This past weekend, one of my good friends, Jen, was in town for a friend’s wedding. Jen and I met at our first jobs out of college for a start-up home furnishings e-retailer. We both worked in the advertising department, where over the course of three years, Jen went on to head up the paid advertising team, and I went on to lead the natural search (SEO) portion of the business. It was extremely fast-paced, high stress, and slightly chaotic, and we instantly became friends, relying on each other to stay sane through all the ups and downs.
In addition to our similar work experience, we also both shared a love for baking, particularly when it came to taking traditional recipes and making them healthier. There was a time when we were so burnt out with our 9-5s that we even talked about starting our own bakery… except we were so slammed at work that we never did get beyond the initial brainstorming phase. Still, baking remained a source of stress relief and fun for us, and we were always testing new recipes and comparing notes.
Of course, I wanted to impress Jen with a new baking creation when I saw her on Saturday. However, I’ve been having some trouble with baking now that I’ve been trying to cut back on gluten, and I was very much in need of a recipe win. So, instead of throwing a bunch of ingredients into a bowl and crossing my fingers (not the best game plan when it comes to baking!), I decided to go with an old favorite: scones.
I adapted my kumquat scone recipe to create orange scones, using gluten-free flour and slightly less sugar – the natural sweetness of the orange juice more than makes up for it. And just like the kumquat version, these scones turned out crispy around the edges, and perfectly crumbly and a little doughy on the inside. Hooray!
These are a definite gluten-free win, and one I was happy to share.
- 2½ C. All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand, but see note below)
- ⅓ C. Raw Turbinado Sugar, plus more for dusting
- 2¼ Tsp. Xanthan Gum (see note below)
- 2 Tsp. Baking Powder
- ½ Tsp. Sea Salt
- Juice & Zest of 2 Organic Oranges (1/2 C. juice & 2 Tbs. zest)
- ¼ C. Earth Balance
- ¼ C. Unsweetened Applesauce
- Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Lightly grease or line a baking sheet and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, xanthan gum (if using), baking powder, and salt.
- Add the Earth Balance to your dry ingredients, and using a pastry cutter or your hands, cut in the Earth Balance until it forms course crumbles. The Earth Balance should be about the size of peas.
- Stir in the applesauce, orange zest, and orange juice until just combined.
- Divide dough into two equal parts, form into balls, and flatten onto your prepared baking sheet.
- If you like, sprinkle a little raw turbinado sugar on top to give the scones a bit more crunch and sweetness.
- Cut each round into 4 parts for larger scones, or 8 parts for petite scones.
- Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until the scones are golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Allow the scones to cool slightly and enjoy with your favorite mug of tea!
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I love orange scones and these look so delicious! I also had problems with cooking GF, i’ve had a few flops, I will make these to decrease my GF errors
It gets tricky when you’re making things vegan, gluten-free, lower fat/sugar, but the orange scones are relatively simple (not too many ingredients). Let me know what you think if you make them!
we made g-f pumpkin chocolate muffins last night, see my instagram
, and they had this funky texture that, apparently, only I could detect. grrrrrrrrrrrr. In a world of gf baking I just always expect things to turn out perfectly! not sure why? but I do! Thanks for sharing a wee bit of your frustrations over baking. These look DELISH Amanda!
Pumpkin chocolate muffins sound fantastic! Sorry the texture wasn’t quite right…maybe edit the recipe a bit and give them another try? If you were the only one who picked up on the funky texture, I bet they’re pretty close to being awesome!
nice job with a tough gluten free thing to bake, the citrus I’m sure is such a great spring time flavor. I’ve been really into adding citrus flavors to just about everything lately.
Me too! I’m already thinking about my next citrus baked good…
Hey! Scones look scrumptious
I nominated you for the Liebster award (thought I’m not sure how many followers you have!) See the post here: http://ovenmittsblog.com/2012/04/02/news/
Thanks, Raquel! Off to read your post now!
Orange + scones is my favorite flavor combo. Something about it just works really really well. Love when they’re still a bit soft and under cooked on the inside
These scones look and sound so delicious! I like that you added both orange juice and zest. I’m sure they taste incredibly fresh and vibrant! I hope you enjoyed your time with Jen!
Thanks, Cadry!I thought about using almond milk instead of the orange juice, but I wanted the orange flavor to really come through!
I love that you didn’t make these all huge and menacing – they look like a perfect little afternoon nibble!
I like to think 3 of these = 1 regular-sized scone so I can have more than one.
Congrats on your win! These look awesome…just one question. Can I sub coconut oil for the EB? I don’t keep the latter on hand but I know sometimes recipes will offer than as an option….not that I’ve actually opened my coconut oil but….
I haven’t tried coconut oil in this recipe, but it works really well in my donut recipes. I can’t say for sure what it will do to the texture of the scones, but I think it’s worth a try. Mind reporting back if you make them?
Of course! Although I can’t promise if I actually will make them…with the move and all. <–I'm totally blaming everything on this until mid-June! #easywayout
Citrus sweets are seriously the best! Must try these!
I agree! I love citrusy desserts and baked goods!
I made these for Easter yesterday! They turned out great! I love citrusy scones.
Awesome! I’m so happy you liked them!
This recipe looks great and simple. And it’s vegan! Only problem, I don’t have any applesauce. What can I substitute for the applesauce in it’s place? Would 1/4 cup of mashed banana or 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree work?
Either of those should work, or you could use an additional 1/4 C. of earth balance (not low-fat, but delicious!). Let me know how they turn out!
Thanks Amanda, these turned out beautifully the first time! Delicious! I did a search for vegan, gluten free scones, and of all the photos these scones looked like they had the best texture. I’m thinking lemon poppyseed scones next time…..
I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Lemon poppyseed sounds wonderful – I love lemon baked goods.
I just made these with a bunch of clementines/tangerines I had laying around that I needed to use up. So yummy! I subbed vegan soy yogurt (plain, unsweetened) for the applesauce and added a bit more sugar (I didn’t have applesauce) and they came out delicious. I used an ice-cream scoop to just plop them down like drop biscuits, and the textures is just like you described, a little crunchy on the edges and crumbly/soft on the inside. Thanks for the recipe!
Yum! Your substitutions sound awesome! I’m going to have to make this recipe with clementines & tangerines…
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