I have this friend who's a serious Anglophile, so I hope he appreciates this post. As you can see from previous posts, I've been obsessed with raw kombucha fermented tea. GT's brand is my favorite because it's all natural with no sugar and pure ingredients (so the ginger one has fresh pressed ginger juice in it for example--REALLY good for stomach problems as I mentioned before). The other day, I got the citrus one, which had fresh lemon juice. Now you may be wondering what the heck this has to do with my scones, so I digress:
Before I bought the tea, I had been thinking about making gluten-free, high fiber, low-carb, low-fat buttermilk scones. Now, being that the majority of my desserts/baked goods are made without any dairy, I decided to make my own dairy-free buttermilk by combining coconut milk with some of the kombucha tea since lemon juice naturally sours any milk you put it in. To make it even more gourmet (naturally), I also put some lavender leaves in it as well and left it in the refrigerator for a week to let the kombucha really sour the milk (also because I was busy all week so if you do have the time, you can just leave it to sour the milk overnight). These scones were decidedly better tasting the day after they were made and they're not particularly that sweet because a popular condiment to sweeten scones is jam or jelly ( still, I might double the sugar next time though, or stevia, rather, as I only used 1/6th a cup--I put 1/3 a cup in the recipe but if you don't mind them not being that sweet, you can half it like my original recipe called for). Check out the recipe and make a tribute to Her Majesty as well! I forgot my camera in the apartment, and I'm currently on my way to see my parents in Syracuse for Passover, so there won't be photos of these scones unfortunately until later, but stay posted for some delicious recipes from this weekend's seder (for those of you non-Jews, a seder is basically a huge feast similar to Thanksgiving, only it revolves around the telling of the story of Passover, and as you may have guessed, it's a pretty big deal at my house--we make enough food for an army)!
Lemon-Lavender Buttermilk Scones with 'Coconutty' Crumble
Makes about 1 dozen scones
1 c. garbanzo bean flour
1 c. almond flour/meal
1/4 c. flax seed powder
3/4 c. coconut flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 pinches of salt
1/3 c. raw stevia powder
1 1/4 c. coconut buttermilk: 3/4 c. light coconut milk + 3/4 c. GT's raw organic kombucha--citrus flavor
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted margarine (Earth Balance is the best, but Fleishman's is a good alternative, which I used)
1 tbsp almond extract
1/2 c. coconut vinegar (for syrup)
1/2 c. white Balsamic or Pinot Grigio vinegar (for syrup)
2 packets of raw stevia
Crumble Topping (will make a lot more than you need but this topping also goes well in yogurt as well):
1/2 c. ground sunflower seeds (I did this in a coffee grinder, but you can do it in the food processor if you'd like
1/2 c. ground walnuts (again in the coffee grinder)
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
1 packet raw stevia
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2) Grease a muffin tin with Pam butter spray or olive oil, or you can line the muffin tin with foil liners (I don't have heart-shaped muffin liners to fit my specialty pan, so I just greased it).
3) Mix dry ingredients together with a fork in a large bowl.
4) Once margarine is a little softer from being in the freezer, you can do one of the following:
a) The quicker and lazy way is to do these next steps in a food processor, but you don't need one--I just like using my shiny new one that I got as a gift from my mom whenever I have the chance. Anyway, moving on, if you have a food processor, slice the margarine into tablespoons and place the margarine in the processor and pour in about 1 cup of the dry mixture, turning it on. Gradually add in the rest of the dry ingredients until it forms course crumbs.
b) If you do not have a food processor, mix the tablespoons of margarine with a fork or a hand mixer.
5) a) If you're using the food processor, add the coconut buttermilk and almond extract, mixing it until a ball of dough forms.
b) If you're not using a food processor, make a well in the center of the bowl and add the almond extract and coconut buttermilk and blend with a hand mixer or a large wooden spoon until a large ball of dough forms.
6) Spoon out the dough into the muffin tin (I used my heart-shaped one that I've used previously for my celiac pancake recipe and the celiac cupcake recipe).
7) With a knife, smooth out the tops of the dough.
8) Combine the ingredients for the crumble topping in a small bowl and sprinkle it on top of the muffins.
9) Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the tops look slightly browned and crispy.
10) Meanwhile, heat up the vinegars and stevia in a small saucepan on medium heat until it starts to boil slightly and stir gently with a wooden spoon. *Note: My sister told me to mention that this process is pretty aromatic and will fill the kitchen with the scent of reduced vinegar. If this bothers you, open a 'fricken' door and deal with it--the results will be worth sacrificing one of your senses for the 10 minutes it takes to make this syrup. AND it's healthier than making a simple sugar syrup (as well as more sophisticated if you ask me)!
11) Stir occasionally until a syrup forms on your wooden spoon, for about 10-15 minutes.
12) Remove scones from the oven and drizzle the syrup on top.
12) Place on cooling rack for a few minutes and serve immediately. I'd suggest cutting them in half horizontally and eating them with sugar-free jam (or regular if you don't care).
Enjoy and Cheers!
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