The obsession with carrot cake these days all began with the abundance of carrots in my CSA bin this past week. I had a ton of them arrive and needed some way to use them. Chopping them up in a salad is an option, but that’s so conventional. After experimenting with a gluten-free carrot cake mix…then making my own gluten-free carrot cake pancakes…I thought to myself…”Self…why not make gluten-free carrot cake scones?” And why not, indeed. It was only logical.
So, below is a recipe of my own creation. These are good to eat on their own, but I love to top it off with my light cream cheese icing. Why? Because it sort of brings that whole carrot cake aura to the scones. Besides, it is absolutely delicious.
Recipe: Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Scones (with a Light Cream Cheese Icing)
Servings: 12
Time: Prep 15 minutes; Bake 17 minutes
Ingredients for scones:
- 2-1/4 cups Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 dash ground cloves
- 1 dash ground ginger
- 1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tbsp pure pumpkin (I used Libby’s)
- 2/3 unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup shredded carrots
Ingredients for light cream cheese icing:
- 4 ounces of cream cheese (I used Galaxy Nutritional Foods Vegan Cream Cheese)
- 2 tablespoons butter (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups of confectioners sugar, sifted
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Mix the baking mix, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger and peanuts together.
Add the vanilla, applesauce, pumpkin, and almond milk. Mix together with a fork. Dough will be thick.
Fold in shredded carrots until well incorporated throughout the dough.
Drop large, tall dollops of dough (scones will spread when baking) onto lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake for 15-17 minutes.
Make the light cream cheese icing:
Place the cream cheese and butter in a medium-size mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, 30 – 45 seconds.
Stop the machine and add the vanilla and 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar. Beat with the mixer on low speed until combined, 30 seconds.
Add another cup of sugar and beat on low speed until combined, 15 seconds.
Add the remaining cup of confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth, 15 – 30 seconds.
Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the frosting until fluffy, 30 seconds longer.
Spread or drizzle over the top of the scones.
Enjoy!
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I wasn’t sure what to expect when I whipped these up one evening. But the texture is great and the flavors just pop. They are quite good on their own, but the icing is, forgive the pun, the icing on the cake. This just makes carrot cake part of the scones seem more carrot cake-like. These are an easy breakfast to prepare and keep in the fridge. Just remove the icing to drizzle over reheated scones to allow it to soften before topping them off.
Completely happy with these and can’t wait to get loaded down with more carrots!
The Celiathlete 