Banana is one of my favourite baking ingredients. Its moisture and binding properties allow you to eliminate the eggs in a recipe, and the aroma is amazing. But keep in mind that banana influences the taste of the mixture it’s added to, often resulting in “Banana [fill in name of your treat here].”
The chopped dates in these scones provide a flavourful and vibrant surprise to bite into. Not overly sweet, these make a great addition to picnic baskets and a lovely mid-afternoon treat.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons soy or coconut milk beverage
- ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill garbanzo and fava flour
- ½ cup brown rice flour
- ½ cup potato starch
- 2 tablespoons organic sugar
- 1 tablespoon + ¼ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 7 tablespoons Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, chilled
- ¾ cup mashed ripe banana (1½ to 2 freckled bananas)
- 3 tablespoons dark maple syrup
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pitted dates
- 1 batch donut glaze (optional)
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine the milk and vinegar. The reaction of these two ingredients raises the acidity of the milk and causes it to thicken somewhat. Set aside for at least 10 minutes to allow the milk to become “buttermilk.”
- In a large bowl, sift both flours with the potato starch, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, xanthan gum, and salt.
- Transfer to a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Add the butter in tablespoon-size chunks and pulse until the mixture takes on a sandy consistency.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the banana and maple syrup. Add to the dry ingredients in the food processor, along with the buttermilk. Pulse a few times until the dough comes together, scraping down the sides of the processor as necessary. Transfer the dough to a large bowl and fold in the dates.
- If you prefer triangular scones, turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface, patting it into a disc-like shape about 1¼ inches thick. Cut as you would a pie, into eight triangle shapes. Using a flat spatula, transfer the triangles to the prepared baking sheet. If you prefer round scones, measure the dough out into ⅓-cup portions and loosely hand-form into eight balls. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, until the scones develop the slightest hint of a tan on top and the bottoms are a light golden colour. Remove pan from the oven and transfer scones to a cooling rack.
- Serve as is or drizzled with donut glaze.