Vegan Maple Pecan Scones

The deli I work in makes the most delicious smelling scones.  I say delicious smelling because I have never actually tasted them since they aren't vegan.  I don't actually bake at work, surprising I know considering my blog.  But it keeps making desserts and baked goods enjoyable to me.  I am the one who makes all of the salads and the vegan soups, plus vegan hot food bar.  My work station is next to the cooling rack and as I am chopping my veggies, the heavenly aroma always makes me happy.  I mean, yes the cookies and everything else smells good too, but a couple of the scone flavors are my favorite smells.  In the Summer it is the strawberry, but in the Fall, it is the maple pecan.  Whenever my coworker makes them I always want to go home and bake some vegan ones so I can enjoy one.  Surprisingly though, I have never made them until this week.  I have been telling myself I should make some for years.  I have made other flavors but not the maple pecan.  Finally I got decided I had to.

I actually learned the art of making scones from my coworker that makes the scones at work.  I have a pretty darn delicious vegan scone base I have developed over the years.  The trick is not to mix the dough too much, you don't want it smooth, you want to leave clumps of coconut oil and to make sure that the milk and coconut oil are nice and cold before starting. For this specific scone dough, since I made pecan scones, I also added pecan meal to the dough.  It makes it extra rich and delicious!  I love adding nut meal to scones, and also pie crust sometimes for this reason.

I didn't actually use maple syrup in these, although you could brush them with it when they are done baking.  I used maple sugar because it has that same lovely maple flavor without the moisture.  The dough for these tasted amazing before they were baked, and I sampled quite a bit.  Yes I always have to test my dough for everything and give it a taste.  It is part of the fun of baking!  But they were even more amazing once they were done!  My kitchen smelled amazing, just like the scones at work.  Only this time I could eat them!  They have the most delicious tender buttery texture with crunchy nutty pecans and the scent of sweet maple. These would make the perfect addition to your weekend brunch!  Trust me, these aren't your standard dry dense coffee shop scones, these are crave worthy deliciousness!

Vegan Maple Pecan Scones
Makes 8

Ingredients:

Scones:

• 2 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten free baking flour*
• 1/2 cup pecan meal*
• 1/2 cup maple sugar or coconut sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup solid virgin coconut oil, cut into chunks (if your house is above 65F degrees, chill it first)
• 1 cup cold full fat organic canned coconut milk (whisked until smooth if chunky)
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp maple extract (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• coconut milk for topping (if needed)
• maple sugar or coconut sugar for sprinkling

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F degrees with the rack set at the middle position.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, pecan meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the coconut oil with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture starts to clump into pea sized pieces. In a small bowl, stir the vanilla into the coconut milk. Add the coconut milk to the dough, and stir a few times, but do not over-mix. The dough should hold together when squeezed, but still be clumpy.
4. Fold in pecans until evenly distributed.
5. Place dough on a floured work surface, and shape into a 4 inch wide log. Use a bench scraper to cut into 8 triangles.
6. Place scones on the prepared baking sheet, reshaping slightly if necessary.
7. Brush the tops lightly with the coconut milk (only if they seem dry, you want the sugar to stick), and sprinkle with coconut sugar.
8. Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown (after about 15 minutes you may need to reshape with 2 bench scrapers if the scones are spreading, then place back in the oven).
9. Cool on a wire rack.
10. Enjoy!

*If you prefer to make these not gluten free, you can swap the gluten free flour for organic whole wheat pastry flour.

*For the pecan meal, blend about 3/4 cup pecans in a blender or food processor just until ground finely, but not too long or they will become butter. This should give you enough for the recipe.