Sunday Scones

Ahhhhh Sunday.  Sleeping in, waking up and having coffee and scones, relaxing with your feet up in front of the tv or cozying up to a good book.  All is quiet and still, but for a few little birdies chirping outside.  Who am I kidding!!!  Maybe someday, in my distant future, this is what Sunday will bring me once again.  I'm not complaining though, because I still love what Sunday has to offer although it looks very different than the aforementioned.  It's more like, waking up at the crack of dawn to kids laughing their heads off and jumping on your stomach, whining over not getting to watch cartoons because CBS Sunday Morning is on, and whipping up some tasty scones.  At least the scone part is the same.  I love a frothy cappuccino and a scone while watching my favorite news magazine program.  I truly believe it's the little things in life.  I don't drink coffee that often because it tends to make me jittery (and decaf is for suckas! Just kidding), but about once a month I'll indulge in a cappuccino.  Most non dairy milks unfortunately don't froth, but with a bit of trial and error I've found that Whole Foods brand almond milk makes the foam exactly the way I like it.  It's creamy and absolutely delish!  I like that it's one of the only almond milks that's organic, and it's cheap, around $3 and change.  I read in Mother Jones a while back that it's important to make sure to buy organic when it comes to almonds because the pesticides they use for non organic almonds kill honey bees.  You know what they say about bees, no bees, no plants, no plants, no people.  Ok, so I'm pretty sure I just made that saying up, but it's 100% true none the less.  I'll get the coffee going in the moka and steam myself some almond milk to perfection in the meantime.  I like to either sweeten my coffee with coconut sugar, coconut nectar, or even maple syrup if I'm feeling adventurous.  There's already plenty of sugar in the scones and I try to limit my sugar anyway so these are some great options that are low glycemic.  Now, if only I could get some of my family members to switch to one of these instead of that fake brain eating cancer causing crap otherwise known as Equal or Sweet & Low or Splenda (they're all the same anyway).

Usually before I even get the coffee started I'm putting together a batch or two of scones faster than I ever thought humanly possible.  This is because when children wake up in the morning they have to eat their breakfast in the upcoming half hour or all hell breaks loose, literally.  I love this recipe because its fast, easy, you can make a couple kinds of scones in one batch (since there always has to be a batch of chocolate chip), and you can halve it or double it with ease.  I kept it pretty simple this morning with cranberry scones and, you guessed it, chocolate chip scones.  I don't remember exactly where I got the original recipe from, but it was for buttermilk scones and I have since veganized it.  Obviously store bought buttermilk is not vegan, but you can make it just by adding 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to 1 cup non dairy milk and letting it sit for about 5 minutes.  If I'm using dried fruit in my scones I like to soak the fruit in hot water for a few minutes so they'll be extra plump.  For the chocolate chips I use the Enjoy Life mini chips.  They're not only vegan, but soy free as well.

Vegan Buttermilk Scones 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

-3 cups flour
-1/3 cup sugar + a little more to sprinkle on top
-1 tsp salt
-2 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-3/4 cup soy free Earth's Balance or Coconut Earth's Balance (freeze for 5-10 mins)
-1 cup almond milk w/ 1 Tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
-1/2 cup mix-ins (cranberries, chocolate chips, raisins, fresh fruit, nuts, cinnamon, or anything)

Sift together dry ingredients, aka stir with a whisk.  Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal.  Make a well and add milk/lemon mixture.  Stir until combined.  Divide, if making two separate kinds, and add mix-ins.  Flatten into a disc on a floured surface and cut into triangles or make into rounds.  Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 15 minutes or until slightly brown on the bottom.