As much as I love baked goods for breakfast, I tend to shy away from making scones. In my experience, scone recipes usually turn out a product I’ve come to think of as “Butter Bombs for Breakfast.” I’m all for using and enjoying butter (sometimes in higher quantities than I should), but when my breakfast leaves me feeling like there’s a lead weight in my belly, it’s not the greatest start to the day. When I was younger and less concerned about my health, I used to stop by Starbucks at least once a week for coffee and one of their scones–maple was always my favorite–for breakfast. Beyond savoring the super-sweet taste, however, I don’t recall ever actually feeling good on those mornings. In fact, there were several times I felt kinda nasty. No wonder, I guess, when you take in 55% of your daily saturated fat value at breakfast. As I’ve become more conscientious about my eating habits, I’ve dropped the Starbucks breakfast habit, and have almost never made scones at home…until now.
Not long ago I came across this recipe for blueberry scones using a mix of white and whole-wheat flour, Greek yogurt, and only 3 tablespoons of sugar and butter in the entire batch. Not bad compared to traditional scones, I’d say! No fist-sized-clump-of-fat-in-your-gut feeling after eating one of these. And it turns out they actually taste great, too. Chewy, full of blueberries, and just sweet enough: there’s a breakfast I can get behind.
So when your Starbucks scone craving rears its ugly head, give these a try–you may even prefer them.
Blueberry Scones
(Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. butter, softened or melted and cooled
1 egg
1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
cooking spray
1 1/2 tsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, vanilla, butter, and egg. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just moist but still slightly crumbly. Gently fold in blueberries.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 8 times with your hands. (I do this in the bowl, not on a floured surface, and it does just fine.) Form dough into a 8-inch circle and place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cut into 6 wedges and separate slightly.
- In a small bowl, combine white sugar and cinnamon. To top scones, spray tops with cooking spray, then sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes or until the scone tops are golden brown.
Makes 6 scones. For best results, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
