Gluten, dairy and refined sugar free raspberry scones

Following both a gluten and dairy free diet is most challenging at breakfast time. I usually alternate between a bowl of gluten free cornflakes with Doves Farm bran flakes topped with rice milk, and peanut butter on gluten-free toast. But I've recently stumbled upon a revolutionary recipe to brighten up breakfast.

It can be whipped up in minutes and is deliciously satisfying. I urge you to try it.

The inspiration for this bake came from the raspberry scones that used to be available in Starbucks.

Add caption

Picture the scene if you will:
It's 6 am. I am in the hallway trying (and failing) to fumble in the depths of my handbag for the car keys in silence so as not to wake the children.
Ahead of me is a 200 mile journey and a 9am meeting.
It's raining.
It's cold.
It's dark.
And so is my mood.

But as I locate the keys and venture over the threshold, the realisation hits that my journey will include a stint on the M6 south, past the unremarkable Corley Services. But that can mean only one thing; a humungous raspberry scone washed down with a skinny flat white for breakfast.

Pure joy.

That was in my pre-dairy and gluten free days, when ingredients did not need to be scrutinised and I didn't need to pack three meals and snacks into a picnic bag the night before a meeting. It's so hard to eat on the go with my combination of dietary requirements but that's a blog post for another day!

The memory of the raspberry scone lives on and I wanted to recreate my own version that I'd feel happier eating, without the side helping of guilt.

I found the basic recipe on the first page of Google. It's from the head chef at The Whitehall Hotel in Bournemouth. It's easy to follow and contains few ingredients so even without modification it's a winner.

However it's still not dairy free and where possible, I try to remove refined sugar from my baking and replace it with an alternative. I sometimes use honey - which I know is still high sugar but the benefits of using a local honey, which can help combat hay fever, outweigh the naughtiness of the sugar rush in my opinion.

I'm using Sweet Freedom at the moment in recipes and I couldn't be happier with it. It takes a bit of calculating as you need to use 25% less by weight but it comes in a squeezy bottle which is really easy to use.

Let me know how you get on. Happy baking.

This recipe makes four huge rustic scones.
I have a big appetite and need a filling breakfast so feel free to make more smaller scones if you prefer. I find that the raspberries tend to soften very quickly so if you're not going to eat these within a couple of days, freeze them. I freeze them individually and just take one out the night before I'll be having them for breakfast.

- 250 g gluten free self raising flour blend - Dove's Farm is my go-to
- 1 level teaspoon gluten-free baking powder - the Waitrose Ingredients product fits the bill
- 50 g dairy free spread - I use Pure and these have been entered into the Pure #bakedairyfree competition.
- 37g Sweet Freedom Original
- 1 large egg
- 150ml milk alternative - I use Rude Health brown rice drink
- 24 raspberries or two handfuls of frozen raspberries

Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone sheet
Pre-heat oven to gas mark 7 / 220 C / 200 C (fan)

Weigh flour and add baking powder. Rub in the pure spread like you would a crumble mixture to make a fine breadcrumb-like texture.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg and add the brown rice drink. Add most of this to the flour but reserve a few teaspoons for brushing over the scones prior to baking. Add the Sweet Freedom and mix all ingredients together.

It's a very sticky dough so won't resemble traditional scone mixture that can be rolled out. Instead spoon four 'dollops' of dough onto the baking tray reserving half of the mixture. Place six raspberries on the top of each scone before topping with the remaining mixture.

Brush the reserved egg and milk combo on top of the scones and bake for 15-18 minutes.

Serve warm fresh out of the oven or once cooled store in a cake tin for two days. Also suitable for freezing.