maple scones for my mom.

thanksgiving break gave way to some exciting developments this year: i got hooked on this addicting blog, made some headway on this side project, and discovered where my love of pastries comes from.

let's talk about the pastry revelation. now, it's not that i ever lost sleep wondering about where my affinity for all things mildly sweet came from. i'm merely surprised i never connected the dots... between my scone-crazy mother and her muffin-crazy daughter (that's me!). 

growing up, i can't remember a time when there weren't scones or muffins in our kitchen. even now, their absence would shock me. my brother recently mentioned that he consistently counts on eating my mom's leftover breakfast scone (which she picks up with her morning coffee run) in the afternoon. that, my friends, is how enduring and reliable her passion for pastries is. 

last week, my mom mentioned that she'd never mastered the art of baking scones from scratch. and i realized i'd never even tried! so that afternoon, we embarked on what became our household's first successful scone baking session.

these scones are definite winners. their texture is perfectly firm and flakey despite the lack of butter, and the smell of maple from the oven is so wonderful it's almost intolerable. almost. vegans can leave omit the egg wash, and if you're out of bread flour, feel free to use only all purpose.

maple syrup scones

adapted from 101 cookbooks

1/4 cup real, good quality maple syrup


6 tablespoons almond milk

1 cup bread flour

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup quinoa flakes

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder


1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt


2/3 cup vegetable oil

(if not vegan, then: 1 egg, lightly beaten)


brown sugar

preheat the oven to 400F degrees, rack in the top 1/3. line one baking sheet with parchment paper.

whisk together the maple syrup and milk in a small cup, and set aside. combine the flour, quinoa/oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl. add the oil and stir until mostly combined. now add the maple syrup milk. mix until the dough just comes together - don't over mix.

throw onto  a floured surface and kneed a couple of times to bring the dough together. now arrange the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle or oval. slice the dough into nine equal-sized squares (or some triangles, if you wish!). arrange the scones on the prepared baking sheet - 1/4-inch distance between each of them. for those non-vegans among us, brush each scone with the egg wash and sprinkle with the large-grain sugar. bake for 17 to 22 minutes, or until golden along the bottom and tops. enjoy with a hot cup of chai.