Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Scones

Wow, this week has gotten away from me.  Friday already?  Spring is truly upon us!  Between cleaning and redecorating and getting the garden ready and everything else we seem to cram on our plates post-hibernation, it's easy to become a little overstimulated.  A.D.D. may be the more accurate diagnosis.  In times like these it's nice to have easy "go to" recipes which can be easily adapted to whatever you have in your pantry or to whatever is in season.  I just made one of those recipes - scones. 

I have made these so many different ways and they are always a hit.  I usually get up early on Saturday mornings to workout and stay longer then usual, so I like to have something ready for the kids to have for breakfast when they wake up.  These are perfect for that.  Even better, they freeze beautifully, so we can enjoy them on Saturday morning and then freeze the rest to pull out on some obsure weekday where we need to get around earlier than usual.  Tonight I made a banana/chocolate chip version sweetened with agave.  So good.  I had to test one of them to make sure they would be acceptable.  Sometimes I like using apples and maple syrup or pears and ginger or raspberries or blueberries - possibilities are endless!  It truly is a "go to" recipe for me.  Although, Logan asked me tonight with anticipation if I was making scone-cakes again (my mess up from last week that we all loved).  The real scones may not be as popular anymore!

Whole Wheat Scones
This recipe is adapted from BabyCakes Raspberry Scone.  I have made them so many different way, so I've written up the basic recipe and then listed some suggested add-ins.

Basic recipe:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup coconut oil plus more for brushing
1/3 cup agave nectar plus more for brushing
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 cup hot water.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add oil, agave nectar and vanilla. Stir to a dry batter and then add hot water. Add extras (see variations below). Drop 1/4 cup of batter 1 inch apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with more coconut oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. Rotate pan 180 degrees and bake 7 minutes longer. Remove from oven and brush with agave nectar.  Cool completely.

Note:  These freeze very well. You can either bake them and freeze them individually or drop the batter onto the pan and freeze them individually unbaked. When you want to bake one just bake at 375 degrees for 14 minutes, rotate 180 degrees and bake 7 minutes longer.

Add in ideas:
- 1/2 cup unsweetened dried fruit - currents, raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dates, chopped figs, etc.
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- Maple syrup or honey in place of agave nectar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup any fresh fruit (chopped strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, chopped apples are all good)
- ½ cup oats (may need to add some more hot water)

My Weekend

I had an amazing experience this past weekend in sort of an unexpected way.  Friday was my husband, Heath's, birthday so we dropped the kids off with Granny and headed to The Elm's Resort and Spa in Excelsior Springs for a weekend filled with massages, facials, and cat naps.  Excelsior Springs is only 35 minutes away from Parkville, but it is unfamiliar territory for us.  Like any "tourist", I perused the Elm's website to see what there was to do in the area and one place in particular caught my attention (to say the least):

VanTill Farms/Rayville Bakery
13986 Hwy C
Rayville, Missouri 64084
Phone: 816.776.2720
Website: http://www.vantillfarms.com/
The Van Till family's farming operation is bringing back the "good old days" in taste, nutrition, and the enjoyment of food. Food, wine and hospitality are available on this working farm.

They had me at "taste, nutrition, and the enjoyment of food".  I clicked on their website and grew even more excited.  Picture this:  farm, winery, heated garden patio enclosed in a greenhouse (that's where you dine), massive brick oven, organic ingredients grown right on their farm, homemade jellies, fresh wood-fired bread, cheese, and salami all surrounded by a manicured farmscape.  Did I mention this is only 35 minutes away from Parkville?!  Not only did I want to go there (or live there, whatever), I wanted them to be my friends. So, without hesitation, I shot off an email telling them I would be visting over the weekend and would love to have the opportunity to meet them.  Gosh, these things do not occur to me as sounding obnoxious until I am retelling them!  Oh well, Cliff VanTill graciously replied and welcomed us.

We were there on Friday night when they serve wood-fired pizza straight from their brick oven, which is located on the garden patio with the diners.  Fun.  They offer six varieties of their own wine, including Chambourcin, Norton, Vignoles, Chardonel, Sweet Red, and Sweet White.  The Sweet Red was popular among the patrons, but we really enjoyed the Norton along with our Mediterranean pizza.  It was quite delicious, especially for two people who are not typically fond of Missouri wine!

It was a busy night for the VanTill's, so we weren't able to talk with them, as we had hoped.  Cliff invited us back on Saturday morning, though, when his wife, Debbie, would be there and they wouldn't be serving food.  Heath and I returned and had a marvelous time.  As soon as Debbie pulled out her Peter Reinhart cookbooks and Nourishing Traditions book, I knew we would have a lot to talk about.  And we did talk a lot.  We toured their greenhouses and learned how they sold their fresh baked bread at the San Francisco farmer's market before relocating to Missouri in 2001.  I got some tips on making artisan bread, which I am anxious to play with, and Heath picked up some inspiration in the greenhouses for his garden.  Their dreams and ideas for VanTill Farms are incredible and after getting to know them just a little, I believe every one of those dreams will come true if the good Lord's willing.  Their free spirits are so refreshing in a time where conformity seems to be the easiest thing to do even though in the back of your head you know you should question more.

As much as I want to transcribe the entire three hours with the VanTill's right here, right now, I do want to talk about the recipe I am featuring.  The recipe is a smoothie inspired by one that Debbie and I collaborated to make on Saturday morning.  You see, I was talking about almond flour (shocker, I know) and where I buy it from since I cannot seem to grind it fine enough to just make it myself from whole almonds.  They happened to have grown almonds in California, so they are familiar with almond meal.  We went to "experiement" in the kitchen with their commercial BlendTec to see how it stood up to the test.  Short story is it passed and now I want a BlendTec.  We decided to make smoothies with the ground almonds while we had the smoothie machine out, so we went searching for ingredients.  I told her about the smoothies I make for my 23 month old, EJ, every single day: whole milk, coconut milk, homemade yogurt, banana and some other fruit, carrot and some type of green, like spinach, a good fat (ground flaxseed/flax oil, chia seeds or ground almonds, as examples), and then stevia to sweeten.  We ended up with cream, frozen strawberries, raw zucchini, ground almonds, and stevia to sweeten it.  It was divine.  Pretty much tasted like strawberry ice cream.  I'm changing up the recipe a little to use coconut milk in place of cream, since I don't always have cream on hand, but it will be every bit as good.  Trust me.

So, why did I say I had an amazing experience in an "unexpected" way?  As much inspiration as we got from the VanTill's about food and gardening you can multiply that by about a thousand to equal the inspiration we got about parenting.  We walked away from them feeling rejuvenated as parents and understood some things in a completely different light.  While the spa treatments were nice and we were able to get some R&R, I think our soul's really came out on top this trip.  That was a little unexpected.  In a good way, of course.

P.S.  Saturday afternoon the VanTill's fired up the brick oven again and offered baskets of wood-fired bread, cheese, and salami along with wine or non-alchoholic sangria (house made).  Then that evening they had a special garden patio dinner.  Unfortunately, we were not able to partake in either of these things, as we had facials and massages scheduled.  Next time.  One more thing, they are forming a new church with some friends and are holding services right there on the patio garden.  How cool is that?

Coconut Strawberry Smoothie

This can be done a thousand differnet ways.  Use any kind of milk in place of the coconut milk and same goes for the strawberries.  Any kind of frozen fruit will do.  Zucchini works well in smoothies, because it is so mild in flavor.  Spinach or some other type of mild green is also good.

1 cup coconut milk
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 small zucchini, diced
1/4 cup ground almonds
stevia to sweeten

Blend all ingredients until smooth.  For a thicker smoothie, add 1 cup crushed ice and blend until smooth.

Makes 2 servings

Whole Wheat Blueberry Scone-Cakes

I contemplated whether I should post this recipe or not, because technically it was a mistake. I set out to make whole wheat blueberry scones sweetened with pure maple syrup - something I make all of the time. The night before I had a few minutes, though, so I decided to go ahead and grind my flour and let it soak overnight per Nourishing Traditions. "Soaking" your grains neutralizes the phytic acid and makes the nutrients accessible. The thought crossed my mind that I would need to use a non-liquid sweetener since I was adding liquid upfront. I forgot. My mistake was evident as soon as I began mixing the maple syrup in. I went ahead and baked them up the same way I would any scone despite the loose consistency of the dough. They turned out delicious! More moist than a scone, but heftier than a pancake. So, Logan named them "scone-cakes". The best part is how well they freeze. Just freeze the scone-cakes individually on a parchment lined sheet and then put them in a zip-lock bag. When you are ready to have one, take one out and put it straight into the toaster! Barely crisp around the edges, yet soft and warm inside. They are plenty sweet, so we just topped them with homemade almond butter. I think I will be making this mistake more often!


2 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
¾ cup water plus 2 tablespoons whey, lemon juice, or vinegar
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
¼ cup hot water
1/3 cup ground flax
½ teaspoon salt
1 pint blueberries

The night before: Combine the flour and coconut oil in large bowl and mix until the oil is incorporated. Add the whey to the water and stir. Pour the whey/water over the flour and mix until all of the liquid is absorbed into the flour. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight.

The next day: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Give the soaked flour a quick stir. Add the baking powder and salt and fold into the flour making they are evenly distributed. Add the maple syrup, vanilla, flax, and hot water. Stir. Fold in the blueberries and let the batter sit for 10 minutes to thicken slightly. This batter will be thicker than pancake batter, but thinner than a scone batter.

Line two 12x18 baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop 1/3 cup sized portions of the batter onto the baking sheet (5 on each sheet). They will spread slightly so make sure there is plenty of room between them. Brush each top with a little coconut oil. Bake for 14 minutes and then rotate pans. Bake for another 7 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and brush the tops with additional maple syrup. Cool for 10-15 before eating.

Makes 10 servings

Almond Flour

Gluten-free, low-carb, nutrient dense, and packed with flavor, this stuff rocks. Rather than regurgitate what Elana Amsterdam, the queen of almond flour, has thoughtfully explained on her website, click here to find out more about the benefits. While you're there, check out Elana's recipes. They are all unbelievably good and so simple to make. One of my fave's is her Breakfast Bars. They taste like a blonde brownie and are great for traveling. A couple of notes about almond flour. First, it is not the same as almond meal. Almond meal is ground almonds with the skin. Almond flour does not have the skins. Elana cautions that almond meal will not work the same in her recipes, so keep that in mind if that is what you buy. Second, it is expensive if you buy it at the grocery store. I order mine from Honeyville Grain and for 5 lbs. pay around $30. I have tried grinding blanched almonds in a food processer to a fine enough consistency and it worked ok in cookies, but I could definately tell a difference. Not bad. Just different. The cookies had a coarse texture as opposed to a smooth texture when they are made from the Honeyville flour. I think cookies are forgiving where as, muffins or cake would not be, so go with the Honeyville.  You won't regret it.  Without further adue, here is the recipe:

Almond Flour Breakfast Bars
This recipe can be modified a million different ways. You could add cocoa power, cinnamon, chocolate chips, mashed banana, dried cranberries...the list goes on and on.  Full credit goes to Elana Amsterdam at http://www.elanaspantry.com/.  She has the BEST recipes!

1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour, packed
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup almond slivers
¼ cup raisins

In a small bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, agave and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into wet. Mix in coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almond slivers and raisins. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with grapeseed oil. Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with water to help pat the dough down evenly. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes


Recipe from http://www.elanaspantry.com/