Recipe: Buttermilk And Almond Flour Scones
The small portion of almond meal gives these scones a lovely nutty flavor.
Scones are my go-to breakfast treat when the weather keeps me from driving to any one of the fabulous bakeries in our area. I can whip up a batch in about 25 minutes if I’m focused and motivated which I typically am as soon as I’ve had my first espresso. But they can be made the day before just as easily and in fact they freeze very well too. Replacing one quarter of the flour with almond meal is about all these scones can take — meaning I tried to do a 50/50 blend, but without the gluten contributed from the flour the scones just disintegrated into a crumbly heap as soon as I tried to break one open to butter it! But a quarter part of almond meal still gives them a really lovely nutty flavor and you will have a nicely tender, but butter and jam-able, scone.
Buttermilk and Almond Flour Scones
Makes 8 scones
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup almond meal (I use Bob’s Red Mill brand superfine natural almond flour)
1/3 cup turbinado sugar plus 2 T. for sprinkling on top of scones before baking
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
4 oz chilled pastured butter, cut into small cubes
1 large pastur- raised egg
2/3 cup full fat buttermilk plus a little more for brushing the tops of the scones
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, almond meal, 1/3 cup turbinado sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom and lemon zest. Stir together well to evenly distribute all ingredients.Add the cubed butter to the dry mix and using the tips of your fingers or a pastry cutter break the butter into small pea-sized pieces.
Whisk the egg and add the 2/3 cup of buttermilk to it. Pour this wet mixture into the butter and flour mixture and stir well to combine. Turn the batter out onto a lightly floured board and pat it into a round disk about 1 inch thick. Cut into 8 equal wedges.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay out the scones with room between them. Lightly brush the tops of the scones with the remaining buttermilk and sprinkle each top with some turbinado sugar.
Bake 15-18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
