Spelt Coconut Cream Scones with Blood Orange Honey Rose Glaze

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I bought a big bag of blood oranges a week ago just in case some sort of blood-orange-inspired muse decided to float around my kitchen and implant an idea in my head. Blood oranges are one of my favorite fruits, so something magical usually comes out of having them around.

As I was puttering around my kitchen last Sunday, I started thinking about a latte I had while at Kos Kaffe in Brooklyn a few weeks ago: espresso, foamed almond milk, cardamom, orange blossom water. I mean, they snagged me with the cardamom but the orange blossom water really reeled me in.

So here goes the thought process, all whilst shuffling about in slippers with a cup of chai in my hand: "Mmm lattes, I wish this tea was a latte. Oh, and if I had a scone right now, that'd be dope. Scones! YAS! I have all of the ingredients for that right now. Spelt, almond meal, flax... I could do tea and scones, that'd do the trick. Hm, cream, cardamom, orange blossom water. I don't have orange blossom water. But I have coconut cream and blood oranges. Coconut cream scones with blood orange zest?! ALSO YAS! How can I do a glaze? Feeling lazy-ish so I'm definitely not cooking anything else. Cashew butter, raw honey, blood orange juice? Wonder if that'd work. I COULD ADD MORE CARDAMOM AND... ROSEWATER! This might end up a mess but probs still edible regardless. If it works... damn that'd be gooooooood."

Yer welcome for that invigorating peek into my brain.

As an avowed lazy baker, I am a big fan of one-bowl recipes. So of course these scones ended up being exceedingly low-fuss. You blend the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients, and finally massage in some chilled coconut cream. I feel like that technically makes these "cream scones" (not that I've ever had a traditional one). But they do indeed taste creamy and just lightly sweet, which I imagine is the point of cream scones.

My intention with this recipe is to give you guys a basic, quick scone recipe that you can feel good adapting to suit your tastes. I’ve made these ones with soft white spelt flour, almond meal, coconut oil, coconut sugar, coconut cream, a flax egg and a touch of cinnamon and vanilla. They only take about 20 minutes from start to finish. I think that's pretty amazing!

You could add cacao nibs, slivered almonds, chopped pecans, chopped medjool dates, goji berries, candied citrus peel, candied ginger... get wild with it! I probably wouldn't add more than 1/4 cup of any add-ins, and I'd think 1/2 cup (so 1/4 cup of two add-ins) would max it out.

I thought I might add cacao nibs myself, but then I decided I really prefer a simple scone to a scone packed with stuff. That way it feels more like a cookie-biscuit love child that I can adoringly smother with jam, coconut butter or this blood orange honey glaze.

And yeah, this glaze is amazing.

I don’t say that lightly.

At its simplest all you need for this glaze is creamy raw honey, cashew butter and citrus juice. Just stir it all together and voila, a creamy glaze that even sets a bit as it cools. I added cardamom and rosewater, to taste. That just takes it up to the next level of deliciousness.

I implore you: try it. Even if you don’t make the scones. Put it on toast. Or just eat it with a spoon. I’m off to make more right now…

Tag me on instagram @willfrolicforfood #willfrolicforfood if you make these or a riff on them! I want to see your wild creative versions! Also, if you try this out with an all purpose gluten free flour blend definitely let me know how that goes in the comments!

Spelt Almond Scones with Blood Orange Honey Rose Glaze

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 8 scones

A one-bowl scone recipe that's actually healthy AND delicious! The glaze is possibly the best part, made with cashew butter, honey and blood orange juice.

Ingredients

Scones

  • 1 1/2 cups white spelt flour
  • 1/2 cup fine blanched almond meal
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder or 1 tsp extract
  • 4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
  • 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax ground + 3 tbsp water, set aside for 15 minutes to gel)
  • Juice 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp blood orange zest (lemon zest and regular orange zest also work)
  • 3 tbsp chilled full fat coconut cream
  • Optional: 1/4 cup add-ins like sliced almonds, cacao nibs, goji berries, chopped pecans, chopped dates etc. as you please

Blood Orange Honey Rose Glaze

  • 1 tbsp cashew butter
  • 1 tbsp raw honey (I used the thick, solid, creamy kind)
  • Juice of one blood orange (2 tbsp)
  • Juice 1/2 lemon (if blood orange isn’t v tangy)
  • Tiny pinch salt
  • Splash rose water + more to taste
  • Dash cardamom + more to taste
  • Pinch vanilla bean powder or splash vanilla extract

Instructions

Scones

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl combine the spelt flour, almond meal, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla bean powder (or vanilla extract).
  3. Add the melted coconut oil, flax egg, lemon juice and orange zest. Stir everything together. The mixture will be crumbly and barely hold together when you pinch it together between your fingers. Add the coconut cream and use your hands to massage it into the crumbly flour mixture until you only have little streaks of it at most.
  4. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball.
  5. Line a surface with parchment paper. Place the dough on the parchment paper and pat it out into a 7" circle, smoothing out any cracked edges. Slice the round into 8 equal sections (like a pizza). Transfer the parchment paper and raw scones to a baking sheet and spread the scones out so that there's an inch or so between each one.
  6. Bake on the center rack for 15 minutes. The bottoms will be just lightly golden when their done, and the scones will be firm. Let cool completely before glazing.

For the Glaze

  1. In a small mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients: cashew butter, honey, blood orange juice, lemon juice, salt, rosewater, cardamom and vanilla. Stir together until smooth and creamy (at first it might look like a wreck, but if you keep stirring it it should smooth out well). Taste and adjust as needed.
  2. Glaze yer scones! Note: as the scones cool with glaze on top the glaze will firm up a bit. Serve with a spot of tea and enjoy!

Notes

  • You can use AP wheat flour or einkorn wheat flour instead of spelt flour. I havent tried this with an AP gluten free flour blend, but please leave a comment if you try that!
  • If you're averse to honey, sub it for maple syrup. The glaze will be runnier, inevitably.

Courses Breakfast