Healthy(er) Scones Recipe with Chocolate & Crystallized Ginger

Long family road trips are typically peppered with stops at Starbucks. And Subway. Hey, don’t judge. When the choices are day-old gas station burritos and sub sandwiches, the sandwiches will always win out. The Starbucks pit stops happen first thing in the morning – jet fuel for the first part of the drive – and 3pm or so, lining up with my husband’s daily caffeine slumps. Of course, I’m never one to turn down a non-fat latte or two.

Within minutes of walking into the store, my boys have their noses pressed up to the glass case holding all of the treats. Lemon loaf, cake pops, muffins…all of those things that taste great with a cup of coffee, but have the calorie and fat count of a deep-fried Twinkie.

Inevitably, we get sucked into buying a blueberry scone for the boys to share. It’s got fruit in it. It can’t be that bad, right?

I made the mistake of googling the nutritional data for that blueberry scone. Well, 460 calories, 18 grams of fat and 24 grams of sugar later, I decided it was time to come up with my own scone recipe.

A couple of years ago, I posted my a fantastic scone recipe by my husband’s cousin. The recipe in this post is a direct rip-off of the flavors in that recipe, but with significantly less calories and fat. I kept the oat flour, chocolate chips and crystallized ginger, but cut the butter and sugar by more than half and replaced the cream with skim milk. Some of the switcheroos were inspired by a highly rated Cooking Light scone recipe.

The result? A tender, moist scone with a subtle bite from the crystallized ginger, a decadent hit of chocolate and a drastic decrease in calories and fat. To be exact, each scone contains 183 calories, 7.6 grams of fat and 9.3 grams of sugar.

And to top it all off…the boys loved them!

The recipe:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To make the oat flour, place the oats in a food processor and process until finely ground, about 1 minute. Pour into a bowl and scoop 1 cup oat flour back into the processor. Reserve any remaining flour for another use.

Add the all-purpose flour, sugar, and baking powder to the processor. Pulse briefly to combine.

Add the chilled butter to the processor and pulse until the mixture is pale yellow and the consistency of a fine meal.

Add the crystallized ginger to the processor and pulse to mix.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup non-fat milk, vanilla extract and egg white. Pour the mixture into the processor and pulse quickly until just mixed.

Turn the mixture out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the dough. Lightly dust your hands with flour and gently knead to mix in the chocolate chips, and form the dough into a ball.

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. With lightly floured hands, form the dough into an 8-inch circle.

Cut the circle into 12 triangles, keeping the circle of dough intact. (Yes, I realize the photo shows 8 triangles. I changed my mind on the second batch, which I didn’t photograph.)

Using 2 teaspoons of non-fat milk, lightly brush the tops of the scones. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over top.

Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the surface of the scones are golden brown. Cool on the tray or on a cooling rack. Cut the scones apart and serve.

(Make ahead: The scones can be made ahead and frozen. Separate the raw scones from each other and place them on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place in the freezer uncovered. When the scones are completely frozen, place them in plastic freezer bags. Take them out a few at a time and bake for 17-21 minutes at 375 degrees F.)

Other lightened-up baked goods:

Cookin’ Canuck’s Peanut Butter & Banana Whole Wheat Quick Bread
Cookin’ Canuck’s Healthy Cornmeal Muffins with Berries & Lemon
fANNEtastic Food’s Whole Wheat Pumpkin Goji Biscotti
Kiran Tarun’s Orange Raisin Scones
Chocolate-Covered Kate’s Single-Serving Blueberry Muffin

Tagged as: chocolate, crystallized, ginger, healthy, low-fat, oat, recipe, scone, scones