These are definitely American scones, given their gluten free nature and sugary frosting! This gluten free scones recipe relies on oat flour, which provides a natural sweetness to the batter. They are a little crumblier than a traditional scone, but equally delicious. These easy blueberry scones come together quickly and make for a lovely morning treat.
About Oat Flour
We’ve already discussed in great detail how life in Los Angeles can expose you to unhealthy numbers of seemingly gluten-intolerant people and therefore a wide variety of disgusting gluten-free baked goods. However, in our search for recipes to meet the dietary needs of Los Angeles’s gluten-intolerant masses, we discovered that we quite like baking with oat flour. Now, this is not to say that it will achieve everything that all-purpose flour can do in a baked good, but what you trade in crispy flakiness, you gain in nutritional qualities, absence of gluten, and tender crumbs.
Oat flour, not to state the obvious, is made by grinding up oats. Oats have all kind of nice nutritional qualities from serious fiber and protein contents to, you know, not being bleached with chemicals. This gives oat flour a clear health advantage of wheat flour, which is made by grinding up wheat endosperm, then bleaching it, then adding back in some nutritional content (thus the “enriched” you see on the package) so that it’s not the nutritional equivalent of eating sawdust. Yep, try not to think too closely about that the next time you enjoy the flaky texture of a gluten-filled croissant. So, while we don’t want to ruin wheat flour baking, we think it’s nice to also have a solid repertoire of oat-based goodies so that we can feel less horribly guilty when we feed them to our small children.
Looking for some more gluten-free baking options? Check these babies out.
Prefer your scones crunchy and flaky but without any nutritional content (sorry, did we just ruin it for you?)? Here’s a tasty option.
Gluten Free Scones Recipe Facts
- Yield: 8 scones
- Active time: 15 minutes
- Chilling time: 15 minutes
- Baking time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients for this Gluten Free Scones Recipe
For the scones:
- 2 1/4 cups oat flour (you can make your own by grinding up whatever oats you have at home in the food processor)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter (unsalted)
- 1/2 cup half and half, heavy cream, or milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (optional)
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
For the topping:
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp milk
Instructions for the Gluten Free Scones Recipe:
- Preheat oven to 425 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and then add to the oat flour mixture.
- Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the oat flour mixture until the butter pieces are no larger than a pea.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the half and half, egg, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together with a fork until the dough begins to come together.
- Add the blueberries in and continue mixing with a fork until a shaggy dough forms.
- Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead 3-4 times until the dough forms a ball.
- Pat the dough into an 8-inch disk (don’t bother using a rolling pin), then use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut into eight wedges. Work quickly, and if the dough begins to get intolerably sticky, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it cool in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Put the scones on the prepared baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes.
- Just before baking, brush the tops of the scones with a tablespoon of heavy cream to ensure even browning.
- Bake until the top of the scones are golden brown, 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Stir together the powdered sugar and milk until a thick icing forms. Drizzle icing over the scones.