This is an adapted King Arthur Flour Recipe that I switched up just slightly.
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups of Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
I used 1 1/2 cups of Bob’s Red Hill and 1/4 cup of Premium Gold’s GF Blend because that’s what we had on hand.
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
You can’t leave this out, this helps emulsify the dough and give it some elasticity, since there is not gluten to do the job.
1/4 cup Sugar
I used Now: Real Food’s brand of beet sugar (we try to avoid cane sugar).
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
I like to use Sea Salt.
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
Or whatever else you like… feel free to play around with the spices you use.
A good pinch of Cinnamon
8 tbsp Butter, cold, cut into chunks
Use good butter, always… We like Kerrygold or whatever local organic butter is at the market. Why? Because the ingredients are as they should be: cream and salt, and nothing else. Trust me, it’s better this way.
2 large Eggs
1/3 cup cold Milk
We are dairy-free so I used Almond-Cashew.
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Always use authentic Vanilla Extract of Bean Paste, and not the artificial stuff. Your taste buds will thank you and so will your body.
3/4 cup of Currants
1/2 cup of Candied Ginger, finely diced
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Lightly spray a cast-iron skillet, or line a baking sheet with parchment.
Sift together the flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking power, salt, and nutmeg (or other spices) into a large bowl. Sifting helps to contribute to a light and fluffy feel in your baking by incorporating air into your flour. Don’t skip this step, this will give your scones an incredible texture.
With a hand-held pastry blender or a couple of forks if you don’t have one, work in your cold butter chunks until the mixture is crumbly and sandy. You still want your butter to be in little small balls or chunks throughout the flour mixture because when the dough is baked, the little pops of putter will melt throughout the dough and make it flaky and buttery.
Once the butter is mixed in, stir your currants and ginger throughout the flour/butter mixture.
In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs, and vanilla until frothy. Add this mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring slowly with a spatula, until the dough is well combined. It’ll be sticky and gloopy.
Drop your dough into the pan or onto the baking sheet in 7 or 8 1/3-cup size balls, being careful not to handle the dough much, because you don’t want the butter to begin melting with the warmth of your hands. Let the scones rest for 15 minutes on the counter before you put them in the oven.
Sprinkle the tops of them with some sugar if you want, or even cinnamon, and bake for about 20 minutes. Check them at 15 to make sure the tops aren’t browning too dark. Take them out and let them sit for about 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy them warm with some butter and fruit jam on the side!
