the y life: Meyer lemon yogurt scones (soaked!)

Last night, on one of my billion trips out to the garage that I make every day, I discovered the container of Meyer lemons that I'd purchased on my last Costco shopping trip--with not a single one used yet. Time to get crackin' on those!

Lemon scones popped into my head, and I decided I would give it a go to try soaking the flour overnight, as I would already be using an acidic ingredient (the lemon juice), which you need to properly neutralize phytic acid and the enzyme inhibitors found in whole grains, to make them more digestible, and the vitamins and minerals readily available.

Unfortunately, I lack the experience to just whip up a scone recipe all by myself, so I needed a recipe to base my experiment on (I just need to make sure to get flour/baking soda/liquid ratios correct). I went to 101 Cookbooks, one of my favorite cooking blogs, as she uses whole grains and all-natural ingredients (and lots of good vegetarian recipes!). She had a couple scone recipes, and I chose the Raspberry mega scone for my purposes. My scones ended up hardly anything like hers, but I figure I better give credit where credit is due :)

I actually hadn't planned on using as much yogurt as I did--but I'd forgotten that I was out of milk and cream. So yogurt was the only option, and it ended up working great. I love when cooking mistakes turn out good.

These turned out wonderfully fluffy and moist, and delicious, of course! I couldn't even wait to come post the recipe, I immediately brought my coffee to the computer, and started typing :) Hopefully, more this afternoon on our trip to Long Beach, but in the meantime...

Meyer lemon yogurt scones

4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (made from soft white wheat; it'd be interesting to try out other grains here in the future)
4 oz coconut oil, chilled, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup fine grain natural cane sugar (I may try Rapadura in the future)
1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice (if you use regular lemons, you may need to increase the sugar, as Meyer lemons are slightly sweeter)
1 cup of whole milk yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest (I find Meyer lemons a pain to zest, just to warn you--the rind isn't as thick, and seems to be more oily)

2 Tbsp baking powder (the original called for 3! That's a lot...)
1 tsp fine grain sea salt
1 Tbsp heavy cream or whole milk
coarse sugar (like Turbinado), for sprinkling

The night before:

In a food processor, pulse flour and coconut oil, until it resembles little pebbles in coarse sand (as with all biscuits in food processors, be careful not to overmix!!). Pulse in the sugar. Mix the lemon juice, yogurt, vanilla extract and lemon zest in a separate container, and pulse this in, until dough just comes together--this took a bit of pulsing in my processor. If the batter is too dry, add a little more yogurt (or heavy cream, or whole milk would work), a bit at a time. Place the batter in a glass bowl and cover to soak overnight.

In the morning:

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the top of the dough, and work in, again being careful not to mix too much (we do not want to develop gluten for this!).

Sprinkle a work surface lightly with flour, and turn the dough onto this. Your dough should be slightly sticky, but easy to roll out--if it's too sticky, add more flour. Roll into a circle, or square, whichever you like, keeping it about a half-inch thick. Cut into shape and size of your liking--I did a circle with eight wedges. Just remember your cooking time may differ from mine if you do it differently.

Place on a parchment covered baking sheet (or a Silpat mat, if you have it, which I need to buy, so I quit wasting parchment paper), giving them as much space as possible. Brush with the heavy cream and sprinkle with the Turbinado sugar.