Need to leave a cookie for Santa? Or just want to throw an intimate tea party at home with your loved ones during the festive season? It’s the season for indulgence and who doesn’t need some after the year we’ve all had?
How about coconut flour blueberry muffins and some rye flour fruit scones? These are easy enough that they can be made with children. Scones are the first thing I was ever taught to prepare in my first Home Economics lesson back in my pre-teen years. Get those aprons on and get the children baking with you!
It’s also the season of giving, so in that spirit, here are these two delicious recipes for you to enjoy. If you don’t like the idea of scones, you can use the same dough to make biscuits instead. Just roll them out thinner and adjust baking times accordingly. This recipe will work well not just for a healthier take on the traditional English Cream Tea, but also to accompany cheese.
Rye Flour Fruit Scones
(makes 4 to 5 large ones)
#Sugar free
#Healthy
#Scrumptious
Ingredients
50 grams of mixed dried fruit (e.g. cranberries and raisins)
grapefruit juice (for soaking)
50g butter
150g of flour made up of 110g dark rye flour and 40 white spelt flour
A pinch of fine sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
3tsp granulated stevia
1 large egg
4 tbsp unsweetened soy milk
The rind of 8 lemons
(Butter and strawberry jam to serve!)
Method
1. Soak the dried fruit in the juice and a little hot water for 1 to 2 hours.
2. Set the oven at 200°.
3. Put the flour, baking powder, stevia, sea salt and lemon rind in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.
4. Cut up the butter into small dollops and using your fingers rub in the butter to the flour mixture. There should be no blobs of butter left and you should get the consistency of small bread crumbs.
5. Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Pour in the soy milk and stir with a wooden spoon or a spatula.
6. Drain the soaked fruit well, and fold it into the dough. Add some more milk if it is too dry, or sprinkle a little more spelt flour if it is too soft and sticky.
7. You should have a smooth consistency which doesn’t stick easily. Dust a little flour over the top, and cover the bowl with a tea towel or a cling film. Place it in the fridge for about 15 minutes before rolling out. (This would be a good time to put together those muffins!).
8. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
9. Take the bowl out of the fridge and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 2-3 cm in height. Cut with a round cutter (approx. 5cm in diameter).
10. Turn the cut scones over, transferring them onto the oven tray. Brush the tops with some milk or a lightly beaten egg.
11. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes (times will depend on the thickness of your scone) until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
12. Allow to cool on a cooling rack before serving.
Cut each scone horizontally in half and serve with softened butter and strawberry jam for the ultimate mouth-watering scone experience. For an even more traditional cream tea, add some clotted cream. If you are trying to keep it healthy-ish you could replace the clotted cream with whipped coconut cream.
Coconut Flour Blueberry Muffins
(makes 8 small ones)
#Gluten free
#Sugar free
#Healthy
#Delicious
Ingredients
32 g coconut flour (sifted after weighing)
¼ tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
43g (melted) butter
3 tsp stevia (granulated) *
½ tsp salt
2tsp pure vanilla extract
85g fresh blueberries
*can be replaced with 3 tbsp of honey
Method
1. Wash the blueberries in a bicarbonate and water bath. Then dry carefully.
2. Turn on the oven at 200°C and line 6 to 8 muffin pans well, either with individual paper cups or with oil or butter.
3. Measure and sift the flour and baking powder with a fine sieve over a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, stir the eggs yolks, melted butter, salt and vanilla until you obtain a smooth batter.
5. Take the egg whites and whip them until you get soft peaks.
6. Carefully fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.
7. Next, mix the wet ingredients into bowl with the flour and baking powder, until there are no lumps.
8. Finally fold in the blueberries so they are evenly spread.
9. Scoop the mixture with a tablespoon into the (small) muffin cups so they are half full.
10. Bake for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
11. Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Stay safe this Christmas.
