Developing a New Recipe - Whole Wheat Blueberry Scones

Part I - Part II - Part III

I have been trying to eat healthier over the last several years, and I am proud to say that I have lost 70 pounds since June 2013. I like to say that I lost those pounds, but I know exactly where to find them again. I bake. I bake 500 calorie croissants and 400 calorie pumpkin scones with a nice double glaze. It does take much of that to blow a whole days calorie count.

So I decided that I would work on a new, healthier, guilt-free breakfast. I love pastries and thought that a blueberry scone could handle the conversion from white all-purpose four to whole wheat. Many people do not realize that you can simply substitute whole wheat on a 1:1 basis for white flour. The problem comes from the difference in taste profile.

Whole wheat has the whole wheat kernel ground into the flour. Practically, this means the addition of the bran and the germ. The bran has a slightly bitter taste that some people do not enjoy.

Whole wheat blueberry scones from Brooklyn Farmhouse

When I start a new recipe, I will often do a Google Image search to get ideas on extra ingredients and presentation. I was so excited about the first image (below) that I immediately knew that I had to encrust my dough with those lovely oats, which have the added advantage of making the scone look even healthier. The recipe from Brooklyn Farmhouse can be found here.

A scone recipe is not that complicated - flour, water, salt, and fat. To develop the recipe I just have to decide what I want each of those components to be. The flour choice was obviously whole wheat. This is a scone so most of the fat is going to come from butter with the balance coming from other milk fats. I knew that I would want a slightly moister dough than I usually use because I want to stick those oats on good and tight. so I wanted more water.

It was also at this point that I decided a little twang to complement the wheaty taste would be good, so I decided to add half a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to my milk. Next time I will use lemon juice and lemon zest instead. The vinegar just didn't cut through the wheat.

Decisions? How many scones to make?

You can vary how you cut them, depending on your need. I carry most of what I bake around town and give them away, so I often will cut them into 12 scones, but if I were serving breakfast I might cut them into 6 or 8 scones. Remember you can control the serving size.

I have experimented with different methods for cutting the scones. Personally, I think scones should be wedges, but how to form the wedges. I began years ago using the round disk that you see above, but where the scones come together in the center creates a bit of a problem getting them to the baking sheet intact. For the pie method, I cut one to closely match my knife which becomes the first one that I remove by sliding my knife under the scone. That gives me good edge to work from. I remove the rest by cutting down the side of the scone and then tipping the scone onto the knife edge.

For the last 6 months I have been forming the dough into rectangles so that I start out with a good edge. Unfortunately, the two outside scone don't always look the best.

Neither method is perfect and I am now back to the round disk method.

Everybody made it to the baking sheet

The scones have made it to the baking sheet without being too badly mangled.

They are looking good

Here is the finished scones. I am pleased with the results and they tasted good.

Can I have 4?

 Adam's Whole Wheat Blueberry Scones

makes 12

dry ingredients

6.75 ounces of whole wheat flour (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 tsp baking powdered

3 TBS unpacked brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

wet ingredients

1/2 cup of whole milk, less 1/2 TBS

1/2 TBS of apple cider vinegar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

additions

7 TBS butter

1 cup of blueberries

1/2 cup of oats

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place baking rack at the midpoint of the oven.

2. Combine the milk and vinegar. Set aside.

3. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Cut butter into the flour mixture until the mixture has the consistency of corn meal. No large lumps of butter please. Gently mix in blueberries. Set aside.

4. Whisk egg and vanilla into the milk mixture. Gently combine with flour-blueberry mixture. This dough will be a little sticky.

5. Spread the oats onto your work surface and gently push the dough into the oats. Turn the dough over and push the remaining oats into the dough.

6. Form into a 9 inch circle and cut into 12 wedges. Transfer the scones to a lined baking sheet. I use a Silpat.

7. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden brown.

8. Transfer to wire rack for cooling. Eat while warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition Information for these scones.

As you can see, the nutrition facts came in pretty good.

The Evaluation - Keeper with additional work

Pros

• The texture came out perfect.
• They were lighter than I had hoped.
• They tasted good, but there is room for improvement.

Cons

• They could use a little more sweetness.
• They are a bit "wheaty." The bran comes through loud and clear. In a later iteration, I may substitute some all-purpose flour and wheat germ for the whole wheat. In effect, that will give me a whole wheat scone with less bran.

This was a first attempt and it was pretty good, but I will change some things tomorrow when I bake them again. First, I am getting rid of the vinegar and going to lemon juice and zest. Second, I am going to sprinkle some ginger sugar on them before baking next time. Last, I am thinking about a drizzle of glaze.

Cook for enjoyment. Eat to live.