Carrot Coconut Scone with Citrus Glaze from BAKED Explorations promises a rich breakfast treat more in common with cookies than with the classic scone. This scone achieved tender flakiness from buttermilk and loads of butter cut into the flour. That’s where the similarities end. With the use of rolled oats, a touch of whole wheat flour (about 20%), and orange carrot puree, I can perhaps make a case of this scone being somewhat wholesome. But who am I fooling? Those sweetened coconut flakes, orange zest, and drizzles of orange glaze far outweighs any healthful claim. It matters not because the delicious taste is what leaves me wanting more.
I made plenty of scones before (here, here, here) and have very specific ideas of what I like. My preference for super flakey tender crumb and nice sharp edges usually steer me away from more rustic recipes. Oddly enough, I am quite happy with how these carrot coconut scone turns out. The scones maintained good height after baking and the edges didn’t slope too much. Very even rise given that I barely pat the dough together into a disk before cutting into wedges. I did not add much flour while working the dough. It was a little wet as predicted in the recipe. In hindsight, probably a good thing because it discouraged me from working the dough too much! I’m not one who likes sticky dough all over my hands.
I like the craggy golden crust which created larger surface area for the crunchy toasty bits. The characteristic crumbliness from having such large amount of coconut flakes in the dough reminded me of macaroons. When I was making the dough, I seriously considered using the food processor to cut butter into the flour. Good thing common sense stopped me just in time. The blade of food processor would totally destroy the texture created by rolled oats and coconut flakes. Sometimes, a bit of elbow grease is necessary. My addition of whole wheat flour was a fluke. I couldn’t believe I actually ran out of all purpose flour! Last week’s chocolate chip cookie extravaganza probably has something to do with it. As for the orange zest, that was simple thriftiness. I couldn’t bear to waste the zest of a perfectly good organic orange! I rubbed the zest into the sugar for a nice boost of citrus flavour to these scones.
I am a couple of days late for this edition of BAKED Sunday Mornings but better late than never. Looks like these scones are popular with the group as well. Check them out! The recipe is available at Publisher’s Weekly.
