Vegan Plum Scones

The monumental deliciousness of these vegan plum scones came as a complete surprise to me.

This recipe started with a handful of overripe plums and a leftover bowl of aquafaba (from a hummus recipe that's coming soon!). I'm not super well-versed in using aquafaba as an egg replacement, so I went searching for a base recipe. I soon stumbled upon a Minimalist Baker recipe for rosemary blueberry scones, feat. aquafaba, that seemed tasty.

Rather than using herbs like the original recipe called for, I subbed in some lemon juice and zest. I also swapped out the bluebs for chopped plums. I'm sure any other berry or chopped drupe would work well in these scones.

I expected this recipe to be good, but I didn't anticipate it becoming my new favorite scone recipe. The batter is moist (sorry, not sorry), tender, fluffy and flavorful, while the plums add just the right amount of sweet and tart.

Let me know what you think of the recipe and don't forget to follow the sustainability tips below!

Time: 45 minutes

Makes: 6 large scones

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup white spelt flour (or sub more all-purpose)

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/4 cup cane sugar, plus more for topping

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 6 tablespoons room temperature coconut oil

• 1/4 cup aquafaba

• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond, cashew or other mild nut milk

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 2/3 cup chopped plums

Steps

1. Heat oven to 400 F and line a large baking sheet with (compostable) parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, lemon zest and salt. Add the coconut oil to the bowl and use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the coconut oil into the flour mixture. The texture should look like wet sand when fully combined.

2. In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, use a fork to whip up the aquafaba until bubbly. Add almond milk and lemon juice and whisk with the fork to combine. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and fold until almost combined. Add in the chopped plums and give the batter a few more folds, being careful not to overmix.

3. Pour out the batter onto the prepared baking sheet with parchment and form into a disk. Use a large knife or bench scraper to cut the disk into 6 even triangles. Carefully arrange triangles on the baking sheet so they are about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons sugar onto the scones. Bake for 22-27 minutes, or until golden brown.

Sustainability Tips

• Flour: I like to buy King Arthur Flour brand because King Arthur Flour is a B Corp. That means that they're held to a high environmental and social standard. Alternatively, you could find a farmer who grows and mills flour locally. Buying locally can help connect you to your local food system and cut back on the miles your food has to travel.

• Lemon and plums: make this when both plums and lemons are in season (pst! that's summer!). This way, you'll be able to buy from a local farmer and ask them about their farming practices (Like, are they organic? Do they use no-till or low-till methods? Do they use precision pesticide application?).

• Coconut oil: Fair trade coconut oil is your best bet here because it means your oil was produced ethically and sustainably. Extra, extra read all about it in my sustainable oils post!