Grain-free Pumpkin, Cranberry, Chocolate Chip, and Walnut Scones

I'm on a great rotation this month!  Its been four days and I've probably already learned more than I did during the entirety of last month!  Both attendings are excited about helping me learn a bit of tropical medicine before my journey to Ghana.  And there are no weekends or call.

The downside is being at the hospital for 8am lecture and not leaving until after dinnertime.  I wanted to make something healthy for breakfast that could be easily consumed in the car.  There were some cranberries and half a can of pumpkin in the freezer from this fall, so here we have pumpkin and a whole collection of other things scones.  A scone and hard boiled egg will make great grab and go breakfasts for the next few days.

Don't let me fool you.  These are not the usual sweet, dissolve in your mouth scones you'd enjoy with a cup of tea.  If you must (or choose to) have a gluten-free diet, this recipe is an acceptable substitute for the much tastier original.  Also, if fresh cranberries are unavailable, raspberries would probably work.  Or additional chocolate chips and walnuts can be added.

Grain-Free Pumpkin, Cranberry, Chocolate Chip, and Walnut Scones 

makes 8 scones

2 cups almond flour

1/3 cup soy flour

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tablespoons honey

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

2 tablespoons flax seeds

1 cup cranberries

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix all ingredients together. The dough will be moist.  Form into a circle and cut into 8 triangles.
Bake at 350 F on a parchment lined cookie sheet for 30-40 minutes.

Grain-Free (Paleo-ish) Pumpkin Spice Scones

The past week and a half has been what is know as exam week around UCCOM. It consists of exams on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Monday. It consumes all of our time and energy. It is brutal. And when it rolls around to the Saturday between the Friday and Monday exams, I am pretty burnt out. Add to that the jealousy of seeing EWeage post on the blog the pumpkin spice latte/ chai cupcakes, and you can only imagine the yearning I had to get back into the kitchen. So, as a study break, I decided to try my hand at grain-free pumpkin scones.

But here is the deal with these scones. I had to develop my own recipe because I couldn't find a recipe online for these puppies made with almond flour. So what follows is my first plunge into the world of recipe development. I had about five tabs open on my computer looking at different recipes, trying to deduce the best ratio of almond flour to pumpkin to egg to spices.

I ended up with what follows. But before that, I will say that, while they do taste pretty good, they are not perfect. I am definitely going to be fiddling with this one in the future. (For example, I would add more spices. Its hard to get enough cinnamon for me, but I was worried about going overboard)

Grain-Free Pumpkin Scones

2 1/2 c. + 3 Tbs almond flour

1/2 c. pumpkin

1 egg

2 Tbs honey

1/3 c. chopped toasted pecans

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix all of the ingredients together. The dough will be slightly moist, but you should be able to form it into a circle and cut it into 8 pieces like a normal scone. If not, add a bit more almond flour. Bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes. I think I took mine out a bit too soon, but that just meant that they turned out perfectly when I reheated them in the mornings in the toaster oven.

Spiced Glaze

2 Tbs pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 Tbs honey

1/2 c powdered sugar (this is the not-so-paleo part...)

Mix up the ingredients, and then I poured them into a plastic bag, cut the corner off, and used it to drizzle.

**As a side note, as with any grain-free baking that I have done, these are very absorbent. Unless you are going to eat them right away, I would suggest not glazing until when you want to eat them. Second option is what I did, glaze them all, and then put them in the toaster oven to warm up when you want to eat them.

Walnut Chocolate Chip Spiced Pumpkin Scones

There have been so many facebook statuses this week about the return of pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks.  Though I haven't had one of my own yet (a problem which will be remedied on my way to night call this evening), I'm definitely in the autumn spirit.  The temperature has drastically decreased and I've seen several red leaves lying on the sidewalk over the past few days.  Now the rain without thunder or lightning is getting old, but none the less I love fall.  And after the hot humid days we've been having I'm definitely ready for jeans and sweatshirt weather, trips to the cider mill, and hearing the local high school marching band practice while walking around the neighborhood.

Some of my favorite seasonal recipes start to make an appearance with the falling of the leaves.  Warm butternut squash and chick pea salad, apple flax bread, and anything pumpkin.  My tea and hot chocolate supply will also start to be used on a daily basis.  And what goes with a mug of hot beverage than a scone and a good book?

Walnut Chocolate Chip Spiced Pumpkin Scones (adapted from Joy of Baking)

1 cup white flour

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chilled butter

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1/3-1/2 cup buttermilk (to make buttermilk add a little vinegar to regular milk and let sit for 5 minutes)

3/4 cup pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

Splash of milk

Preheat oven to 410*

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add chunks of cold butter and cut in with a knife or a pastry blender.  There should be pea-size chunks.

Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips.

Stir in buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla.

Turn out onto floured surface and kneed until well blended.

Divide in half and form two circles about 1/2 inch thick.

Cut each circle into 8 triangles.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet.

Beat egg and milk together to form egg wash.  Coat scones with a thin layer.

Bake at 410* for 20 minutes.

Cool on wire rack.