You’d think Scones, with their fine crumb and texture, wouldn’t lend themselves to gluten-free baking. But you would be wrong to think that.
Scones are one of the baked goods I didn’t think would work very well with my gluten-free lifestyle. But boy, was I wrong. Hello, scone texture! My personal gluten-free cookbook has a new addition in the form of this recipe. I adapted many of those featured in it from an old cookbook I found at a store back before they called it “gluten-free” and called it simply “baking without wheat”.
Try this recipe and you’ll become a believer, too.
How to Make Perfect Gluten-Free Scones
There are a few requirements to making delicious, perfectly textured Gluten-Free Scones.
First, you must grate your butter. Like sifted flour, grating your very cold butter helps with virtually all pie, scone, and biscuit-type cookie recipes where you need to keep ingredients cold. Because gluten-free flour has a different consistency, you must do this to help keep the butter evenly distributed throughout.
Second, you need high-quality gluten-free flour. This is a must as it leads to tender, gluten-free baked goods that are not bland and devoid of flavor.
Third, make sure to use a good, full-fat sour cream. This way you’ll get a richness in flavor, moisture, and structure. Plus, you avoid all the unwanted stuff usually added to reduced-fat sour cream to compensate for the qualities fat brings.
You can, however, get all kinds of inventive with the mix-ins. Berries and dried fruit work wonderfully with these delicious little tea-biscuit-tasting scones!
FAQs & Tips
How do I store these scones?
You can freeze baked scones for up to three months. You can refrigerate the dough up to three days before baking. You cannot freeze the dough, however.
Any recommendations for super-delicious add-ins?
Sweet, tart cherries work very well in scones. So do raisins and cinnamon! YUM!
Tip for Baking to Perfect Doneness
You want these to brown only slightly. Look for your scones to turn the color of baked biscuits a bit around the edges before removing from the oven. Turn the oven off and set them on top of your still-warm oven to after-cook to perfection.
Serving Suggestions
I serve these Gluten-Free Scones with hot cinnamon tea or, for the kids, my Triple Chocolate Cake Batter Milkshakes. Delicious! But my favorite meal to serve them with is a British Afternoon Tea lunch of Herb Cheese Tea Sandwiches and these lovely Gluten-Free Scones with blackberries or blueberries added!
Gluten-Free Scones
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons butter frozen
- ⅓-½ cup mix-ins of choice chocolate chips, berries, nuts, dried fruit
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract omit for savory scones
- Coarse sugar for topping optional
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Incorporate butter. Grate the frozen butter and add to the flour mixture. Combine until you have pea-sized crumbs.
- Add mix-ins. Stir your choice of mix-ins into the flour mixture until they’re evenly distributed.
- Prepare wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract.
- Combine wet and dry. Gently fold the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Shape the dough. With wet hands, form the dough into a 6-inch round on plastic wrap, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat and prepare. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut and arrange. Cut the chilled dough into 6 wedges and place them on the baking sheet. Optionally, sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake to perfection. Lower the oven to 425°F and bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool and serve. Let the scones cool on a rack for 20 minutes before serving.
Leave a Comment