Whole Grain Maple Oatmeal Scones

We love our scones on weekend mornings! Occasionally I like to mix it up a bit from the traditional white flour cream scones, though. You may know by now that I sometimes fiddle with substituting white whole wheat flour into baked goods; I try to do the substitutions only when the flavors seem like they can take it — i.e. I wouldn’t use whole grain flour in a delicate, light lemon cake. Maple and oatmeal, though? They’re made for whole grain flour!

I use Arrowhead Mills oat flour in these scones instead of white flour, and there’s whole oats ground up a bit in the batter. I love the combination of brown sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon in the dough. Instead of cream for the liquid, I use a mixture of milk and yogurt.

The resulting scones are maple-y, tender, crumbly, knobby and flaky with oatmeal. Serve them solo, with some cinnamon butter, or — like we do — with a little dish of apple butter. Mmmmm….maple + oatmeal + brown sugar + cinnamon + apple butter = heaven.

I’ll be sending this recipe over to Cookthink for their Root Source Challenge #5: Maple…along with my Maple-Nut Granola.

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Ingredients
1 1/3 cup oat flour (such as Arrowhead Mills brand; if you can’t find that substitute King Arthur white whole wheat flour)
1 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
8 tbsp (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup yogurt (preferably Greek or whole-milk)
2 tbsp pure maple syrup

*Note: you can substitute 2/3 buttermilk for the milk + yogurt if you’d rather.

For brushing and sprinkling on top of the scones:
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp oats

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400.

Whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl, then transfer that mixture to the bowl of a food processor. Add the oats and pulse in short bursts (1 sec each) about 15 times. Drop in the pieces of cold butter and pulse again in short bursts until coarse meal forms, about another 15 pulses.

Transfer this mixture back into the large bowl. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk, yogurt and maple syrup. Pour the liquid into the flour/oat/butter mixture, and stir gently with a fork until it’s moistened and starts to come together. Using your hand, gather the dough into a ball right in the bowl and knead it a few times against the side of the bowl to bring the dough together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a 3/4-inch thick circle. Using a sharp knife, cut like a pie into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

Whisk together 1 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp maple syrup in a little bowl. Brush the tops of the scones with this mixture, then sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp oats across the tops of the scones.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Cool on a rack.

Makes 8.