Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Cardamom and date pumpkin scones - vegan, fat free, and swoon-worthy

I'm no longer obsessed with peanut butter and carob.

(Or at least, the obsession is back to its usual levels, which means I'm content to eat them a few times a week instead of a few times a day.)

Instead, I have fallen in love with these scones.


I think they are my favourite scones ever.

Right now, I love them more than any other food imaginable. It really is quite the intense relationship we're having.

The scones took inspiration from Brydie's Indian Spiced Pumpkin Scones on Cityhippyfarmgirl, but where Brydie made a savoury version, I took the cardamom, omitted the herbs, and added dates. I also left out butter, curious as to whether mashed pumpkin would suffice. This curiousity stemmed from my butter/spread-free avocado scones, although I do appreciate that avocado has a fat content that pumpkin does not. Nonetheless, the pumpkin did fine. These have a texture that is slightly different to regular scones, but that hasn't interfered with my desire to eat them every day for the foreseeable future.

Or, if I'm realistic, until my next obsession roles around.

As it is, I'm eating the scones at a rate of several per day. They work well for breakfast, and afternoon tea, and even lunch. They are the most comforting yet good-for-you food I've had in a long time. They make me happy in every way imaginable.

I'm not very keen to share my particular batch of scones, but I do want to share the pleasure of them. So - please make them! Make them, and then serve them warm with a pot of tea. Turn off your phone or computer, sit quietly, and soak in their smell and flavour.

It's blissful.


Cardamom and date pumpkin scones
and my avocado scones
Makes 1 small batch; 8 to 10 scones
Vegan and fat free


Ingredients
1/3 cup milk of choice (I used almond)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup cooked and mashed pumpkin (1/2 small butternut pumpkin, steamed, cooled and mashed)
1/2 cup dates, chopped

Method
Preheat your oven to 220'C and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl or jug and set aside to curdle.

Combine the flour, baking powder and cardamom in a large bowl. Add the mashed pumpkin and work through with your fingers until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Add the milk/vinegar mix to the flour/pumpkin mix and stir through lightly. Add the dates and stir to incorporate. Turn onto a floured surface and knead lightly, just until the ingredients are combined and a soft dough has formed.

Roll the dough out to 2-3cm thickness (about 1 inch), cut into circles, and place on your prepared baking trays.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden.

Eat, and enjoy.


Submitted to Healthy Vegan Friday #44.

What is your favourite scone form? 
And do you regularly use cardamom? I'm a fairly recent convert, but now love it.

29 comments:

  1. mmmm date and pumpkin scones! my favourite! well.... one of my favourites! ;-)

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  2. Yum these look delicious! Do you think other kinds of flour would work for these? I can't eat wheat.

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    1. I am sure they would Jan. I don't do a lot of wheat / gluten free baking myself so am not very experienced with alternatives, but because the pumpkin replaces part of the flour, it should be easy to sub in a wheat-free alternative. The moisture conent of the pumpkin might even make something like coconut flour work, although I wouldn't recommend that as your entire substiute. Do you eat spelt? That comes to mind as a fairly safe option to try if so.

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  3. It's certainly the climate for scones. I love pumpkin scones but I've never tried them with cardamon. I must give this a try xx

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  4. I am in love with these scones - pumpkin and dates are two of my favourite things!

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  5. My pumpkin scone recipe in my notebook from years ago has a date version scribbled beside it - never tried it but always meant to - probably sylvia's worst nightmare as she is so anti pumpkin and sultanas right now and the dates would probably fit int he sultana category but I would love it - would need to convince myself to put cardomom in and once I did I would be very glad I did.

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    1. Poor Sylvia - I suspect these would be horrid to her, although I am perplexed to hear she doesn't like sultanas as I tend to think of them as a food all children love. I do think you would like them though (and am sure you'd make neater scones than I managed!) so perhaps if you make them now you'd get the batch to yourself ;)

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  6. Omg...these are perfect! I'm still obsessed with peanut butter, but I can definitely see myself making these in the very near future. :)

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    1. They work quite well with peanut butter too!

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  7. Oh yum, anything that involves pumpkin & dates is OK by me! :)

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    1. It is a pretty fool-proof combination :-)

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  8. Not going to lie, I almost didn't click over because of the whole "fat free!" advertisement, but I can't resist the power of cardamom.

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    1. Ah, but they're fat free in the magical sense - pumpkin instead of Nuttelex! - as opposed to a diet sense ;) And besides, we both know we're both likely to add nut butter to them anyway.

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  9. These look so good! I love finding something that I like and then just eating it all the time! Creature of habit here. I have only made scones once and I used lots of cinnamon and cinnamon chips. So good!
    Since I have been baking a lot lately I can't keep the items in the house or I will eat them all day long! :)
    Great recipe Kari!

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    1. Cinnamon and cinnamon chips sound amazing too! Scones are just so good in so many ways :)

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  10. I can definitely see why these have taken up "favorite" status! I mean...pumpkin and cardamom. What is there not to love?

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  11. I love scones, but can probably count on one hand how many times I've had them. They are a baked good that doesn't get enough credit. These sound amazing, and if I wasn't so committed to being "seasonally appropriate" I would make them post-haste. However, this may have to be bookmarked until it's autumn in the States again. Unless you think applesauce might work in place of pumpkin??

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    1. Ooh, it might! Especially if you added apple pieces too :-)

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  12. These sound great Kari, I can see why they are your new obsession! Anything with pumpkin and I'm there!

    I can't remember the last time I had a scone to be honest, but I love them so much, especially with a mug of tea. They are seriously the ultimate in comfort baked good for me!

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    1. Me too :-) They're just so perfect to curl up with!

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  13. Sorry I'm slow to comment on this one Kari. Glad you could get inspired from my pumpkin scones and create something that is obsession worthy :-) Cardamom...winner. Every time.

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    1. I hope I find more wins with it in the future :-)

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  14. These look delicious. Would all-purpose flour work?

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    1. Absolutely! You'd just need to add more rising agent, so say 1tsp baking soda & 1tsp baking powder.

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