(Healthy) Pumpkin Scones

Happy Mole Day! Today is October 23, which is mole day, since a mole is 6.022 x 10^23. (If you aren't a scientist, a mole is a unit of measurement.) It's also been exactly one month since I started this blog. In just one month, I've gotten over 2000 views! Thanks so much for reading!

To celebrate, today I'm sharing a new pumpkin scone recipe. My traditional scones were made with shortening, which is primarily made of soybean oil. Soy can sometimes be a controversial ingredient since there is some controversy over whether soy effects hormone levels. Personally, I avoid soy because it hurts my stomach. I'm not allergic and actually love it, but I think I may have eaten enough soy to use up the enzyme I need to digest it. In soy's favor, soy protein is a complete protein, and I think that like everything, soy is great in moderation. Soybean oil is actually a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, so for that reason, I thought I was going to make these scones with shortening anyways. Then I learned that the next two ingredients were fully hydrogenated palm and soybean oil and partially hydrogenated palm and soybean oil. Well, fully hydrogenated oils are saturated fat and partially hydrogenated oils can isomerize into trans fats in the body so I decided that it was time to modify the recipe. I replace the shortening with mostly pumpkin puree and a small amount of soybean oil and it worked like a charm!

(Healthy) Pumpkin Scones

2 1/2c whole wheat flour
2 1/2t baking powder
2T brown sugar
3T soybean or canola oil
5T pumpkin puree

1t vanilla

1/2c almond milk

1T ground flax seeds (soaked in 3T water)

Preheat oven to 425F. Combine flour, baking powder, and sugar. Cut in the pumpkin puree and oil using a knife. Flour mixture should be very dry and it should resemble course crumbs. Mix in vanilla, flax seed, and almond milk. Kneed dough 5 or 6 times, then break into 3 large lumps. Cut the lumps into quarters. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges just start to brown. Enjoy!

Bonus Maple Glaze
I like a dry, lightly sweetened scone. If you'd like something sweeter, give this maple glaze a try!

2c powdered sugar
1/4t vanilla
1T (vegan) butter

2T vanilla almond milk
3T maple syrup

Mix ingredients and pour over fresh from the oven scones. Wait 20 minutes to let harden or enjoy immediately.