Currant Scones

It's been a weather day here in South Carolina and when that happens on a Sunday, I'm very likely to want to spend the day in the kitchen. I already had pinto beans started in the slow cooker, so my thoughts turned to cookies or brownies.

But then I remembered that $12 bag of xanthan gum I bought this summer when I tried making gluten-free bread. Out of that bag I had used maybe 1-2 teaspoons and it peeks at me from behind all my other little specialty bags of flours whenever I open the cupboard. "You are allowing me and my expensive contents to go to waste,"  it seems to accuse.

So I pulled out another spendy ingredient...sorghum flour... and checked the back for a recipe. (I should note here that sorghum flour is also about $12 a bag, but it's not as snotty to me when I dig around in the cupboard.)

Lo and behold I had on hand all the ingredients for these gluten-free scones. Even currants!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a food processor (Use a bigger one than mine. Mine can't hold all these ingredients, so I mixed and cut in the butter by hand in a bowl) combine:

1 1/4 C GF Sorghum Flour
1/2 C Tapioca Flour
1 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/4 tsp Salt
4 Tblsp Sugar

Cut in until it resembles coarse crumbs:

4 Tbsp Butter,cut into 1/2-inch slices

In another bowl, lightly beat:

1 large egg

Add:

2/3 C low-fat plain yogurt or 1/2 C non-dairy milk (like a nut or soy milk)

Pour the yogurt mixture over the flour mixture and combine, mixing only just until all the dry ingredients are wet.

Fold in:

1/3 C Currants

Drop the mixture onto an oiled cookie sheet and push into a disk about 8-10 inches in diameter and 3/4 to 1 inch tall.

Brush the top with:

2 Tblsp Milk (cow, soy or nut)

Bake 12-20 minutes, depending upon how large and tall your disk is. Just give it a light flick with your fingernail after 15 minutes. If it still seems a little squishy, give it more time.

Remove from oven and cut into 8 triangles.

Notes: Remember this a quickbread, so you really don't want to overmix the batter. That will make it tough. Also, you want that butter to stay cold in the dough until you bake, so resist the urge to mix the dough with your hands. Work with wooden spoons and work quickly and you'll be fine.

Thanks for another great recipe, Bob's Red Mill!