Gluten-Free Scones with Dried Fruit & Nuts

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups (254 g) of gluten-free flour blend (See custom blend below.)
• 1/3 (70 g) cup sugar (can reduce sugar to 1/4 cup or 50-60 g for less sweet scones)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt plus a pinch
• 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (if it's not included in your GF flour mix)
• 6 Tablespoons (85 g) cold unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (50-60 g) (cranberries, cherries, blueberries, or chopped apricots)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream or unsweetened full-fat canned coconut milk
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tsp orange, lemon or lime zest

CUSTOM GF FLOUR BLEND
You can play around with the combinations of flours. I have used oat flour, buckwheat flour or Bob's Red Mill gluten free all-purpose baking flour (not the 1:1). I always use 150g of rice flour and then play around with the other 100g. If using buckwheat, keep it to 50g or less. It has a strong flavor that might overpower the fruit and nut flavors.

• 150g white or brown rice flour
• 50g sorghum flour
• 25g tapioca flour
• 25g potato starch
• 4g (1.5 tsp) xanthan gum

GLAZE

• 1 teaspoon juice (lemon, orange, or lime)
• 3-4 drops young living essential oils (lemon, orange, or lime)
• powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix together in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum.
3. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender or two knives, coating the pieces with flour as you go, until the largest pieces of butter are pea-sized. Keep this mixture cold, chilling it in the refrigerator if the butter starts to soften.
4. Stir in: chopped nuts, dried fruit
5. Whisk together in a separate bowl: heavy cream, egg, orange or lemon zest
6. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until the mixture starts to hold together, then gently knead the dough a few times with your hands. Depending on your flour mix, the dough may be very sticky. While this makes it difficult to handle, it is okay. If the dough seems dry and won't hold together easily, add 1-2 Tbsp more cream and knead it in.
7. Put the dough on a high-quality baking sheet. Gently push the dough into a flat disk about 3/4 inch high. Cut into eight equal pieces and arrange them on the baking sheet about one inch apart. (Or divide into 8-10 balls and flatten to about 3/4 inch high.)
8. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn baking sheet 180 degrees and bake another 5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one comes out clean.
9. Allow scones to cool completely.
10. While cooling, mix powdered sugar, juice and essential oils. Add enough powdered sugar so the mixture thickens but is still runny enough to drizzle.
11. Drizzle glaze on top of scones. (Make sure scones are cooled completely or the glaze will melt into the scones.)