Tag Archives: earth balance organic coconut spread

Better Than a Biscuit Dairy-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Scones

Posted on by
3

Dairy-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Scones

I’ve steered clear of biscuit-making ever since I mixed up a crumbly mess of dry ingredients with butter and buttermilk years ago. The end result, inedible hockey pucks, came after a very frustrating baking experience. The wanna-be biscuits wound up in the garbage. That was when I decided I just didn’t need to ever, ever be making biscuits. And that’s why, when Katie Novotny, owner of St. Paul Classic Cookie Co. said that scones are simply a biscuit, I got nervous.

Katie Novotny offered to show members of my Bemidji Cookbook Club how to make the perfect scone. We gathered in her bitty bakery with an enormous menu of sweet treats in the south St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul on a recent Friday morning.

She sliced small chunks of butter into a bowl holding her measured dry ingredients, emphasizing the fact the butter must be well-chilled. I use the same technique when I make my favorite recipe for scones — the ones I plop onto a baking sheet using a measuring cup. That technique keeps my hands off the dough, convincing me that I am making scones, not biscuits.

With a gentle touch, the experienced baker used her fingers to quickly work the butter into the flour mixture in her large, metal mixing bowl.

“Never over-handle the dough,” said Novotny as she mixed cold milk into the bowl. “Less is more.”

She patted the soft dough into a rectangle on her work surface and speckled the top of it with chunks of frozen strawberries and rhubarb. She explained that frozen fruit will hold its shape while baking.

Each long side of fruit-embedded dough got folded into the center, sealing the fruit inside. Novotny expertly cut the dough into four equal squares. She created triangle-shaped scones by cutting diagonally through each square.

She placed the fluffy fruit sandwiches on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

While the sweet fragrance of baking scones wafted through the bakery, the multi-talented baker gave us a lesson on how to frost sugar cookies using a pastry tube with tips attached.

I was still doubtful about my own scone-making skills. Novotny reassured me that it just takes practice with really good recipes. She suggested I watch other experienced scone-makers in action.

Could I really make scones as good as the ones created by the hands of Katie Novotny?

My first attempt didn’t work. I used my tried-and-true drop scones. With Novotny’s flatten, fill and fold method, my soft, moist dough flattened in the oven. The scones did not hold their triangular shape.

I called Novotny for help. She went over my recipe and suggested some changes. My next try ended with a batch of moist, light triangles of fruit-studded biscuit dough. Katie Novotny is not just a great baker — she is an excellent teacher. My flatten, fill and fold-friendly scone recipe is in my column this week. Click here to get to that recipe.

I became so confident, I was ready to experiment with a dairy-free scone. Why dairy-free? Less fat, less calories, less cholesterol. But, I still wanted moist, delicious scones. And that is just what I got.

The dairy-free scones are made with organic coconut spread rather than butter and unsweetened flax milk. My local natural food co-op carries Good Karma Flax Milk. You can try another non-dairy milk, such as almond or soy.

Coconut spread melts very quickly, so I measured it and put it in the freezer while I organized the remaining ingredients. Because I was using quick-melting coconut spread, I did not use my fingers for mixing. I put my pastry cutter into the freezer to chill and used that for cutting the butter into the dry ingredients.

I made Dairy-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Scones over the weekend. When my husband came home from the golf course on Sunday, he was blown away by these moist, not-too-sweet, fluffy and light scones topped with  honey-sweet crunch.

And, I’m blown away by the fact I can now make “really just a biscuit” scones that are the real deal. Thanks to Katie Novotny.

Katie Novotny’s St. Paul Classic Cookie Co. is located at:

2386 Territorial Rd,  Saint Paul, MN 55114

 

Dairy-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Scones

  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup organic coconut spread
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened flax milk
  • 1/2 cup frozen strawberry chunks
  • 1/2 up frozen rhubarb chunks
  • 2 tablespoons local honey, for brushing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Use a whisk to mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, nutmeg and lemon zest together in a large mixing bowl. Add cold coconut spread by small chunks to the bowl. Use chilled pastry cutter to mix coconut spread into flour mixture until it resembles coarse sand. Pour in cold flax milk. With a gentle touch, use a spoon to mix until just combined.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Working quickly, pat the dough into a rectangle about 12 inches long and 4 inches wide. Evenly distribute the frozen chunks of fruit over the dough. Press the fruit to embed the chunks into the dough. Fold one long side into the middle. Fold the other long side over to cover the fruit. Pat to seal.

Cut the rectangle into 4 squares. Cut each square in half diagonally to form 8 triangles. Place triangles on parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the top of each one with honey. Bake scones in preheated 425-degree oven for about 15 minutes, until done. Remove from oven. Transfer scones to wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Makes 8 scones.

 

 

 

 

Bring back the Date Bar

Posted on by
6

When was the last time you ate a date bar? I haven’t had one in years. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I’ve even given thought to that deliciously sweet, rich layered dessert.

Not long ago, I received an email request for a date bar recipe. My thoughts swiftly went back to the date bars my dad’s cousin used to make using a recipe that had been in my dad’s family for years — maybe generations. Following the visions of date bars running through my head came the date-filled cookies I used to get from the Rothsay Truck Stop. On my trips from Fargo to Minneapolis, I could never pass up the I-94 exit that took my car up the ramp and right into a parking spot in front of the large plate glass window that looked into the little cafe attached to the gas station. I’d walk up to the counter lined with bar stools and order half dozen of the homemade date-filled cookies. A waitress would pull the large, soft cookies from a glass jar on a shelf and slide them into a paper bag. Chewy and not too sweet, they were a date-lovers dream. They were an easy snack to eat out of hand in the car. The truck-stop cafe is still there. The date-filled cookies are not.

My date-filled daydream came to an abrupt end when I realized date bars seem to have fallen out of fashion. Even Betty Crocker’s Date Bar Mix, something my mom used to bring home from the grocery store in the 1960s, has disappeared. And, when was the last time you saw date bars in the bakery case?

Date bars are gone. They’ve simply vanished and we didn’t even notice.

I’m bringing them back right now. I found my grandmother’s recipe in her tattered ledger filled with her beautiful, scrolling handwriting. That recipe appears in my column this week. They have less butter and sugar than many date bar recipes use. They’re way too crumbly to eat in the car without making a mess on the seat. But, they are good.

This makeover recipe replaces all-purpose flour with Natural Way Mills organic white whole wheat flour. This flour is similar in texture to white all-purpose flour, but it contains the germ and most of the nutrients of whole wheat flour and has a creamy color. The flavor is much lighter than the pronounced nutty flavor of whole wheat flour.

I replaced butter with earth balance organic coconut spread. It was the first time I used the spread for baking. It left just a slight hint of coconut, which is a natural flavor partner for dates.

I think my grandmother might disapprove if she knew I was playing around with an old family recipe. She’d be disappointed to know I prefer these bars over those made by generations of bakers in her family. But, change can be good — especially when it brings crunchy texture and delicious flavor while producing a date bar that is a little more healthful than the original.

This new recipe, the 2.0 version of the original date bar, might just bring back the date bar.

Grandmother’s Date Bars 2.0

Date Filling:

  • 1 pound pitted dates, chopped
  • 1½ cups water
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Cookie Mixture:

  • 1½ cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup organic coconut spread, room temperature
  • 1 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats
  • ½ cup ground toasted pecans or walnuts

Put dates and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is the consistency of marmalade, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Allow to cool. Stir in orange juice.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom of a 9- x 13-inch metal pan with coconut spread. Line the pan with parchment paper, using enough to have some paper come up and over the sides. Lightly grease the parchment that lines the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Use your clean fingers to mix in the brown sugar. Add chunks of coconut spread to bowl. Once again, use your fingers to work the coconut spread into the dry ingredients until you create a crumbly consistency. Add oats and mix.

Firmly pat 3 cups of the cookie mixture into the prepared pan. Spoon date filling on the cookie layer and spread evenly. Sprinkle remaining cookie mixture over the filling. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated 325-degree oven. Remove from oven. Sprinkle hot bars with ground nuts. Allow bars to cool in pan. Carefully pull the cooled bars out of the pan, using the excess parchment paper as handles. Cut into 20 to 24 bars.

Tips from the cook

  • To toast walnuts or pecans, arrange in a single layer on a baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 8 minutes, or until they are golden and fragrant. Remove from oven and immediately transfer nuts to a plate to cool.
  • The one pound of dates called for in this recipe is the weight of dates after they have had pits removed.
  • Find white whole wheat flour in all well-stocked grocery stores.
  • I found earth balance organic coconut spread in the refrigerated case with other non-dairy spreads.