Gluten Free Date Scones

Takes 25 minutes. Makes 6 large scones.

There is nothing like a fresh-outta-the-oven date scone, with a little bit of fresh butter, and a little bit of honey. Here's my super simple recipe for quick and scrumptious date scones.

A long and pointless back story about my history with date scones.....

My journey with date scones has been a rocky one. When I was in Year 8 (12 years old) I worked in the school canteen as a server. I'm unsure why... I think we got a badge for it and I was all about the badges. We sold all the things that a good New Zealand school canteen should sell, half melted Cookie Times, sausage rolls, pot noodles, chocolate milk, mince pies, (they have since made regulations to sell healthier food at schools....) and of course, cheese and date scones. Now the date scones were generally only bought by teachers, and there were always 5 or 6 left over for us to take. But as an 11 year old, anything that remotely resembled a raisin in a baked good was a hard no for me. So years pass, I'm 15 and now I work in a bakery as an after school job. Once again, date scones were always baked fresh each day, but there were always some left over when we closed at 6pm. Naturally, even without ever trying one, I felt justified in my distain for them, because clearly I wasn't the only one.

Even more years pass, I'm now 20, driving to Kaiteriteri for the summer holidays with my dad and we make our traditional stop in at Murchison for a cheese scone. Now at this point I'm clearly not a fan of the date scone, but it's cheese cousin would always be a welcome sight.

Tragedy struck when we left Christchurch too late that year to get a cheese scone before they all ran out. All that were left, of course, were the date scones. Dad purchases one, not surprising - dads have weird tastes, but I'm still like 'Heck no! Sausage roll for me thanks". We leave the cafe to eat our food on the road, and all of a sudden, dad offers me a bite of his date scone. And in the fateful moment, on South Islands highway 6, in the hot summer morning, I tried my first date scone. And I was like.... eh? I guess it's not too bad. But a strange thing happens when you get older, your tastebuds change, and with that so did my affection towards date scones. So here where are, I'm 25, and a self confessed date scone lover. If you are here, you probably already like date scones so there is nothing for me to convince you of...

Anyway here's the recipe.....

I N G R E D I E N T S

• 220 grams of gluten free flour

• 1 tsp of baking soda

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tbsp of caster sugar

• 1/4 tsp of salt

• 50 grams of butter (cold, cubed)

• 100 grams of chopped dates

• 150ml of milk, plus a little extra for brushing

• Butter and honey (to serve)

M E T H O D

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200° celsius, bake. Line a flat baking tray with baking paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, caster sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

3. Rub the cubed butter into the dry ingredients until you have a crumb texture.

4. Pour in the milk and the dates, and knead together until the mixture is combined. It should still be quite sticky!

5. Divide the mixture into 6 and place on the tray, with about 4cm of space between them. Brush a little bit of milk over the scones.

6. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

7. Remove the scones from oven and place on a cooling rack, let them cool for 5 minutes before cutting into them. If you cut into the scones too soon, they might be a bit crumbly.

8. Serve with butter, or with butter and honey! Best eaten fresh, but can be reheated the next day and taste just as good!