Paleo Almond Flour Scones with orange and chocolate chips! These zesty scones are perfectly sweet, dairy-free, paleo, grain-free and naturally sweetened.
Happy Labor Day!
This day celebrates an important movement in our nation’s history, and also marks an epic event in The Roasted Root’s history. And we’re celebrating with paleo almond flour scones!
You see, on Monday, September 5, 2011 (Labor Day), I published my very first blog post. That’s right! Today, this blog turns four, and to honor four years of flying by the seat of my pants, I’m bringing back the very first recipe I posted on that fateful Labor Day four years ago. Along with some of that funk, that sweet, that nasty, that gushy stuff.
Before re-making these paleo almond flour scones, I re-read my first blog post, which I hadn’t done in approximately… four years. I got a tearful chuckle out of it. It made me realize something powerful: Somewhere along my blogging journey, I forgot the original purpose of this blog: to unleash creativity, to teach, to connect, to learn and improve, to build a trust tree fort with my readers, where we could all munch on granola and just let it all hang out, man.
All it took was revisiting Day 1 to have a renewed sense of my vision here. To recognize what has changed for the better since that first blog post, as well as what can be rewound or reverted.
Sometimes in order to move forward, we need to take a step back. Sometimes in order to move forward, we need to see the forest for the trees. Sometimes in order to move forward, we need to take a bite out of a very special brownie that happens to be gluten-free.
When I meet new people out and about, I’m frequently asked how I began this strange journey. For those who are curious, here are some deets:
My Story
I was born a mountain hippy. The End.
No, seriously…
I began this blog for a few reasons. 1.) I was newly-graduated, unemployed, and had nothing better to do between job applications and workouts. 2.) I was deflecting from making major life decisions. 3.) I had an unexplainable burning desire to create and share.
Fast forward, and now I 1.) would consider myself to be over-employed (and loving it), 2.) continue to have an opaque sense of what direction my life is going (but the clincher is I totally embrace it), and 3.) still have the burning desire to create and share.
When I was growing up, I was envious of those who knew exactly what they wanted to do career-wise and had a clear sense of how to get there. I never ever had that drive. What I had were interests. I was interested in astronomy and the way the universe works, mountain biking, snowboarding, travelling, taking photographs of dilapidated barns, drinking fancy tea, doing fancy yoga, trail running, having fun with friends, having deep conversations with friends, boys, boys, boys, cooking dinner with people, beer. Nachos.
Oh how times have changed. NOT!
Basically, nothing has changed except four years later, I make a living at my passion, which still befuddles (and tickles) me.
Enter Soap Box
Here’s where I tell you dreams do come true…provided you’re willing to take the risk, work your ass off, hold on tight, weather the storm, see the silver lining, take hits to your ego, allow Murphy to have his way with you but come out stronger (rather than defeated), allow your heart to be your night light, not listen to the little voices (whether they be in your head or otherwise) that tell you you’ll fail, and accept that by society’s standards, you may just live a really, really strange life. And that’s okay.
For the first 18 months of this blog’s life, I made not a single cent. After I finally monetized this site, my first ad revenue check was $23.16. Hey big spendah, how about them Benjamin Franklins?
When making all of the blog-related decisions I’ve made (most of which were made completely impulsively, emotionally, and without the prior proper research), I’ve considered two things: what’s the best possible outcome, and what’s the worst possible outcome. A natural optimist, I never saw the worst that could happen as really that bad. All this to say, I’m so happy I took the risk, and I would encourage any dreamer out there to do the same.
I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: I couldn’t have done any of this without you – my fabulous readers. Truly, I couldn’t. Thank you for being here with me, for all of your support, be it spoken or unspoken. Here, have a very special brownie that happens to be gluten-free. Keep The Roasted Root Weird, amen.
So here I be, my fellow health nuggets. I’ve had peaks and troughs, pity-me lulls and envy-me triumphs. For what it’s worth, my measurement of success is tightly intertwined with my level happiness. Success = happiness as far as I’m concerned. In a world that can be unforgiving and painful, I’d say you’re doing pretty damn well if you’re happy.
And with that, let’s cheers to 683 blog posts under the The Roasted Root’s belt. To epic fails and wins, and to all the foodgasms that are to come.
Almond Flour Scones?
I find it comical that this is the first recipe I ever posted, and yet it’s my favorite scone recipe I’ve made because it was born out of improvisation from the heart.
I whipped up these scones while on vacation in Bend, Oregon four years ago, and when I say “whipped up,” I mean, I put things in a bowl and stirred. I didn’t do any research or obsess about how the recipe would be received over social media or throughout the blogging community. I simply summoned my intuition and made scones with it.
GRANTED: I changed the recipe slightly from the original because – true to form – I can’t even leave my own recipes untouched. You guys, I left out the cream cheese frosting. How rude.
Basically, what we have here is a grain-free, refined sugar-free, paleo-friendly scone with hints of ginger, orange, cinnamon, and chocolate. All these flavors together may sound strange, but you guys, it’s CRAZY how well it all works! Like, the complexity of flavors in these scones is like a Salvador Dali painting…only WAY more uplifting, and far less depressing.
How to Make Almond Flour Scones:
The instructions for these scones may seem kind of strange, but they reflect the exact way I make them…basically I add the ingredients to one mixing bowl in the same order in which they appear on the ingredient list.
This way, you’re only dirtying one bowl. You can also go the route of combining the wet ingredients in one bowl, the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then mix them together. Or you can get real ballsy and add everything to stand mixer and mix it all together at once. No matter your method, you’ll end up with a super tasty scone!
I use my hands to form the scone dough into triangles and simply plunk them on a large baking sheet for baking. If you own a scone mold, you can go that route as well!
Recipe Adaptations:
- Replace almond flour with hazelnut flour
- Use avocado oil, ghee, or algae oil instead of coconut oil
- Swap the honey for pure maple syrup
- Omit the chocolate chips, walnuts, orange zest, juice, ginger or any combination thereof. Although I will say, the recipe as written is bangarang so I wouldn’t recommend monkeying around too much.
More Scone Recipes:
- Vegan Blueberry Scones
- Cranberry Orange Scones
- Paleo Pecan Chocolate Chip Scones
- Vegan Pumpkin Scones
Cheers to healthy living, and to all the good things to come!
Chocolate Chip Orange Ginger Almond Scones (Paleo)
Ingredients
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup coconut oil melted and cooled
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 1 pound almond flour/meal
- 2/3 cup raw walnuts chopped
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup honey or pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, orange zest, orange juice, vanilla extract, and grated ginger.
- Add the almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and mix until well combined.
- Add the walnuts, chocolate chips, and honey. Stir well to combine and/or use your hands to moosh everything together. The "dough" should be thick, sticky, and crumbly.
- Form scones with your hands, pressing the dough firmly and pushing the walnuts and chocolate chips into each scone so that they don't fall out. Place scones on large a non-stick baking sheet and bake on the center rack of the oven for 14 to 18 minutes, until scones are golden-brown around the edges.
- Allow scones to cool 15 minutes before using a spatula to remove them from the baking sheet.
- Enjoy your treat!
Made these this morning for my gluten free friends and Airbnb guests. So easy to make and taste great. Not a thing in the world that can taste bad with chocolate chips! :–) Thanks for the recipe!
Yaaas! I’m so thrilled to hear it, Jolyn! They have been a tried and true recipe for me for years and I’m so glad you and your guests like them too! Thanks for the sweet note! 😀 xo
Even though I don’t follow the paleo diet – these scones are something I will be trying. I love almond based baking.. as everything always turns out so moist, nutty and delicious. Arguably these scones will be amazing. I’m sure!