Scones: Tea time nostalgia

An easy recipe for amazing vegan scones.

During the three years we lived in Ireland I only had scones maybe twice or trice, mostly because I just didn't know what to do with them. Are they breakfast? Lunch? Dessert?

I brought A for tea to a cute English tea room in the Mitte district of Berlin about a month ago to have him try their smokey house tea. At the counter I spotted a tray of scones and I couldn't resist.

Finally, I get it: scones are had with tea or coffee, ANY time of the day!

I became obsessed with finding a perfect recipe for scones that tasted like they did in Ireland. I tried out recipes for a month, mostly based on the "worlds best scones" from Allrecipes.com. Now, after my sixth batch of scones, I am proud to say: they're easy to make and they're damned good!

Vegan scones

(Makes about 8)
400 ml organic wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
100 ml fair trade sugar
A pinch of salt
50g dairy-free margarine, cold
100 ml vegetable milk, cold
50 ml plain soy yogurt, cold

Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl first. Add chunks of margarine and pinch it into the flour mixture until the texture is crumbly. Pour in the cold milk and yogurt, stir a little and working the dough as little as you can, by hand, make it even. Do not overwork the dough!

Divide the sticky dough into seven or eight lumps that you lay on a baking tray covered with non-sick baking paper. Pat the scones down if you prefer. They should measure about 5–7 centimetres across.

Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes.

Serve at tea time with a tasty dairy-free margarine or vegan cream cheese and strawberry jam. Whipped cream works well too!