Unusual Scones both Tender and Light

Unusual Scones? Well, I describe them this way because not everyone will have the flours I used, nor necessarily be able to replicate. I just had to put this recipe out here though, simply because these have to be the absolute lightest and most tender scones I have ever made.
 

Buckwheat Spelt Scones with Craisins & White Chocolate

I love scones. If they are rather dry, as with store-bought ones at times, I simply sip coffee or tea with them. No problem. If they crumble? No problem at all. I expect them to crumble a bit. But light? Even with all the awesome scones I have made to date, I don't think I have ever been able to describe them as "light." But these? They are light as feathers. Well, almost. But close enough.

You know how a really great pie crust has lightness, tenderness, flakiness? I would not go so far as to say these scones are flaky, exactly, but the tenderness and lightness is truly beyond amazing to me. Do they crumble? Oh yes. Not horribly. They just need a light hand, because they are that tender. 

One thing I did differently than usual, and I don't know how much difference this may have made: I used Kerrygold unsalted butter, instead of Land O'Lakes, as I usually do. I know European butters have less water content, and I had some Kerrygold on hand because I had made croissants recently and wanted the best butter possible.

(Oh, and Happy St. Paddy's Day to all my readers!)

So What are these Scones Made of, Anyway?

This morning I was thinking of making scones. My initial thought was to grind some whole Kamut grain and use that whole meal flour, since it is so light colored, it doesn't feel or taste like you are eating a whole grain. And then I thought about some organic white spelt flour in my freezer and went that direction instead. 

Buckwheat Spelt Scones
with Craisins & White Chocolate

But - I really didn't want just white flour scones. Granted, spelt is an alternative wheat, sometimes tolerated better than our modern-day wheat. But this spelt flour was not whole grain. So, whether modern wheat or not, it is still white flour. Empty carbs. And I sat there a few minutes looking around the kitchen wondering what I could add to the spelt flour to make these less "empty-carb." And I thought, "Buckwheat!" Buckwheat (read more about buckwheat here) is not a grain at all, not is is in any way related to wheat. Nor is it a grass. In actuality, it is a seed encased by its fruit, and related to rhubarb. I digress.

I happen to love the flavor of buckwheat. I have eaten it as a breakfast "cereal" instead of oatmeal. I often grind it in my grain grinder and make pancakes or waffles. Or even just soak the buckwheat with other seeds to make waffles or pancakes without added flour of any kind. I know buckwheat may not fall into everyone's favorite category, but it is in mine. 
 

A Template for Really Great Scones

I used a very similar base template recipe to what I have been using for a couple of years now, since this template really turns out some fantastic scones. I only altered the base template a tiny bit. This is the base template for great scones:

• 2 cups flour (I play with the flour combinations a lot, but keep to 2 cups)
• 2 - 3 tablespoons sugar (depending on other flavors going in)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 5 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 cup heavy cream

The mixing is pretty much the same no matter what you are mixing. Mix the first 5 ingredients, cut in the cold butter, finishing with fingers to break down into very small bits, add cream and form into dough. Presto. 

The alterations I made were using a tablespoon less sugar, since I wanted to add white chocolate, always over-the-top sweet. I also went with 1 teaspoon of salt. The half cup of white chocolate and half cup of craisins (dried cranberries) were the flavors I chose this morning. And without further ado, here is my recipe:

Buckwheat Spelt Scones with Craisins & White Chocolate

Makes 8 scones 
 

Buckwheat Spelt Scones
with Craisins & White Chocolate

1 cup (preferably freshly ground) buckwheat flour 
1 cup white spelt flour (or substitute all-purpose flour)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
½ cup white chocolate bits, lightly chopped
½ cup craisins, lightly chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Place the first 6 ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add in the cold butter, cut into small cubes and cut in as for pie pastry. If the pieces stay too large, finish by using fingers to break up the butter into the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate and craisins, then pour the cream over all at once and stir , tossing slightly, with a fork until the mixture starts to come together in a mass. Oil or spray a counter or smooth surface with cooking spray. Turn out the dough and pat into a ball, then do a quick knead, twice, just to bring the mass together. Pat it out to an 8-inch circle. Use a large knife and cut the circle across 4 times, making 8 wedges. Use a spatula to transfer the wedges to the parchment lines baking sheet, setting them at least an inch apart.

Bake the scones for approximately 15 to 17 minutes, until set and golden. Serve warm. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Wholesome Pancakes and Blackberry Compote

Some time ago, a friend hand printed out a recipe for waffles she thought I would like. I am always interested in alternative ingredients, and any time a recipe uses ingredients other than the constant wheat and sugar, I am hooked. Add to this the healthier side of things and I am all over it. The recipe she gave me was copied from somewhere, so what I am posting here as "my recipe", was first based on this one I was given. I did make the recipe "as is" a couple of times, but I was not personally crazy about some of the flavors. On the absolute plus side, they have no wheat or other gluten based product and they need no eggs, so they can be vegan as well. Buckwheat, despite the word "wheat" in the name, is not wheat, not related to wheat, and is not a grain at all. See my blog of April 5th for more on buckwheat.

Buckwheat Millet Pancakes with Blackberry Compote: gluten free, egg-free

The idea that some flavors just did not seem to work for me was interesting, because there was nothing in these waffles that I did not like. And yet. I had an objection to the cinnamon flavor, as well as the coconut. Since I am really wild about cinnamon and coconut, this seems awfully strange, but so it is. I started getting a craving for these waffles again, and wondered about using the batter for pancakes instead of waffles. The first thing I did was look at the recipe and see what flavors I could use to substitute for these two things. I thought for a while and finally decided on nutmeg and coriander seed. Coriander seed has a nice citrus-y type of flavor. It can be used well in many sweet applications, although the use I most often have for coriander is in Indian cooking. Still, since the cinnamon was just wrong (for me) in this application, I felt that coriander would be a good substitute. Nutmeg would not compete with coriander either, so I went with these two. The original recipe had an egg "optional". I did not use the egg, but did add in some ground flax seed, even though egg was in no way needed in the original recipe.
 

Lovely texture in Buckwheat Millet Pancakes

One other ingredient I wanted to sub out was the brown sugar. When thinking about a recipe that uses 1 cup each of whole, uncooked millet and buckwheat, using brown sugar seemed odd. In this case, I used stevia ("Stevia in the Raw"). The original recipe also did not use baking powder, but I opted to add some in, hoping for a little bit of rise in the pancakes I wanted to make from this recipe. 

I found this same recipe all over the internet, though I do not really know who it was attributed to originally. I do not mean to act like this is totally my recipe, because soaking the millet and buckwheat and processing them into a batter would possibly never have occurred to me. All the recipes I saw online specified to NOT use a Vita Mix blender to blend this batter, as it makes it too dense. All I have for a blender is my Vita Mix. How long one has it running and at what speed will have a large impact on how fine, or not, a batter will be. I have absolutely no problem with the consistency of these as pancakes or waffles, having blended the batters in my Vita Mix blender. Maybe others are more fussy than I but I really love the consistency and the flavors; most particularly now that I made some exchanges for ingredients. Today, the pancakes really hit the spot.


Please understand that any of my substitutions can be left out or you might look up the recipe somewhere online and make them as in what appears may be the original recipe, here. I did not drain and rinse the millet and buckwheat on any of the occasions I used this recipe, but just placed them right in my blender container and let them soak overnight there. One less dirty container. My version of this recipe is very easily cut in half if needed, but I have refrigerated or frozen these and other pancakes or waffles and they kept fine. Often, rather than using the microwave to potentially do harm to some of the nourishment, I pop them in the toaster. If straight from the freezer it may take a second or even a third time toasting to heat them through, but they are wonderful this way.

Buckwheat Millet Pancakes or Waffles

Buckwheat Millet Pancakes
with Blackberry Compote

Made twenty (4- to 5-inch) pancakes

1 cup of whole, raw buckwheat (not Kasha, which is toasted)
1 cup whole millet
2 cups water
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Place these ingredients into a blender container. Stir a bit, cover the container and let them soak overnight on the counter.

In the morning, add to the blender container the following:

2 packets Stevia
1½ teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil

Blend the mixture to the fineness desired. Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle to medium heat. Spray the surface with nonstick spray or use more coconut oil or butter to lightly grease the surface. Ladle the batter as for any pancakes and watch for small bubbles that burst and stay open, and the edges look dry. Flip and cook for just a minute more. Adjust temperature up or down as necessary for even cooking.

Making the pancakes                      |                             Pancakes finished

I had made some Blackberry Compote one morning a few months back; a totally spur-of-the-moment idea, having some blackberries left int he fridge. I kept meaning to put the recipe out here, but other things seemed to take precedence. And now I know why! That last time I made the compote (also to pour over pancakes), I used a little white sugar in the recipe. It was fabulous. But with these interesting pancakes, made so wholesomely, I wanted to see if the compote could also be palatable using Stevia instead of the sugar. And now I have my answer. For me, while this batch of the compote, made with Stevia, was less sweet overall, it was also very much palatable and went so perfectly on the pancakes. I was so happy when I finished breakfast this morning, I tell you! The compote would be most excellent over pound cake or ice cream or any other application. If you want to make it with sugar instead of Stevia: add in ¼ cup of granulated sugar at the beginning, with the cornstarch and cook as directed. Do not add in the Stevia at the end. 

Blackberry Compote

Makes about 2+ cups

Blackberry Compote

6 ounces blackberries (or raspberries or blueberries)
2 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca starch
1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon rosewater (or just use an extra teaspoon vanilla)
4 packets Stevia

In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch with the lime juice, salt and water and stir to completely dissolve. Add the blackberries and crush them lightly. Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring often. Once boiling, stir constantly for about 5 minutes more, until the compote is thickened and the sauce is translucent. Add in the vanilla, rosewater if using and the Stevia and stir well. Can be used immediately.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Pancakes Fluffy and Light

First off, I don't make pancakes too often anymore, mainly just because I don't need the gratuitous carbs. I do love pancakes though, and I had been talking with our friend Rich about buckwheat and Kamut® Khorasan. I wrote quite a bit on the subject of Kamut® Khorasan in my blog of November 21, 2014, so I won't go into all that again. I will say that I love trying out new and different grains. And besides, I just love buckwheat pancakes. 

Buckwheat and Kamut® Khorasan Pancakes

A Bit about Buckwheat

Buckwheat: triangular, green or tan in color

Buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum, is not wheat, or even related to wheat. It is not a grass either, nor is it related to rice. It is instead related to such plants as sorrel, knotweed and rhubarb. Because the seeds are eaten, it is sometimes called a pseudo-cereal. Buckwheat is a very ancient food, first domesticated and cultivated around Southeast Asia as far back as 6,000 BCE. The little "seeds", triangular in shape, are actually fruits encasing a seed. The fruits are so closely wrapped around their seed that it appears that the outer coating is just a hull. The seed coat is green or tan, and darkens the flour when the seeds are ground. Buckwheat contains no gluten, so it is considered safe for those with gluten intolerance. 

Buckwheat was once used widely, but its use tapered off with the rise of other grains, easier to grow and produce. Of late, resurgence of interest in ancient grains has led once again to buckwheat's popularity. Buckwheat is commonly made into noodles (soba), blinis, pancakes. There is also buckwheat honey. It is used as a thickening agent in soups. It can be cooked and eaten as porridge. Buckwheat hulls have been used to stuff pillows, as the hulls easily adjust to the shape of head and do not conduct heat as do many synthetic products. This is only a very brief synopsis of buckwheat history and use, but hopefully it will give some idea.

On to the Pancakes!

So as we were talking, Rich and I, he allowed that he would certainly like to have some pancakes, if only once, as he is also trying to keep his carbs on the low side. This morning seemed a good time to try out this recipe. I wanted to use the Kamut ® Khorasan instead of regular wheat flour, and I added in just a small bit of regular white cake flour to lighten up the mix. I love to use buttermilk in my pancakes, but when I don't have buttermilk in the house, I do generally have evaporated milk and vinegar or lemon juice. Mixing up a half evaporated milk / half water mixture and adding in about a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon/lime juice per cup of milk makes a very acceptable substitute for buttermilk. Since my husband bought me a Wonder Mill, I have been enjoying the ability to just instantly grind a grain or seed as needed. I ground ½ cup each of Kamut® Khorasan and buckwheat, to make the needed ¾ cup each for the recipe. I still had just a little left over, but that makes no big difference to me - I will toss that into something else as I am baking or cooking. 

Texture of Buckwheat and Kamut® Khorasan Pancakes

When I placed the Kamut® Khorasan into the Wonder Mill, I absolutely forgot to reset the dial to fine grind. As it was on coarse grind when the machine started, and it takes mere seconds to grind, the Kamut was done before I even realized. I figured, oh well, so part of the flour would be a little coarse. I turned the dial to fine grind before adding in the buckwheat. As it turned out, Rich, my husband and I all marveled at the fluffy and lovely texture of these pancakes. I am not sure of the why, but these came out tender and perfect and really, really good! For full grain pancakes, they were very light.

Buckwheat & Kamut® Khorasan Pancakes 

Buckwheat and Kamut® Khorasan Pancakes

Makes about 16 pancakes

¾ cup Kamut® Khorasan flour
¾ cup buckwheat flour
¼ cup cake flour
2 tablespoons sugar (or substitute 2 packets of Stevia sweetener)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk or soured milk (see above)
2 eggs
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

In a mixing bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients and whisk to combine. Separately, mix together the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter. Have a griddle ready at 350 degrees, or a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Use oil, baking spray or whatever grease is preferred and begin ladling out the pancake batter. Once the edges of the batter look dried and there are many bubbles over the surface that leave holes once they burst, flip the pancakes to the other side. The second side will take far less time than the first.
Serve these pancakes as with any other pancakes, with maple syrup, honey, fruit, fruit pie filling or whatever favorite thing you like with pancakes.  


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest and sign up for my Newsletter.