Mini Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Scones ~ Gluten Free, Low Carb

Mini Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Scones | Gluten Free, Low Carb | Wheatless Buns

I must have lived a sheltered life because I've never had a 'traditional' scone.  In Utah, we eat scones that are made of a bread-like dough that's deep fried and smothered in honey butter, or they may be covered in chili, cheese, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce--like a taco.

Mini Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Scones | Gluten Free, Low Carb | Wheatless Buns

But Pinterest has opened my eyes to a whole new world of food out there--and I'm loving it!

Mini Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Scones | Gluten Free, Low Carb | Wheatless Buns

These scones were quite the learning adventure.  I made 'em three different times, but each time they ended up like flat, triangle-shaped cookies.  But after trial and error and a ton of searching the internet, I discovered that in order to have a tall scone, the oven needs to be very hot, the ingredients need to be very cold, and you don't want to over do it on the liquid. 

Additionally, I know many recipes call for cutting and distributing the slices around on the pan before baking, but that didn't work for me.  After the dough was baked, I cut the disk into slices and allowed it to cool. 

I delayed posting this recipe since May of this year, because the method of cutting the scones 'after' they're baked isn't the traditional way of making scones.  I felt like I was somehow betraying the culinary world of hard-and- fast rules by making scones this way.

Mini Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Scones | Gluten Free, Low Carb | Wheatless Buns

But whether it's the right way or wrong way to make scones, there's no denying the fact that these Mini Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Scones are delicious!  The lemony/strawberry flavors are absolute heaven together and the cream cheese contributes to a moistness that may defy the usual 'dry'-like scone.  But how would I know?  I've never tried a 'traditional' scone, but all the pictures just 'look' dry to me ;-)   So, folks, I need your feedback . . . are scones on the 'dry' side?  

These scones are adapted (with permission) from "Back to Basics" and you can check out her beautiful scones here.

Ingredients

For the scone batter:

1 1/2 C. blanched almond flour (Costco has it)

1/4 C. granulated (powdered) low-calorie sweetener**

2 tsp. fresh lemon zest

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1 large egg (cold)

6 drops vanilla Stevia extract

2 oz. cream cheese (cold; diced)

1/2 C. fresh strawberries (cleaned; diced small; frozen)

1 TBS. milk (for browning of dough surface)

For the glaze:

1/4 C. fresh strawberries (cleaned; chopped)

4 oz. cream cheese

1/4 C. granulated (powdered) low-calorie sweetener

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place the 1/2 C. diced strawberries on a plate and freeze for about 15 min. 

Meanwhile, in a food processor and using the dough blade, pulse the dry ingredients (including lemon zest) for about 30 seconds.  **If using either erythritol or xylitol, first grind it into powder form with a coffee bean grinder or a high-powered blender.  If Splenda is used, it's not necessary to grind it finer.

Blend in the egg and the Stevia with a few pulses. 

Mix in the cream cheese by pushing the pulse button on and off several times-- until the dough comes together and has little pea-sized balls.

Blend in the strawberries with a pulse or two.  Try not to over mix or you'll have pink batter ;-)

Turn the sticky dough out onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet that's been doubled (has an additional cookie sheet underneath the first one--this helps prevent the bottoms of the scones from getting too brown.)

Form the dough into a ball and flatten to a 1" thick disk.  Clean your hands and pour a TBS. of milk into a bowl, then dip your fingers in it, rub your hands together, shake off the excess milk, then smooth and shape the disk with the milk on your hands.  Don't use too much milk.  Disk should be about 5" in diameter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the disk is a medium brown.  Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes, then with a big sharp knife, cut the disk into quarters, then into eights (clean knife off after each cut.)  Allow to cool.

In a mini food processor or a blender, blend the strawberries--that have marinated in the sweetener for about a half hour--until they're pureed.  Then blend in the lemon juice and the cream cheese and blend for another minute.  Separate the scone slices and drizzle the glaze on top.

For complete nutrition information, I recommend using the online program called Calorie Count--found here.  A fellow blogger, Kayln from Kayln's Kitchen, also recommends Calorie Count on her food blog.

This recipe makes 8 scones.  Enjoy!!

Mini Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Scones | Gluten Free, Low Carb | Wheatless Buns