Holiday Cranberry Scones

I love this recipe because it's a much healthier version of regular scones. The best part is, they are equally delicious as traditional scones, if not moreso. This recipe is adapted from Kardena Pauza's Easy Veggie Meal Plans. If you prefer the raw version, you can dehydrate these for about 12 hours instead of baking them.

Scone ingredients:
2 cups almond meal
½ c. dried cranberries or other dried fruit bits
½ c. coconut oil
½ c. flaxseeds ground into meal (or ¾ c. ground flaxseeds)
¼ c. honey, agave, or maple syrup (I used raw honey)
1 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Honey “Butter” Spread ingredients:
¼ c. coconut oil
1 Tbsp. honey (or agave nectar)
dash of salt
dash of turmeric for color (optional)

Mix by hand in a small bowl with a fork. Store at room temperature. It’s ready to spread on the scones!

Directions

1. Place almond meal in a large mixing bowl and combine with ground flaxseed, coconut oil, cranberries, orange zest, honey, cinnamon and salt. Mix together with your hands.

2. Once everything is mixed well, form a 1-inch thick tubular log.

3. Take a pastry scraper, butcher knife or other hard/flat surface and flatten the loaf to the desired thickness. Remember, the mixture itself will not rise when baked, so flatten it to your desired “scone thickness.”

4. Cut the scone loaf into triangular shapes, place on baking sheet and let bake in oven on low for about 2 hours. The exact temperature is not very important – just use one of the lowest settings on your oven.

5. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperate. Spread on the honey “butter” spread (below) and enjoy!

Yield: about 8 scones