- May 7, 2020
- Breakfast
Blackberry Earl Grey Almond Flour Scones (Keto)
If you’re looking for the perfect pastry that’s gluten free and keto friendly, search no further. With the delicious aromatics of loose early grey tea and the bright and sweet flavors of a juicy blackberry, combined into the perfect keto scone recipe. These are flaky, moist, and something for everyone to enjoy (even the non keto eaters)!
Baking has always been a constant joy in my life and I lost some of that joy when I first started eating a keto and low carb diet. At the time, keto wasn’t very popular yet and the idea of tackling gluten free and sugar free baking seemed overwhelming. That time is LONG gone my friends!
I’ve created hundreds of recipes over the last few years and a lot of baked goods at that. I have a special place in my heart for grilling, cocktails, and food in general, but everyone just loves a good pastry, cookie, or brownie. Thank God I love it so much because I think I even impressed myself with this scone recipe.
This recipe is a play off of my keto lemon ricotta poppy seed scones and a these keto pumpkin bread scones. It has the perfect balance of biscuit like texture combined with a coffee-cake like inside. It’s not too crumbly and definitely isn’t dry (no one wants their scone be a hockey puck). But the stand out here is by far the combination of early grey and blackberries.
As much as a blueberry scone would be great (I already have a blueberry muffin recipe) the blackberries just really shine here. As they bake, they get juicier and sweeter, and damn they are good right out of the oven!
Have I hyped this recipe enough yet?!
Don’t be intimidated by keto baking, because below I will walk you through all the steps and include photos for visual cues. You can also read through the post for all the commonly asked questions and gets tips and techniques for being a keto pastry master.
Be sure to share your creations with me over on Instagram too so I can follow along too!
“School” Supplies:
- Pastry Blender
- Baking Sheet with Parchment Paper
- Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Biscuit Cutter (optional)/ Knife
“Class” Notes:
Here are some helpful tips, suggestions, and fool proof techniques to get you to recreate these delicious scones with ease at home.
How to make scone dough with almond flour?
The trick to keeping these gluten free and keto friendly is to sub regular all purpose flour with almond flour. I find that when you combine the right ratio of almond flour, cold butter, and ingredients like xanthan gum, eggs, and sour cream, you get a consistently moist and structurally sound scone base.
Unfortunately, almond meal (not as fine as almond flour) or coconut flour are not great substitutions here. While the xanthan gum helps with the crumbly texture, and the eggs and sour cream add binding elements and moisture, it’s the cold butter being cut into the dry ingredients that makes this pastry come to life.
Just like if you were to make my keto gluten free pie crust or these delicious keto almond flour biscuits, the science is all the same. Cutting in cold butter is essential to getting that flakier, more tender scone.
This works because cold butter, cut in and surrounded by your dry ingredients, then baked creates a form of leavening. Though I use standard baking powder to help with a little bit of a rise to these scones, cold butter is definitely the key!
How do I cut butter into the dough if I don’t have a pastry cutter?
Great question! I get this one a lot… because frankly, if you don’t do a lot of baking then chances are you don’t have this tool. Instead, simply freeze the butter until frozen solid and grate it into the dough. When combined with the other dry and wet ingredients, you will still get a similar result.
What types of sweeteners should I use if I am keto? What if I’m not keto and still want to try this?
For me keto friends out there, you probably already have a little bit of experience with low carb sweeteners. For general baking I opt to typically go with an erythritol/ monk fruit blend like Lakanto brand. Many times I like allulose (like for keto simple syrup or keto caramel) because it browns like real sugar but find it is less sweet than other keto options. Use what you prefer here, just make sure it’s a granulated mixture.
If you are not keto and simply looking for an almond flour scone recipe you could easily add standard white or brown sugar in substitution to what’s listed below. Those looking for a refined sugar free option could play around with using honey or maybe even maple syrup too. I have not tried those options, so if you do let me know how it goes!
How to assemble, cut, and bake?
After you form your dough, dump it out onto a parchment paper sheet (helps so much, trust me) and lightly pat it together by hand. This is a similar technique to what I do with biscuits too! The dough looks crumbly, but you will notice it is moist and will come together to form a nice oval shape, and should be about 1 inch thick.
I preferred to cut these particular scones out with a biscuit cutter, but this is optional. You could cut into squares or triangles using a standard chef’s knife. If you cut with the biscuit cutter, you may have to reform the dough again from the scraps and repeat the process another time! Super easy.
Before baking, make sure that the dough is nice and cold (again, cold butter is KEY). Pop the tray into the freezer for even just five minutes to firm them up and help them out before baking. Bake them off at 350 F. for about 20-25 minutes or so. Ovens vary and the size of your scones might too, so look for a set center and golden edges.
Allow them to cool completely to room temperature on the pan (the berries are hot and get heavy in the dough and may break your scone if you move them straight away). Though I will be honest, eating these warm out of the oven has got to be as close to heaven as I can get.
Store any extras in an air tight container out of the fridge for a few days! These can easily be frozen too, just defrost out on the counter or lightly warm them in the microwave for a few seconds to enjoy!
Want to use the same loose earl grey tea I did? This is my go to for using in baked goods and for drinking!!! SO GOOD!
Want to save this recipe to make later? Pin it to Pinterest so you know where to find it!
Like this almond flour keto baked good? Try out these other popular favorites-
Keto Dalgona Affogato (keto coffee ice cream)
Keto Peanut Butter Skillet Cookie
Bon Appeteach,
-L
Blackberry Earl Grey Almond Flour Scones (Keto)
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp Cold Butter
- 3 cups Almond Flour
- 1/2 cup Low Carb Sweetener granulated
- 1 tsp Xanthan Gum
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 oz. Cream Cheese cold and diced into pieces
- 1/4 cup Sour Cream
- 2 tbsp. Loose Earl Grey Tea
- 3/4-1 cup Black Berries
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- 2. In a bowl, combine the almond flour, low carb sweetener, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, and loose tea and whisk until combined.
- 3. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter (see notes in post if you do not have this tool). The butter should make the mixture very crumbly. Add in the dice cold cream cheese and work it into the dough the same way (or use a fork to mash it in).
- 4. Add in the sour cream and the blackberries and gently fold it all together until the mixture becomes mostly cohesive. It may still look somewhat crumbly, but that’s ok!
- 5. Dump the dough onto a parchment paper covered surface and lightly pat the dough together and then pat it out to about 1 inch thick. Cut with a knife or use a biscuit cutter to make the scones. I was able to get 9 scones with a 3" cutter.
- 6. Place the scones on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and pop into the freezer for about 5 minutes to firm up the butter before baking. Then bake for 25-30 minutes. They should be set in the middle and lightly golden around the edges.
- 7. Remove the scones and leave them to cool and set on the baking sheet! Store in an air tight container for 3-5 days.