What could be better in the morning (or afternoon or evening for that matter) than a freshly baked scone and steaming hot cup of tea? How about a low fat, whole wheat scone that doesn’t pack on the pounds while you’re posing – pinkie delicately extended – pretending to be the Queen Mother?
I’ve been experimenting with scone recipes that offer a textural and taste duplicate to the sugar and fat bombs available at my local gourmet market. Coming up with something that offers all the bells and whistles without all the offending ingredients has been a bit of a challenge; but thanks to a core recipe from Cookie and Kate, I think we’re getting close. These banana scones top out at only 225 calories and offer more than a full serving of fiber. Compared to Starbucks’ scones, which can pack as many as 460 calories and offer less than half the amount of dietary fiber, these are as close to health food in a yummy treat suit as you’re going to get without resorting to artificial sweeteners.
Feel free to play with the fruit in this recipe. Pretty much any berry will do – as would any other soft-ish fruit. I’ve made the recipe a number of times and find that the sweetness of the banana nicely compensates for the lack of sugar and keeps the scones nice and soft for at least three days after being baked.
When using banana, though, the flavor of the fruit is best developed after sitting overnight. So, for the most tasty treats make these the evening before you plan to serve them. Then, pop them in the oven for a few minutes to warm through and you’ve got a simple, healthy and delicious treat for anyone lucky enough to be sitting at your brunch table.
Blueberry Lemon Version
Inspired by Cookie and Kate’s Lemon Blueberry Scones
Ingredients:
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup turbinado (raw cane) sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 1 cup chopped, very ripe banana
- 1/2 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup low fat milk (I used 2%)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- Combine flours, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk together.
- Slice butter and drop into dry ingredients. If you have a pastry cutter, use it to cut the butter into the flour. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, use a knife to cut the butter into tiny pieces and mix it into the flour.
- Add bananas and gently stir.
- Gently mix in milk and yogurt. Eventually you’ll need to use your hands to knead the last of the flour into the dough.
- Form dough into a circle about that’s about an inch deep all around. Cut the circle into 8 slices.
- Separate slices and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or foil.
- Sprinkle the tops of the scones with a bit of raw sugar.
- Bake for 17 minutes or until light brown.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Michele,
I’ve now made this recipe twice, the first time following your directions & then modifying the second time. They are delicious & my kids love them! Here’s what I did…I subbed buttermilk for low fat milk, reduced the butter to 2 tbsp, pureed the bananas & used 1 tsp of coconut oil to lightly coat my mini scone pan. My boys didn’t like the chunks of bananas, so the pureed bananas works better for us. Plus I had tons of bananas that were really ripe so I went ahead & pureed them all, put a little citric acid in them & stuck the in the freezer for future scone use. :) Finally instead of forming a circle I just gently mixed in the yogurt, bananas & buttermilk & then placed them in the mini pan.
Hi Mallory! Thanks so much for the feedback on the banana scones. I love it when I hear back from folks who have tried recipes. I’m glad you were able to make modifications that worked for your family. Thanks for testing out the milk, butter and coconut oil changes. When I get a spare moment I’ll give your version a try :)
Best,
Michele
Hi, Michele. I just baked these scones this morning and they are delicious! This is a great recipe for using ripe bananas and I added blueberries as you suggested since I had so many in my fridge. Instead of the cane sugar I used coconut palm sugar (since I have a food sensitivity) and the result was just right. Thanks for the suggestion! Have a good day.
Alissa,
I’m so glad the scones were a success! The basic recipe is so flexible, I hope you decide to try it again with a few different fruits :)
Love that these have Greek yogurt in them! They sound great!
I was skeptical about replacing heavy cream with fat free dairy, but it really works….and of course that means nearly guilt-free scones :)
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