I’ve been on a baking kick lately and maybe that’s because of the situation we find ourselves in these days… spending more time at home because of the pandemic. What’s not to love about baking and these beautiful Oil-Free Blueberry Scones? To quote my husband, Charles, “There are some terrible scones in the world but these are awesome!”
However, plant-based, vegan baking comes with some challenges. We’ll be leaving out eggs, oil, butter, and even vegan butter in this oil-free blueberry scone recipe. So, how do we keep them moist? Well, almond flour to the rescue. Since almonds naturally have a fair amount of fat, they help the scones stay moist. The blueberries help, as well. But scones are on the dryer side anyway. In fact, I’ll bet if you cut them smaller and double bake these, they’d be very similar to biscotti. Yum.
When making the batter, you’ll probably want to mix the ingredients with your hands because it is so dry. The dry batter makes it easy to work with and mold into any shape you desire. I have made these into round scones and also wedges. It’s your preference but for this recipe, I’m suggesting wedges.
You’ll make the wedges by creating a disc shape that’s about 1″ high. Then, like a pizza, cut it into six wedges.
It’s also a bit sticky so keep a little oat or unbleached all-purpose flour nearby in case you need it. The flour also helps to keep the knife from sticking if you’re cutting them into wedges.
As for the other ingredients, oat flour can easily be made with old-fashioned oats if you don’t have any oat flour on hand. Just put the recipe amount (1 1/4 cups) into the blender and blend on high for a few seconds until the oats turn to flour.
If you don’t have blueberries, you can substitute other fruit. Raspberries, cranberries, cut up strawberries or raisin would be a nice addition.
Any plant milk will work for this recipe, too. If you used sweetened plant milk they will be a little sweeter. With 1/4 cup of maple syrup, these oil-free blueberry scones are only lightly sweetened.
Since these oil-free blueberry scones have such great ingredients, you can feel good about eating them! I’ve even made them without fruit and used them as a shortcake served with cut-up fruit and a dollop of cashew yogurt or cashew cream, much like my Cornbread Strawberries and Cream recipe. It’s a beautiful dessert to serve to guests.
I’d love to hear your feedback for this Oil-Free Blueberry Scones recipe! If you have a photo, post it on Instagram, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking in your caption, and I won’t miss it!
Oil-Free Blueberry Scones (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon flax meal
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 1/4 cups oat flour
- 1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour tightly packed
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk or other plant milk
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen*
Powdered Sugar Drizzle (optional)
- 1/2 cup Powdered sugar loosely packed
- 1 tablespoon plant milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the flax meal with the water and set aside.
- Whisk oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, chia seeds, and salt in a bowl.
- Combine flax mixture with soy milk, maple syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients. Mix carefully until just combined. The dough is thick and sticky. You might need to use your hands to pull it together. Add a tablespoon or more plant milk if it’s too dry.
- Very gently fold in the blueberries.
- On a lightly floured surface, shape the scone mixture into a 7” circle. Place onto the baking sheet, cut into 8 wedges, and gently pull them apart so there’s at least an inch between them. **To make round scones, see the instructions in the recipe notes below.
- Bake on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden brown. Check at 15 minutes to see if they're golden brown yet as each oven is different. If not, put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes or so.
- To top with a powdered sugar drizzle mix 1/2 cup loosely packed powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon plant milk and mix until smooth. Drizzle across each scone.
- If you have leftovers, refrigerate in an airtight container for about 7 days or frozen up to 3 months.
Ok
These are AMAZING
I only had wild blueberries
And we did a brush of plant milk and sprinkled sugar in the raw on top before baking for a crunchy top.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hey Mandy, I’m so glad you enjoyed the scones! And, I love the idea of adding a little sweetness and crunch to the top. I may have to add that suggestion to the recipe. 🙂
I think next time I will use Wild Blueberries instead—better suited to scones . Also think I might add lemon juice to the “glaze/icing”
Is that because wild berries are smaller? Good tip and I like the idea of adding lemon juice, too. Thanks. 🙂
This recipe sounds amazing! What do the chia seeds do? Can I omit them? I don’t like the crunchyness of chia seeds in baked goods.
Hi Mary, Although chia seeds do soak up some moisture, I’m pretty sure you can just leave them out. Scones tend to be on the dryer side so maybe a few more minutes in the oven if they don’t seem done in the baking time in the recipe.
Could this be made with all oat flour instead of half almond flour? Thanks!
Hi, I haven’t tried making these with all oat flour but you could give it a try. Or, start with less almond flour and more oat flour. The almond flour adds some fat which helps keep the scones moist so my main concern is that they’d be dry. These are already pretty dry and it helps to mix them with your hands. You could possibly add a little more plant milk to compensate. Traditional scones can be made with butter, cream, and/or eggs so baking without oil is a little tricky.
Can date paste be subbed for the maple syrup?
Because date paste tends to be thicker, depending on if it’s homemade or not, it may affect the dryness of the scones, but you could add a tablespoon or so if that’s the case. It’s worth a try to see if it works!
I am very excited! Whilst I have not yet tried these, they are cooking in the oven as I write this and already, my home smells amazing!!
I used 1 and 1/4 c of almond flour, with the second lot of flour a mismatch as I didn’t have oat flour! Oh well! So, I used 1 c of quinoa flour mixed in with buckwheat pancake mix and 1/4 c of amaranth and remaining buckwheat! I hope they still come up a treat! Thankyou for this recipe!
I love your creative solution. Do you make your own quinoa flour? Let us know how they turn out. I’ve been noodling on a new scone recipe that includes sweet potato. And, as for flour, I like almond flour but I’m thinking about using something different that has fewer calories this time. I use buckwheat flour quite a bit in pancakes so maybe that and a little quinoa flour, as well.
These are perfectly awesome and so quick and easy to make!
Thanks, Nancy, I appreciate the feedback. 💕 I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Great recipe! We loved these!
So glad you enjoyed them, Anne.