The perfect scone is a balance of opposites — not too light and not too dense - sweet but not too sweet. Scones create a difficult challenge in the gluten-free world. It is quite easy to create a scone that causes you to involuntarily choke by accidentally inhaling the dryness of the scone. Alternatively if you overcompensate for this dryness you may easily end up with a gooey, sticky, ‘very un-sconelike" mess. Throughout the years we have experimented with many recipes and believe we have finally mastered gluten-free scones — creating the perfectly balanced delicious scone.

Choosing the Right GF Flour

Several years ago, our pantry and freezer were full of assorted gf flours and binders — rice (brown & white) flour, rice bran, potato flour, tapioca flour/starch, xanthan gum and guar gum, just to name a few! We spent a lot of time trying to achieve the right combination of flours to create a great substitution for regular "all-purpose" flour. I must confess, our results were less than desirable. One day we decided to try the flour used in The Gluten Free Pantry’s Country French Bread mix. The results were perfect! Immediately we abandoned our efforts to play food chemist and filled our canisters with the Gluten-Free Pantry’s Country French Bread mix flour. Many people have said that they would prefer to mix their own because it is too expensive to buy a mix. I believe the opposite to be true. Instead of buying 4 bags of various flours and binders, I only have to buy one and it even comes in a 5 lb. bag. This flour works great for nearly all baked goods as well as for general cooking use (thickening gravies, sauces, breading and more).

Basic Scone Recipe

Makes 4 scones

Ingredients:

• 1 cup gf flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 1/4 plus 2 Tablespoons crème fraiche
• 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (for finishing)

Directions:

Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. In a large bowl combine the gf flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the largest pieces of butter are the size of peas.

In a small bowl combine the crème fraiche and eggs. Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until just combined — don’t overmix. The dough will be very sticky and wet. With a large spoon, drop a fistful size of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the scones are deep golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-22 minutes. Slide the parchment or non-stick baking mat onto a cooling rack and let the scones cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

The Secret to Perfect Scones

The secret to making a perfect scone is actually so simple — less work creates a better scone. The trick is to mix the dough as little as possible and yet thoroughly combine the wet and dry ingredients.

Adding Variety

The possibilities for adding variety to your scones is endless, whether sweet or savory. We have had the best success with limiting our additions to no more than two. If you are adding things like nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, cheese or herbs add them to the dry ingredients to ensure even distribution. If you are adding fresh fruit or berries add them to the dough at the very end. Here are some great ideas of things to add to your next batch of delicious scones:

• Nuts
• Dried Fruit — currants, raisins, peaches, apples, pears, dried cranberries, etc.
• Dried herbs — rosemary, thyme, etc.
• Chocolate
• Berries — blackberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries, etc.
• Ground spices — ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg
• Crystallized ginger
• Purees — pumpkin, applesauce or other fruit purees
• Pesto — basil or sun-dried tomato pesto