Gluten Free Scone Recipe
I’ve talked many times before about my gluten-free scones and have clearly teased many of you by posting my pictures and social media without a recipe. Since going gluten-free nearly 6 years ago, I’ve tried many different store bought versions of bread, scones, muffins, etc. All, I must say, are COMPLETELY unacceptable. Gluten free foods have gained a reputation for “tasting like cardboard” (or worse) and having awful texture. This reputation is fairly accurate….unless you get after it with your cooking skillzzzz. After shock and acceptance of how bad some pre-baked products truly are, I turned to the kitchen to bake my own goods – breads, muffins, and scones. The GF scones quickly became a favorite and I’ve since had requests for these scones from “glutards” and glutenphiles alike.
Although, these days, I get most of my grains and “starches” from whole foods such as hot buckwheat cereal, rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, or sweet fruits, I still love baking my scones for race weekend. These scones, baked to the perfect size, are a reliable source of energy on race day. If you know something works, don’t change it…until it stops working 
So, here I am BEAUTIFUL Czech, getting ready to race the next World Cup and staying at a great Hotel that does not have kitchens. Not to worry though, I bake a half dozen at home and travel with them – crisis averted! Since I can’t bake here, I’ll sense the incredible smell as I describe my recipe:
What you’ll need (also, see photos below):
*2 cups PACKED Pamela’s baking and pancake mix - NOTE: this pre-made mix is a GREAT place to start if you haven’t done a lot of GF baking. I’ve since begun making my scones with other flours (not mixes) like Amaranth flour, Coconut flour, etc. to get after a less processed version. For now though, try the recipe with the mix. As you figure out what your dough should and shouldn’t look like, you can begin experimenting with your own flours.
* 1/3 cup unrefined cane sugar. You can also try other sweeteners like honey, maple syrup (yum) or coconut nectar – just be aware that this will effect how much liquid you will add in the final step. You’ll use 3-4 Tablespoons of liquid sugar if you go that route.
*6 Tablespoons salted butter or Coconut oil – softened
*1/4 cup Toasted pecan or walnut pieces + any 1/4 cup-ish of the following: your favorite dried fruit or chocolate (100% cocoa) chunks. You can also use fresh or frozen fruit…once again, this will effect how much liquid you need to add to the mix.
*2 egg yolks
*Liquid: milk, half and half, almond milk, coconut water, etc. – whatever meets your dietary needs. There is no measurement here – this is where the science comes in!
DIRECTIONS – click on the photo to get a closer view.
1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
2) Mix 2 cups (well packed) Pamela’s mix and 1/3 cup of sugar. If using honey or liquid sweetener, ~3 tablespoons
3) Add 6 tablespoons of butter to dry mix. I find that getting my hands dirty is the best way to mix the batter – literally. Get in there with your hands and massage the butter throughout the flour. You can also cut it into the mix using two butter knives…this will take longer and isn’t quite as fun. End goal is for the mix to be a coarse, pellet-like texture.
4) Blend 2 egg yolks, nuts and other additions into mix
5) Slowly mix in your liquid of choice (~1 Tablespoon at a time) – don’t get too excited here, take your time. You want to add liquid until the mix is JUST barely past still being dry.
6) Plop 3-inch diameter balls of batter onto a baking sheet (no need to grease it, but I DO like putting mine on parchment paper) – makes 6-8 scones.Bake 15-25minutes or until lightly browned. Bake for ~15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
FINAL tip: For future baking, if you find your fist batch bakes into a flattened cookie-like batch of scones, you may have slightly too much sugar, too much fat or too much liquid (1-2 tablespoons can throw it off). I generally get it right when I eyeball it, but every once in a while, they come out flattish – still taste good, they just seem more like eating a cookie which just doesn’t seem right for breakfast
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- Step 2) Pamela’s Mix to start…then try your own GF flours. Take baby steps toward replacing parts of the 2 cups of mix until you figure out your proportions
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- Step 2) Blend Sugar and Flour mix evenly
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- Step 3) Cut in the butter with knives in a criss-cross motion…if you don’t LOVE licking batter off your fingers!
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- Step 3) Coarse flour texture
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- Step 4) Toss in the egg yolks + nuts plus any other additions
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- Step 4) Other additions…ummm, chocolate chunks please!
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- Step 5) Just enough liquid…
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- Step 6) Bake until lightly browned, ENJOY!
Let me know what you think or if you come up with any great variations!
[...] all week. I spent Thursday prepping a bunch of gluten-free race food: Allen Lim’s rice cakes and Heather Irmiger’s scones. I hoped those, along with Honey Stinger chews and new Stinger organic gels would get me through [...]
I made these today and they are fabulous. And easy to make. Really, thanks for this one!