Vegan Cranberry Vanilla Scones

It’s the final month of my “official” Dairy-Free 3-Book Journey and I’ve got a date announcement plus a personal life lesson reminder, with yes, a recipe … easy, scrumptious, seasonal cranberry vanilla scones. They’re perfect for whipping up in minutes on the weekend or even for savoring with tea, coffee or almond milk on the holidays, especially Christmas morning.

As the saying goes, “you can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself”. A lesson that for some reason I have to learn the hard way repeatedly – with daily life, with family, with this website, and even with my books. Whenever I get stuck on a part that I think has to be included, but that isn’t resonating with me, Tony reminds me, “who did you write your first book for?” It was me. I wanted the resource that I couldn’t find. I wasn’t concerned at the time if Go Dairy Free was going to be a hit, I just wanted a place to turn to when I needed information, trusted recipes, and quick references. Surprise, surprise, it’s what many other people wanted, too.

These cranberry vanilla scones are a more specific example of something I wanted – we adore scones in our home – and yet another reason for me to go back to my own book often. The recipe below is adapted from the Light Apricot Scones recipe in Go Dairy Free the book. I didn’t do a poll or search the internet to see how popular scones are, but I’m guessing that many of you love them as much as I do, and some of you probably have no idea how easy they are to make!

These scones are lighter than most as they use dairy-free yogurt in place of the liquid, sour cream, and some of the fat. I realize that baking with yogurt doesn’t preserve the probiotics, but dairy-free yogurt offers such amazing texture and taste to baked goods, and is even a great stand-in for egg-free and vegan needs. Yes, it’s useful on so many levels!

I used Silk Vanilla Dairy-Free Yogurt to bake several batches of these cranberry vanilla scones, and it has these wonderful vanilla bean flecks in it that made me crave a pretty vanilla bean icing. The optional icing I’ve included with this recipe is actually a mini preview from another scone recipe coming up in one of my next books! And don’t worry if vanilla bean is out of budget, I’ve included an extract option, too.

Special Diet Notes: Cranberry Vanilla Scones

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, vegan / plant-based, and vegetarian.

I have not yet tested these cranberry vanilla scones gluten-free, but they should work well with your favorite gluten-free flour blend, so long as it has a good binder in it (like xanthan gum).

Vegan Cranberry Vanilla Scones

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Alisa Fleming

Serves: 8 scones

Ingredients

Cranberry Vanilla Scones

• 2 cups flour (all-purpose, whole wheat pastry, or a combination of the two)*
• ¼ cup sugar or coconut sugar**
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil (can sub unmelted buttery spread or palm shortening)
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup vanilla dairy-free yogurt (I used exactly 2 5-ounce Silk Vanilla Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternatives)

Optional Vanilla Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 to 6 teaspoons dairy-free milk beverage (I used Silk Unsweetened Coconutmilk)
• 1 inch vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch fine sea salt

Instructions

Cranberry Vanilla Scones

1. Preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl with a whisk or fork. Add the coconut oil and whisk until a coarse meal forms. Gently stir in the cranberries followed by the dairy-free yogurt, folding just until combined. The dough will be a bit sticky.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into two pieces. Shape and flatten each into rounds that are about 1¼ inches high. I use damp hands to shape the dough. If it is still too sticky, you can add a touch more flour to make it manageable. Place the dough rounds on your prepared baking sheet and either score into quarters (leaving them attached), or cut into quarters and separate the wedges (for crustier sides).
4. Bake the scones for 20 minutes or until lightly golden on top. Let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing and/or breaking the scones apart (if scored).

Optional Vanilla Icing

1. While the scones cool, place the powdered sugar in a medium bowl and thoroughly whisk in the milk beverage, starting with 4 teaspoons, the seeds from the vanilla bean or the vanilla extract, and the salt. Add more milk beverage as needed to get the consistency you desire (thicker for piping or thick lines, thinner for coating as I did above).
2. Once the cranberry vanilla scones have cooled, top with the icing as desired.

Notes

*The cranberry vanilla scones pictured in this post are actually 100% whole wheat! I also separated them for crusty edges. If you use all-purpose, they will be lighter / fluffier.
**These make sweeter scones, particularly when paired with the icing. If you prefer less sweet scones, consider reducing the sweetener to 2 to 3 tablespoons and note that the yogurt also offers a good dose of sweetness.

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3-Book Journey Update & Goal

I have dates! The books are not finished, due to unforeseen issues, but I’ve been right on track for a couple of months now, and will officially release all THREE books in August 2016! Yes, they will be available for all of your back to school, holiday, and healthy living needs – you have my word! And of course, all will be completely dairy-free and suitable for milk allergies, lactose intolerance and beyond.

In addition to my monthly posts on this journey, with recipes and informational posts, you can follow more of my project and several others on Twitter, via the hashtags #Inspired and #LoveMySilk. This series was made possible by Silk, and I’m every so grateful for their dairy-free support! For dairy-free milk beverage and yogurt coupons, recipes and much more, sign up for the Silk Newsletter. Here are the prior posts, just in case you missed them:

• Month 7: Update + Chocolate Granola Clusters
• Month 6: Update + The Easiest Dairy-Free Meal Plan
• Month 5: Book Announcement + Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Recipe
• Month 4: Update & Goal + Super Smoothies that are Not Green (4 Recipes!)
• Month 3: Update & Goal + The Dairy-Fee Shopping List for Hundreds of Recipes
• Month 2: Update on Recipes + Mini Maple French Toast Casseroles Recipe
• Month 1: The Journey Launch + Easy Cheesy Broccoli “Nachos” Recipe

What’s Your Favorite Scone or Muffin Flavor?

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.