Fluffy - Crispy Gluten Free Scones
When guests tell us they eat a gluten-free diet, we can see in their eyes the sadness of belief that they will miss out on all the tasty goodies we serve for breakfast. But nothing could be further from the truth! Case in point: our Gluten Free Scones. They are just as fluffy and crispy and delicious as our glutenous scones. We’d love to bake some for you, but until your next visit, we hope you can bake some up for yourself.
Bright Winter Flavors
As in all aspects of breakfast at Chehalem Ridge B&B, Chef Kristin tries to us seasonal products. In winter, oranges and pomegranates are ripening, and while not local, they mostly come from California which isn’t too far. A ripe pomegranate is filled with arils (the technical term for the seeds) which can be juiced or eaten whole. For these scones, the juice is used in the “wet ingredients” and the whole arils are folded into the dough during shaping. Oranges also have two aspects of flavor used in the scones: the juice and the essential oils hidden in the zest.
Tricks of the Trade
Here are a few culinary tricks Kristin uses to make these gluten-free scones flavorful and fluffy.
Gluten Free Orange Pomegranate Scones
1/4 cup butter, frozen and grated (2 ounces or 1/2 a stick of butter)
1 large orange, zest and juice
1 large pomegranate
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1-1/4 cups sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
~For topping
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1. Grate the frozen butter into a bowl and store in the freezer until needed.
2. Cut the top and bottom off the pomegranate, score along the membranes from top to bottom and pry apart the sections. Pull off the arils, avoiding any that are shriveled or discolored. Set aside about half of the arils. Use an immersion blender or small food processor to quickly mash the remaining arils, releasing their juices. Strain the juices into a measuring cup.
3. Zest the orange to get about 1 Tablespoon of zest. Juice the orange and add enough orange juice to the pomegranate juice to equal 1/2 cup. Drink whatever orange juice is left over… or make margaritas!
4. Beat the egg into the juices and store in the refrigerator until needed.
5. In a medium bowl, mix together sorghum flour, tapioca flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt and sugar. Add frozen, grated butter and mix gently to coat with a fork. Pour the juice mixture over the flour mixture and mix until dough comes together loosely.
6. Pour dough onto parchment paper sprinkled with gluten-free flour. Use the edges of the parchment paper to fold the dough back onto itself, flouring as needed. Pat the dough into an 8″ square. Scatter reserved pomegranate arils atop the dough and press lightly to sink them in. Again using the parchment paper, fold/roll the dough onto itself to make a log, creating layers of dough. Pat the dough out again into a long rectangle, about 3″ tall and 12″ wide. Using a knife dipped in gluten-free flour, slice into rectangles, then slice the rectangles into triangles, separating as you go. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle sugar on.
7. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
*Extra notes: you can easily make this dairy-free by switching out the butter for margarine and milk for non-dairy milk. To make them egg free, you can use Egg Replacer or a flax meal and water slurry, but the scones will be flatter (but still yummy!).
Chef Kristin adapted a scone recipe from Bob’s Red Mill‘s Baking Book for these scrumptious delights. The Baking Book is from way back in 2006 and is now out of print. Since then, Bob’s Red Mill has developed a Biscuit and Baking mix, which has the other ingredients like xanthan gum, sugar and leavening agents already added to it. While that makes the gathering ingredients a little bit faster, Kristin starts with more basic ingredients that can be used across multiple gluten-free recipes.
