Vegan Blueberry Scones

Once again, I tried a new recipe... This one is delish, but the texture wasn't scone-like for me; I imagine it was user-error. I hear scones are incredibly difficult to get texturally accurate, and so I will keep trying! 

Following is a copy/paste of the recipe, which came from this website. I made a couple of slight edits: 1) I did 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract in the scone; then 2) I added zest to the icing. The lemon flavor was nicely forward, which made me super happy!

Vegan Blueberry Scones

Tender, moist Vegan Blueberry Scones with simple glaze are a wonderful addition to any breakfast or brunch! Better than Starbucks! 

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time26 mins

Total Time36 mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American, French

 

Servings: 8 scones

 

Calories: 322kcal

 

Author: Nora Taylor

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons cold vegan butter (or solid coconut oil)
• 3/4 cup almond milk (soy or coconut milk fine)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4-1 cup fresh blueberries (may use frozen as well)
• OPTIONAL: lemon zest from 1 lemon

Simple Glaze, optional

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons almond milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ground flaxseeds, salt and sugar.
• Add the cold vegan butter, and use a pastry cutter or your hands to work the butter into the dry ingredients. It should resemble coarse crumbs.
• Pour in the milk and vanilla, and stir until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. 
• On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough a few times until it comes together. Flatten the dough with your hands (lightly flour your hands if sticky). Flatten it into a circle, about 1 inch thick.
• Using a pizza cutter or large knife, cut it like you would a pizza, into 8 pieces.
• Place the scones onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 22-26 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top.

Make the optional glaze:

• Combine the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add more milk. If too thin, add more powdered sugar.
• Let the scones cool for at least 15 minutes, then drizzle some of the glaze onto each scone. Let the glaze set before serving.

Notes

1. May also use whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour. A gluten free flour mix would probably work, but I haven't tried it.
2. You can sub the vegan butter with coconut oil that is hard. Cut it into the dry ingredients the same way.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 274mg | Potassium: 203mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 542IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 2mg

Party Food: Sweet Potato Crescent Bites

It's been a long while, but it's a new year, so I figured I'd share here... We had a gathering recently, and I made these delicious treats (from www.delish.com)--well, I modified them so that they're vegan deliciousness! 
They really turned out great (and they were a party hit!), but I do have additional modifications, which I state below... Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Crescent Bites

INGREDIENTS
Cooking spray
2 

medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean

1/4 c. 

packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. 

almond milk (or your preferred dairy free substitute)

1/2 tsp. 

ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. 

pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. 

kosher salt

1 

(8-oz.) refrigerated Crescent sheet (or rolls, but the sheet doesn't have perforation)

3/4 c. 

mini marshmallows; I skipped them (small town woes), but some chopped up Dandies would probably melt and add the same feel and sugar.

24 

whole pecans

Maple syrup, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray; I used liners because I wanted them to be handheld for my guests. Pierce sweet potatoes 3 to 4 times with a fork. 

1. Cook potatoes: Place potato on microwave-safe plate and microwave 15 minutes. If your potatoes aren't fork tender after 15 minutes, continue microwaving in 30 second increments. When potatoes are cooked through, scrape filling into a large bowl and discard skin. 

1. Note: We boiled the potatoes, because our microwave was out of commission the night we made them. Boiling worked just fine; just remove the skin before boiling.

1. Using a potato masher or fork, mash sweet potatoes until smooth. Add brown sugar, milk substitute, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and whisk to combine.

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out crescent sheet. Note: pinch together seams if using the rolls, rather than a sheet. 

1. This is the hardest part of this process in my opinion: Cut into 24 squares and place in muffin tin cups. Do use the mini tin! We made a test batch in regular tins, and the pastry dough didn't get quite as crispy in the bottom (my suspicion: too much sweet potato filling).

1. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of sweet potato mixture into each crescent square, then top with mini marshmallows and bake until crescent pastry is golden, about 15 minutes. 

1. Add a pecan to the center of each bite and bake 5 minutes more. 

1. If using, brush pecans with maple syrup before serving This is kinda key for making them sweeter...before the maple syrup, there's not much sweetness in these bites.

Pina Colada Cake

From http://getinmybelly.com/pina-colada-cake/ and I can't wait to try it!!!!

Ingredients
-2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, divided
-1/3 Cup Pineapple Juice
-3 (20 oz) Cans Pineapple Chunks in Pineapple Juice, drained
-1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
-2 Cups Sweetened Coconut Flakes

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.
2. Melt 1 stick of butter in a 13×9 inch baking pan in the oven for about 5 minutes.
3. When butter has melted, remove pan from the oven.
4. Stir pineapple juice then pineapple chunks into the pan.
5. Spoon cake mix over all pineapple chunks covering completely.
6. Sprinkle coconut on top of cake mix until completely covered.
7. Cut remaining stick of butter into small cubes and top over coconut.
8. Bake for 45-60 minutes rotating cake 90° every 15 minutes for even browning of coconut.

Notes

-It’s ok to substitute frozen pineapple or fresh pineapple for the canned pineapple.
-It’s ok to substitute rum for the pineapple juice.
-If coconut starts to look too dark then cover with aluminum foil and continue baking.
-The dessert may look a little soft when removed from the oven but it will firm up as it cools.