here as well. You could use the recipe as a base and experiment with adding different berries or fruit as well as nuts.
What You'll Need
- Spelt flour
- Coconut oil
- Maple syrup
- Almond milk
- Apple cider vinegar
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Fine sea salt
- Chopped bittersweet chocolate
How to Store
Scones can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3 days.
Spelt Flour Scones with Chocolate
Ingredients
- ¼ cup plain almond milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ¼ cup spelt flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ⅓ cup quality dark chocolate , chopped
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil , melted and cooled slightly
Instructions
- Mix the almond milk and apple cider vinegar in a small cup and set aside for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients plus the chopped chocolate and add the maple syrup, coconut oil, and almond milk mixture. Stir until the dough begins to come together.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment. Place the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes then remove the bowl from the freezer and, using a tablespoon, scoop out spoonfuls of dough. Mold into a flat ball and place each on the baking sheet.
- Place in the oven and bake for 22-24 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before serving. The scones are best enjoyed fresh but can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for two days.
