Banana Oat & Date Scones

The local bakery in our town makes amazing vegan oat scones. I was thinking of them when I woke up Sunday morning. I love baking on Sunday mornings, so I set out to make some scones this time. I  ended up making a lower fat, banana version that was lighter, and cake-ier than our bakery's - a bit more like a muffin. This is likely, at least partially, because I accidentally ended up leaving out the all-purpose flour that the recipe I was adapting from called for. Oops. I clearly needed coffee. But, the result was still delicious, and possibly even more flavorful than those bakery scones. Cinnamon spice, a hint of  banana, whole wheat goodness, wrapped in maple-dipped oats, and naturally sweetened by dates and raisins.

Vegan Banana Oat & Date Muffin-Scones
Makes 6-7 "mini" scones
Recipe adapted from Veganomicon's Banana-Date Scones
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup + 2Tbsp mashed banana (about 1 and 1/4 bananas)
• 6 fresh dates, pitted
• 1.5 tsp all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
• 2 and 2/3 Tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond or soy milk
• 2.5 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 Tbsp brown rice syrup (you could probably sub for maple syrup, the result may be a little sweeter)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I completely omitted this by accident, and ended up with muffin-like scones that were light and fluffy. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup but no oats; I think 1/4 of AP flour will be just the right balance, but it's your choice! More flour for a denser, more traditional scone, less for a more muffin-like scone.)
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2-3 Tbsp raisins

Maple-oat topping:

• 2 Tbsp oats
• 1 Tbsp coconut palm sugar
• 2 tsp coconut butter (you could sub with Earth Balance, but I like the slight hint of flavor this type adds)
• 1 tsp maple syrup

Steps:

1. Chop the dates and mix them in the 1/2 tbsp of flour in a small bowl; set aside.
2. In a separate larger bowl, whisk the flax seeds and milk. Add in the banana, oil, and rice syrup. 
3. In (yet) another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Then add them into the wet until well combined. Add in the dates and raisins last.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F, and lightly spray a cookie sheet (or two). 
5. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the dough onto the cookie sheet, leaving at least a few inches in between the batter.
6. For the topping, mix the oats with a drizzle or so of maple syrup, and then add in the remaining topping ingredients, kind of slicing in the butter. 
7. Flatten the dough on the cookie sheets a bit, and add a spoonful of topping to each.
8. Bake for ~25 minutes, until golden brown.
9. Enjoy!

As I said, these were more cake-like than your typical, dense, biscuit-like scone. I like those scones, but I also like the cakey soft version that these are as well.

You could play around with the ingredient amounts (such as increasing the all-purpose flour amount to 1/2 cup and using 2 Tbsp less banana, or increasing the flour and using butter subbed for some banana), if you are looking for a denser, more traditional scone. But these make for a nice light breakfast, particularly if you are on the go.

These would also be good with a maple icing frosting- simply mix powdered sugar (say a cup) with a little maple syrup, and drizzle over the scones when they are warm.

Coconut Palm Sugar and Grade B Maple Syrup might be my new (well, new-ish, anyway) favorite finds.  If you haven't tried coconut palm sugar, I definitely recommend seeking it out. It's like brown sugar, but is lower in calories and has a lower glycemic index, with a deliciously sweet flavor. It's awesome. And man, how could I have forgotten about Grade B real maple syrup? I've been buying the Grade A for the past few years, just because I wasn't paying attention and it's the easiest to find. But Grade B is from the batch later in the season, so it tends to be sweeter and more caramel-ly, and it is also higher in nutrients. I remember going to maple syrup farms as a kid, stopping in after ski trips, and taste-testing the different batches in those little plastic cups, drinking down pure maple syrup. Seems kind of odd, but when you taste the good stuff, trust me, you'll want to spoon it into your mouth. But a better idea is to enjoy it on your vegan breakfast treats, like drizzling a little of it on top of these scones, fresh out of the oven....