I make - Gluten-Free Crème Fraîche Scones 2.0

I just couldn't stop tinkering the recipes. I kept thinking about my orange and sultana scones made back in my gluten days. It was really good, rich flavor and tender inside. I wanted to try it again with gluten-free flour and I am pleased to say that you couldn't tell it's gluten-free flour! By now I have been doing gluten free baking for a few months. My impression is that gluten-free flour needs a bit more moisture than wheat flour for most recipe conversion to work well.

Also, this in fact is a second bake of the day, after discovering that cling film is such a savior for working gluten-free dough. It's nonstick, provides a large surface to work the dough and makes gluten-free baking much easier. I am a convert and this is the way forward!

Gluten-Free Crème Fraîche Scones 2.0

- 200 g all-purpose gluten-free flour blend + 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

- 1 tablespoon of baking powder

- 1/4 tsp baking soda

- pinch of salt

- 80 g cold butter, diced

- 1/3 cup of sultana (or your favorite dried fruits, optional)

- 1/3 cup of porridge oat (or another 50g of flour)

- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- zest from one orange

- 20 g honey

- 150-200 ml Crème Fraîche-yogurt mixture (see instruction)

- a large piece of cling film

- 1 egg, beaten

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Rub or cut the cold butter cubes into the flour mixture with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Stir in the sultanas and porridge oats.

In a measuring jug, pour in crème fraîche and top it with plain yogurt until the total volume is 200ml (for richer taste, you can use all crème fraîche). You can do this at the beginning to thicken the dairy mixture further. Stir in vanilla extract, orange zest and honey. Pour 150ml of the liquid mixture into the flour one. Mix gently the dough with a rubber spatula until it becomes a cohesive mass. Turn the bottom of the dough up a few times to check. If the dough seems dry, add additional liquid in, one tablespoon a time. You are aiming for a soft not crumbly dough (softer than ear lobe), relatively nonsticky when handled with cling film. 

Lay a large piece of cling film on the work surface and dust lightly with gluten-free flour. Tip out the dough onto the plastic and lightly dust the dough top with gluten-free flour. Use cling film to gather the dough into a round or a rectangular shape. Rest the dough in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. Preheat the oven at 200C 10 minutes before the dough is about to finish its rest.

Roll the dough out into 2.5-cm thickness and cut into any shape you like (rounds, squares or wedges). Do everything on the cling film. You will need to gather the dough and reshape/cut a few times. This dough reshapes well, especially with cling film. I get 5 proper 6-cm scones and 1 small one. Glaze the top of scones with the beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes and turn the baking tray half way through. Just for the record, after baking each scone has a height of 4-4.5cm.