Scones really are nothing more than a biscuit with a bit of sugar and a good PR agent. Except Big Guy won’t eat biscuits.  He used to, but somewhere between 1 and 2 he went on strike.

He’ll still eat scones, though — or, “stones” as he calls them and “cones” according to Boots. Especially when I squiggle them with icing and add sprinkles.

Just don’t tell them they’re relatively healthful as breakfast breads go. That’s because I add apple — grated, not chopped because chunks of something in food freak out Big Guy — and use half whole-wheat flour. I’ve also converted the recipe to egg- and egg-replacer free. I do use real butter, though. Margarine will work, and it’s actually easier to cut into the flour, but the scones seem a bit tougher.

The result is a moist, slightly sweet scone that the guys gobble down without ever noticing or tasting apple.

Egg-free scones

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 c. white whole wheat or regular whole wheat flour. If you’re new to “sneaking more fiber past kids” game, you might want to try white whole wheat first. They won’t notice the difference as much. You can also use all white flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tbl. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. soda
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 stick of butter or margarine.
• 1 medium apple, grated or chopped
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk. The amount needed will vary. I usually start with 1 cup then add if necessary.

Preheat over the 425 degrees and coat scone pan with baking spray. If you don’t have a scone pan, you can pat out the dough lightly and cut into triangles. Or you can drop them onto a greased baking sheet, as you would a drop biscuit.

Combine all dry ingredients and cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives. Add apple and stir to lightly coat. At this point, you also can stir in 3/4 c. currants, raisins, dried fruit, chocolate chips or nuts, though I never do. Remember what I said about chunks in food raising suspicions?

Add buttermilk to mixture and stir until all is just moistened and holds together. This is the only tricky part, because if you overmix, the scone will turn out tough.  I actually invested in a pastry fork for this step. I’ve seen plenty of more competent bakers do it with regular forks, though.

Scoop a generous 1/3 cup into each wedge of the scone pan. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Let sit five minutes after you remove them from the oven, then remove them from the pan. If you’re using a scone pan, I recommend removing them as you would a cake — put a cooling rack on top of the pan, then flip over onto another cooling rack.

Cool, then glaze or squiggle with icing and sprinkles if necessary to complete the sneak attack.

Copyright 2008 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.

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