I am trying to see how much I can use old recipes that I love, substituting plant-based ingredients for animal products that are standard. I am thinking more and more about the health benefits of making such substitutions, and also want to what I can to decrease support for the massive agribusinesses that harm the environment by raising animals for food. I have been making lemon blueberry scones using a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated The New Best Recipe Cookbook for some time now, with rave reviews from friends and families. It took me a while to get up the nerve to try substituting out the butter and heavy cream called for in this recipe. Would the scones be any good without butter and cream? I finally decided to give it a try. I substituted coconut oil for butter, rice milk for cream, whole wheat pastry flour for regular flour (regular flour is not, of course, an animal product, but I figured whole wheat pastry flour would make them more wholesome and wondered if they would still taste good–they did). On a whim, I decided to throw in a bit of shredded coconut, which was hardly detectable in the final product. These turned out delicious. It is hard to say whether they are as tasty as the original Cook’s Illustrated recipe; I think I would have to taste them side by side to say for sure. But I will definitely make these again. Maybe I will never go back to the original recipe. This also has given me the confidence to try substituting coconut oil and rice milk in other baked goods I make. You should, too!
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 TBS sugar
1 TBS baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
3 TBS shredded coconut
1/3 cup coconut oil
zest from one lemon
½ cup dried blueberries
1 cup rice milk
Pulse several times to mix flour, sugar, baking powder, sea salt, coconut, and lemon zest in food processor. Add coconut oil and pulse 12 times to blend. Transfer to mixing bowl. Stir in blueberries and combine ingredients until everything is blended. Transfer to floured surface (I put it right onto floured parchment paper), knead and pat into a disk. Put it onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Remove from freezer and cut into 8 wedges. Separate wedges and spread out on baking sheet. Bake in 425 degree oven (400 degree convection oven) for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
Just made these and they taste amazing!!! I used frozen blueberries instead of dry and it worked beautifully! They turned out lighter and fluffier than other scones I have made, so I am not sure if that is how they are supposed to be or if I made a mistake somewhere. Regardless, this is the best vegan blueberry scone recipe I have come across and I love love love the coconut!! Thinking of potentially glazing them with a coconut and lemon glaze….yummy!