In spite of my huge love for yeast bread – the labor involved, the simple ingredients that through kneading and time create complex, rich flavor, the satisfying crunch of a deep brown crust, the smell as it bakes – I adore quick breads, with the humble, homely biscuit being my favorite kind. I quite possibly could live on biscuits alone (as long as I have a cup of tea or hot chocolate with which to wash it down and perhaps a schmear of jam). I’ve been messing around with biscuits quite a lot lately, with my attention mostly on the savory kind, but a recent cookie post by emmycooks got me thinking about chocolate and dried apricots. Sounds like sweet scone material to me!
Orange and chocolate seem so natural together and apricots add that nice, soft bite that complements the flaky scone. These make a not-too-sweet afternoon snack or a portable breakfast. With half the fat of “normal” scones, these are nearly guilt-free.
Chocolate Chip, Apricot & Orange Scones
Makes 12
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
zest from one orange
1 tbsp. egg replacer + 3 tbsp. water (whisk until frothy, then set aside for a minute or two)
1/4 cup vegan butter
4 oz. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4-1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
~2 tbsp. soy milk, for brushing tops of scones
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling, if desired
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 425F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and orange zest. Add the butter in chunks and blend until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer, applesauce, maple syrup and soy milk, then pour into the dry ingredients – adding more soy milk if necessary. Just before the dough is thoroughly combined, stir in the chocolate chips and dried apricots.
Scoop the batter into a ball and place on a floured surface (or directly onto the lined baking pan). Pat dough into a circle that is about 1/2″ thick. Move the circle onto the baking sheet and cut into 8-12 pieces. Separate the triangles a little bit, then brush the tops with soy milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are a nice, rich brown. Let the scones cool for a minute before putting on wire cooling racks. Eat while still warm!
Looking back over my recent recipes, it seems I’m currently fixated on sweet things to eat. Some kind of deficiency? Or just that cold weather sending my taste buds looking for something to brighten gray days. With neither shame nor apology here’s another recipe aimed at the sweet tooth. Bundt cakes are appealing on many levels: for starters, one gets a big bang for the effort; two, they’re attractive; and three – well, they’re generally delicious (when the chemistry goes as it should) all the while being homey and comforting and old-fashioned. The 1950s, Betty Crocker, Ladies Home Journal, Tupperware parties, bridge games and afternoon tea. In short: a classic whose lone challenge is getting it out of the pan in one piece. I served mine with a generous puddle of warm Chocolate Fudge Sauce – that recipe will appear on Valentine’s Day (tucked inside of heart-shaped sugar cookies).
cooking spray
Spoon half of the batter into the prepared bundt pan, then sprinkle on the streusel mixture. Top with the remaining batter and bake for 1 hour or until the top springs back when pressed and a toothpick comes out nearly clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing. Let cake cool completely on a wire rack.
This is a case of “do as I say, not as I do.” When I mixed this dough together I was completely puzzled. Why was the dough so wet and sticky? Had KAF made a mistake in their recipe? I added flour and more flour and fought with the dough sticking resolutely to my fingers. Then I looked again at the recipe. Oops. Instead of adding one half cup of the starter, I’d added it ALL. Luckily, the dough came out just fine – though I had lots more than the original recipe. As a result, I ended up with 16 delicious rolls instead of only six. So…I’m offering the recipe as written – well, with my vegan modifications – and not as I incorrectly interpreted it. These rolls are very delicious and they can be filled with an infinite number of ingredients from sweet to savory.
Make the dough:
Make the filling:
(The recipe comes from the winter 2012 edition of The Baking Sheet, by King Arthur Flour. KAF used a filling made of tahini, honey and dried cranberries. Good, but… I wanted something closer to what you would find in a doughnut – jam – and peanut butter is always good. I upped the amount of white whole wheat flour, used applesauce in place of butter, subbed egg replacer for one egg and used soy milk instead of dairy milk.)
If you don’t bake up a batch of these cookies and sample them for yourself, how are you going to know how unbelievably delicious vegan baking can be?? These are a real stand-out. Soft and nutty with big bites of chocolate chips, cranberries and toasted pecans. I added an extra zing of orange flavor (which pairs so beautifully with both chocolate and cranberries) by adding orange zest. Truly addictive.
1 tbsp. egg replacer + 3 tbsp. water (whisk together until frothy, then let sit for a minute)
(This recipe comes from the side of a 5-lb. bag of King Arthur Flour White Whole Wheat Flour – which, by the way, is a fantastic whole grain product. What changes did I make, you ask? Here’s the rundown: I halved the amount of “butter,” using applesauce to make up the remainder; used egg replacer; reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup of maple sugar – instead of 3/4 cup refined white sugar, and used stevia to make sure the sweet factor was just right. And, I added orange zest.)
Yesterday was cold and gray and wet. Perfect for a day in the kitchen. I’ve been craving scones – they are so cozy and comforting – but they pose a challenge due to the fat/butter content. A scone’s flaky-tenderness owes its very existence to fat. But being a low-fat, low-sugar vegan doesn’t mean giving up these treats. I took a recipe for Brown Sugar Scones from King Arthur Flour and changed up the flavors – and reduced the fat content by half – by using prune puree. The original called for raisins and walnuts, but I wasn’t having any of that. Chocolate and cherries sounded much better to me. I added maple and vanilla extracts for additional flavor. The smell when baking is out of this world. The scones bake up tender inside with a crisp exterior and look (and taste) lovely nestled up to a steaming cup of Earl Grey.
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
I subscribe to King Arthur Flour’s quarterly publication, The Baking Sheet, because I’m obsessed with breads – especially yeast breads. And while a good majority of the offerings are not vegan-adaptable (at least not by this humble baker), there are always one or two recipes that I want to try out immediately. Noon Rogani, in their Holiday 2011 issue, was one of those recipes. I did have to do a little bit of tweaking to make this vegan and also less “refined.” First off, I used mostly KAF White Whole Wheat Flour and a little bit of AP flour. I substituted walnut oil for vegetable oil and agave nectar for the tablespoon of sugar called for in the dough. Instead of the butter/cinnamon/sugar called for in the filling, I used unsweetened applesauce and stirred in cinnamon and Demerara sugar. Butter was called for in the topping as well, so instead I used almond milk and brushed it over the loaves then sprinkled more Demerara sugar on top before putting the loaves in the oven. Oh, and one other change: the original recipe says to roll the dough into a 5 foot (yes, 5 feet) rope. Sadly, I do not have 5 feet of counter space, so I divided the dough in two and rolled each to approximately two and a half feet. This sounds like a complicated recipe, but it truly is not. Take your time, enjoy the process. The dough is forgiving. You will definitely enjoy the results.
