Gluten Free Sweet / Teatime Scones

This is a sweet twist on the new cheese scones recipe we posted last week and perfect for a picnic or cream tea, just add some fresh cream and jam!

Preparation time -  5 minutes
Cooking time - ~15 minutes (less for a fan assisted oven)
Makes / Serves - 6 average sized scones
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

200 g gluten-free plain flour alternative
25 g caster sugar
40 g butter (or good quality spreadable)
100 g natural yoghurt
50 ml milk (plus extra for brushing)
1 tablespoon gluten-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 230 C / 450 F / Gas Mark 8 and prepare a baking tray by lightly greasing or lining with baking paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, caster sugar, baking powder and xanthan gum, mix well.
3. Add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it has a consistency similar to breadcrumbs.
4. Add the milk and yoghurt, then use a spoon to blend everything together into a dough.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed gently until it reaches a consistency that can easily be rolled out.
6. Roll out the dough to a thickness of around 2-3cm and cut out the scones with a 5 cm round cutter (or similar), re-rolling the left over dough and cutting out more until you run out of dough.
7. Arrange the scones on your baking tray, leaving as much space between them as possible, and brush them with a little milk.
8. Put the baking tray near the top of the oven and bake for around 15 minutes or until risen evenly browned.
9. Leave on the tray to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Tips:

1. If you do not have a suitable cutter just improvise with an upturned ramekin, small glass, or something similar!
2. This recipe can be easily adapted to make traditional fruit scones by adding either 80-100 g of halved or quartered glacé cherries or 50-60 g of sultanas.