Maybe it's the chillier weather... Maybe it's the memory of these pumpkin scones... But I've been in the mood for lots of scones lately, and spiced plum anything is always a late fall favorite of mine, especially with a nice cup of coffee in hand {or maybe with this spiced plum smoothie for a change ;) }. These gluten-free, vegan and paleo spiced plum scones were therefore a must on my list of fall desserts to try out!
Speaking of trying out: I made these scones two ways -- one version was paleo and the other was just gluten-free and vegan, and both were tied for awesomeness. I had a hard time deciding which one was my favorite -- I think I'm leaning towards the non-paleo one {i.e. using the glutinous rice flour instead of tapioca}, but it was a close call. The paleo ones were a tinge more cakey -- maybe that's why I'm leaning towards the rice flour ones... Anyhow, maybe you should just try both too and let me know which you like better ;) . Just kidding. Though any excuse to have more scones is great in my books ;) . Either way, these are seriously delish with a cup of tea or coffee and make a wonderful breakfast, dessert, or snack. Enjoy!
Gluten-Free Vegan Spiced Plum Scones
These gluten-free, vegan and paleo spiced plum scones are the perfect fall dessert or breakfast treat. Paleo version included.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 26 minutes
- Total Time: 56 minutes
- Yield: 8 scones
- Category: Breads
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
Scones:
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, at room temperature (I used my homemade applesauce for this)
- ⅔ cup coconut oil, liquified
- ¾ cup maple syrup — at room temperature
- ¼ cup hot water
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- dash of salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups coconut flour
- 1 cup glutinous rice flour (also known as sticky rice flour — it does not contain any gluten, despite the name) or tapioca starch for a paleo version
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 plums, finely chopped
Spiced Drizzle:
- ¼ cup cashews, pre-soaked and strained (I was in a rush, so just soaked mine in boiling water for 15 mins.)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp coconut oil, liquified
- 1 tbsp non-dairy milk, room temp (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp cloves
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Place coconut oil and applesauce in an oven safe baking dish or glass container and place in a toaster (or microwave) for a few minutes to warm up the oil and applesauce. Note: If your maple syrup is colder than room temp, include it in this as well so that all the ingredients are warm enough not to make the coconut oil solidify.
- Pour the coconut oil, applesauce, maple syrup, hot water, vanilla, and spices into a large mixing bowl and blend all the ingredients together into a smooth mixture using an immersion blender (you can also mix by hand or put this mixture through a food processor and then pour into a mixing bowl).
- Cut out a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover a cookie sheet. Place it on a cutting board and set aside.
- Add coconut flour, glutinous rice flour or tapioca starch, and cocoa powder to the liquid mixture in the mixing bowl and mix using a wooden spoon to combine the liquid ingredients with the dry. Now it’s time to get your hands dirty — you’ll notice the batter will need more mixing than your wooden spoon can handle. Use your hands to thoroughly knead the dough. Fold in the chopped plum and then lump all the dough into a large ball.
- Place the dough ball onto parchment paper on the cutting board. Flatten it with your hands into a 1″ tall disc. Fix up and round off all the edges with your hands so that the disc looks nice and rounded everywhere. Using a knife cut the disc into 8 triangles (I first cut mine into 4 parts forming a cross, and then cut each triangle in half). Do not separate the scones just yet. Place the entire cutting board into the fridge and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Once the scones have chilled, remove from the fridge and transfer the parchment paper along with the scones onto a cookie sheet. Carefully separate and spread the scones apart on the cookie sheet on top of the parchment. Bake scones for approximately 26 minutes (watch the edges and remove from oven when they begin to brown up). Then, cool the tray on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime prepare the drizzle by placing all drizzle ingredients in your blender and blend on high until smooth. I used my Vitamix for this and recommend it for smoothest results (or another high power blender). If your blender isn’t up to scratch, you may want to add a tiny bit more non-dairy milk to help it blend better. Pour the drizzle mixture into a pipping bag or a squirty bottle (that’s what I used) and once the scones are cooled a little drizzle some on each scone.
- Serve warm with a hot cup of coffee, or enjoy these chilled (or reheated in the toaster) for an incredible breakfast treat!
Danika says
Hi Audrey,
I'm about to make this, and I don't see where you're supposed to add the cocoa. On top after it's baked or in the mix? It comes last on the list, so that was curious.
The Real Person!
Hi Danika. Thanks so much for your comment and sorry for the confusion. The cocoa powder should come in with the flours -- I just edited the recipe to make that clear.
Awdur says
Can this be made with dried plums?
The Real Person!
Yes, absolutely.
Lauren says
Hello. I followed this recipe two nights ago and had a few questions about it. I used tapioca flour in place of the glutinous rice flour because I didn't have any of that on hand. For everything else, I used the primary ingredients you describe. I baked the scones for 26 minutes and they came out only slightly browned on the edges. Perhaps I should have left them to bake longer. They are difficult to enjoy as they have an unpleasant texture, almost the same texture as the dough had but drier. I thought I would leave my feedback because I don't know if you tested the recipe with tapioca starch, but I feel like that may be the reason they didn't turn out for me.
I also have a question about how you made the cashew drizzle in your Vitamix. I have a low profile 64 oz. Vitamix container, and there is no way I could've made the drizzle smooth in this. It's such a small volume of ingredients. What happened is the blades roughly chopped the cashews and blended the oil with the spices, pushing everything to the edges of the container. I opened it up and scraped down the sides, but the ingredients are pushed to the edges again within 1 second of turning it back on. I ended up transferring everything to my Cuisinart mini food processor to make it smooth. I have considered purchasing the smallest Vitamix container available, the 32 oz. wet container, but am afraid that it wouldn't do a much better job.
The Real Person!
Hi Lauren,
Thanks very much for sharing all that -- I'm sure it'll come in handy for others with similar substitution ideas, etc.
Tapioca is quite different in a recipe than the sweet sticky rice flour, despite the similar look. Tapioca tends to produce dry and crumbly things as it's very moisture absorbent, whereas the glutinous rice flour creates a moist and springy texture. So I think that's where things went a bit wrong.
About that drizzle. That's about as small of a quantity as I can blend, but I have an old fashioned Vitamix. The ones with the low profile unfortunately don't do well with small batches, so you'd need to double or even triple the recipe to get that drizzle to work (because the base is just too wide to catch everything properly). You could always make more and freeze some for later use though.
vegetarianmamma (Cindy) says
Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays Party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :) I can't wait to see what you share next time!
-Cindy
Laura@Baking in Pyjamas says
I love the idea of spiced plum, how yummy. Just like the look of these scones.
The Real Person!
Thanks Laura. Plums go so well with a bit of spice and cocoa!