Scones with Paleo Baking Flour

Most of the time when I am baking low-carb, grain-free, and/or paleo, I use my own flours. This can backfire because I run out of different flours at different speeds, and to end up with a good texture you often need to use more than one in a recipe to replace all-purpose flour. My husband brought home a bag of Bob's Red Mill Paleo Baking Flour, and I used it in two scone recipes to varying success. I thought I would reflect on what worked and what didn't, should you decide to go the same way. This is not a paid advertisement; we bought the flour.

Paleo chocolate chip scone attempt #2 (not as good)

I used two recipes from a tiny cookbook I use for most of my scone baking, Scones, Muffins, and Tea Cakes.  I think I've had it since before I got married in 2000! The first recipe was a buttermilk breakfast scone with more butter and liquid, no eggs. The second was originally a lemon scone with eggs in addition to liquid and far less fat. I replaced the flour called for in the recipe with equal amoutns of the paleo baking flour. The second recipe was dry and lacking in flavor (also partly because I used chocolate chips that weren't as sweet), very disappointing after the first one was firm on the outside and hte texture of cookie dough inside. Underbaked? Maybe, but the outside was brown and I didn't want them to burn. For the second batch I baked at a lower temperature, but they were drier, probably with less fat.

When I'm baking paleo scones from a recipe, I usually depend on coconut oil instead of butter, because it seems to be the best pairing to the dry almond flour, it adds a great deal of tenderness. I really would only call the first recipe of this attempt a success, due to the overly dry nature of the second recipe, so that is the one I will detail below. It is a half recipe of the one mentioned, with a few paleo modifications.

Overall, I think I'll stick with my own flours when I can, because I think the mix is a bit high on coconut flour, while the recipes I'm frequently using aren't adjusted for the amount of liquid needed for that (and Bob's doesn't have a large library of options.)

Buttermilk Chocolate Chip "Paleo" Scones (lower-carb, grain-free)

1 1/2 cups paleo baking flour
3 tbsp coconut sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
6 tbsp butter, cold, cut into small pieces right before adding
1/2 cup sugar-free chocolate chips
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used milk plus lemon juice and allowed to curdle)

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with parchment or spray a scone pan.

Stir the dry ingredients together. Add the butter and rub with fingertips until well blended. Add the chocolate chips. Pour in the buttermilk and mix until blended.

Gather the dough into a ball and divide in half. Roll into a circle and cut into 8 wedges (I used a standard scone pan and it filled half the slots, so only 4.)

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they are golden.