I love lavender in all forms- soaps, candles, perfumes there’s something so soothing and calming about its perfume.
Harnessing the sweet floral scent of lavender for baking is a bit more delicate. Go too heavy handed and it can taste vaguely medicinal and soap-like and be pretty off putting. I’ve found I like it best when balanced with the sweet flavors of berries and vanilla, which mellow it out a bit. These flavors come together beautifully in the scones.
Blueberry Lavender Scones
Ingredients for the lavender sugar:
2 tablespoon Culinary Lavender
2 tablespoons Demerara Sugar or Organic Cane Sugar
Method:
Grind Lavender in a coffee grinder or spice grinder, until finer in texture. Add in sugar and pulse a few times to combine.
Set Lavender Sugar aside. I often make a greater amount and keep the remaining Lavender Sugar in the pantry, adding it to compotes, baked goods, or even smoothies.
Ingredients for the scones:
3 cups Sorghum Flour
1 ½ cups Almond Flour
1½ cups Potato Starch (not Potato Flour!) or Tapioca Starch
3 tablespoons Baking Powder
½ cup Organic Brown Sugar
3 teaspoons Xanthan Gum
1 ½ teaspoons Sea Salt
¾ cup plus 3 Tablespoons Earth Balance, in small pieces
1 ½ cups Coconut Yogurt
Ener G Egg Replacer for 3 eggs (1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoon Ener G mixed with 6 tablespoon Warm Water)
2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract
Method:
Preheat Oven to 400° F.
Combine Dry ingredients and 2 Tablespoons Lavender Sugar in a large bowl.
Add the Earth Balance to the dry ingredients and work in until the flakes are the size of peas and it is evenly dispersed. I find using my hands to do this is the easiest method, but a pastry cutter or fork also works.
Mix the wet ingredients together and add to the flour mixture, stirring to combine and make a soft dough.
Add the blueberries and gently mix in. With frozen berries, the excess liquid often bleeds into the dough when mixed, but I find the purple swirls only make the scones prettier.
Form the dough by hand into rounded scones and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. You should be able to make 12-15 from the mixture.
Once all the scones are formed, brush the tops with any leftover coconut yogurt or with any non-dairy milk you have on hand and sprinkle the tops of the scones with the remaining lavender sugar.
Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until golden brown.