“When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.” -Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Drinking tea is part of my daily routine to get warm during the cold months of winter. I usually drink several cups of tea a day and I enjoy trying different flavors. My latest favorite is chai tea, specifically, vanilla chai tea. The combination of spices and the sweet hint of vanilla create a soothing and delicious drink to sip on throughout the day.
In addition to drinking lots of tea, I’ve also been baking multiple batches of scones. A cup of tea and scone fresh from the oven make quite a pair. I usually bake a batch of scones on the weekend and freeze a few so that I can eat them during the week. I was pretty excited when I found this recipe because I knew it would be a tasty companion to my chai tea.
Aside from the spices and flavor of these scones, I really enjoyed this recipe for several reasons. The dough itself is easy to work with, not too sticky and easy to mold into the scone pan (or cake pan). I also like that this recipe incorporates whole-wheat flour, an ingredient I’ve been trying to bake with more often.
Whole-wheat flour has a rich flavor and darker color than all-purpose flour, due to the added nutrients and fiber. If you’re not used to whole wheat flour the flavor can be a bit strong, and if that’s the case you can also use white whole-wheat flour. White whole-wheat flour has all the nutrients of whole-wheat flour but with a milder flavor. I’ve experimented with all three kinds and each attempt has resulted in simply delicious scones.
Whole-Wheat Vanilla Chai Scones
Adapted from, Simply Scones by Leslie Weiner and Barbara Albright
- Yield : 8 scones
Ingredients
- Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
- All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup
- Granulated Sugar - 1/3 cup
- Baking Powder - 1 & 1/2 teaspoons
- Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
- Ground Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
- Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
- Ground Ginger - 1/4 teaspoon
- Ground Nutmeg - 1/4 teaspoon
- Ground Cloves - 1/8 teaspoon
- Unsalted Butter - 6 tablespoons, chilled and cut into cubes
- Low-fat Buttermilk - 1/2 cup
- Egg - 1
- Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
- Vanilla Bean - 1, split lengthwise
- Sprinkling Sugar (optional) - 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a scone pan or 8" round cake pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together both flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.
- Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk, egg, vanilla and vanilla bean until combined.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine.
- With lightly floured hands, pat the dough into a scone pan, dividing the dough into 8 separate portions and pressing into the pan.
- Alternatively, pat the dough into an 8-inch diameter circle on an ungreased baking sheet. With a serrated knife, cut into 8 wedges. Tip: using a round cake pan makes this easier - you can turn the dough out & then cut into wedges.
- Bake the scones in the preheated oven for 16 to 18 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean.
- Serve warm, or cool completely and store in an airtight container.
NUTRITION FACTS (From MyFitnessPal): CALORIES 240, FAT 10g (SAT 6.5g, POLY. 01g, MONO 0.4g), PROTEIN 5.3g, CARBOHYDRATES 32.5g, FIBER 0.8g, SUGARS 9.4g, CHOLESTEROL 46.9mg, SODIUM 99.1mg.
