I make - Earl Grey and Orange Scones

I am very into orange and Earl Grey combination these days. This flavor combo in yogurt cake is marvelous for breakfast. I love it even more than lemon. This scone recipe comes from Naomi Devlin. It's another winner for me. Gotta say Mrs Devlin rarely lets me down. The scones are soft, airy and not dry at all. This is lighter than my usual scones with crème fraiche. As much as I love my crème fraiche scones, knowing that eating scones just slightly healthier makes me feel even happier. Here is my adaptation. 

Earl Grey and Orange Scones

Earl Grey and Orange Scones

50 g oat flour
50 g ground almond
110 g gluten-free flour (your favorite blend, I use Sainsbury's own brand this time)
1 tsp psyllium husk powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
50 g cold butter, in cubes
1/2 cup sultanas (optional)
Zest from 1 orange
1 beaten egg (save 1 tbsp aside for brushing)
70 g full-fat Greek yogurt (plus extra yogurt or milk if too dry)

Combine oats, ground almond, flour, psyllium husk, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a bowl. Stir to mix all ingredients.

Cut the butter cubes into the flour mixture until the mixture look like bread crumbs. You could use fingertips for this. Lift and drop the flour-butter mixture down to the bowl a few times to aerate the mix further if you can. Stir in sultanas (or any dried fruits you prefer) and orange zest. 

Pour 1 beaten egg (minus 1 tbsp for later) and yogurt into the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to stir a few times to see whether you need more liquid or not. If you still see dry flour at the bottom of the bowl, add more yogurt or milk until you can bring the dough together. The dough is soft and on the damp side, not crumbly. Chill the dough in the fridge, well wrapped for a few hours. Chill dough makes cutting and shaping easier.

When you are about to bake the scones, preheat the oven to 200C and remove the dough from the fridge. Lightly flour a piece of cling film where you put the dough on. Flour the scone dough surface and cover with another piece of cling film. Roll the dough into a thickness of 2.5-cm. Use scone cutter to cut into individual scones. You may need to gather the scrapes, re-roll and cut a few times. With a 5-cm cutter, I get 11 scones.

Brush each scone top with some beaten egg. Bake the scones at 200C for 17-18 minutes until the top is golden. Rotate the tray half way through.

Cool them for 10 minutes before serving. The scones are best when straight out of the oven, still warm. To enjoy them later, reheat them in the oven (or in the microwave) before serving.