Since I don’t get to exercise my creative muscles doing a lot of house decorating and rearranging this days, I like to flex those muscles in the kitchen instead. Specifically, I really enjoy playing with flavor combinations. I’ve long been a fan of blueberries but I’ve just recently fallen for wild blueberries. They are much like their traditional brethren but they have a higher concentration of antioxidants and their flavor is more intense (sweeter and tangier).
I’ve wanted to make wild blueberry scones for quite some time but I wanted to play around with different spice combinations too. So often we tend to rely on cinnamon to infuse flavor into our baked goods. While cinnamon is delicious, it’s always nice to expand your horizons to uncharted territory. Cardamom is a spice that highly unused and unappreciated but it’s perfect for baking. It brings an aromatic, citrus, herbal pop that pairs beautifully with sweet treats.
So this scone is an exploration of the fun and unexpected combination of wild blueberries and cardamom. If you can’t find dried wild blueberries, feel free to substitute regular dried blueberries. The blueberry flavor won’t be as potent but maybe that’s a good thing for you blueberry haters. Don’t skip out on the cardamom though–it brings an incredible depth and variety to an otherwise plain jane scone. I think I’ll be using cardamom more often.
Ingredients:
Scones:
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons vegan margarine, frozen and then cut into pea size squares
- 1/2 cup wild dried blueberries
- 3/4 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 cup raw sugar
Glaze:
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine non-dairy milk and lemon juice in a small bowl. Allow to sit.
In a large bowl, add dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt) and dried blueberries. Stir together.
Flick in small pea sized amounts of butter into dry ingredients. Using your fingers or two forks gently sift through the flour until all of your margarine is covered in flour.
Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and mix with your hands until the mixture comes into a dough.
Then transfer dough onto a floured surface.
Create a circle out of dough that’s about 1 inch tall and then slice into 8 pieces.
Place cut scones onto greased cookie sheet. Then sprinkle raw sugar over top of scones.
Put cookie sheet in the oven for 20 minutes.
Remove scones from oven and place them on a cooling rack.
Combined glaze ingredients in a small bowl. When the scones are completely cool, drizzle the glaze over the scones.
Allow glaze to dry and enjoy.
