Fruit

Key Lime Scones (LC)

March 16, 2021
0
0 Ratings
Photo by Brian Coppola
  • Prep time 20 minutes
  • Cook time 30 minutes
  • makes 8
Author Notes

Inspired by the recipe at "All Day Long I Dream About Food." Low carb scones have been my go-to snack, and usually I go for my Black Walnut and Maple version. I also use a wooden form (from China, for Moon Cakes) to shape my scones instead of creating a disk from the dough and cutting it into pie-shaped eighths.

I use key limes when I can get them (1 pound bag: zest half; juice all)..

I've also used the store-bought Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice along with the zest from standard limes (if I could not locate any actual key limes). I tweaked the recipe a bit. I have really good luck treating these doughs as I would a traditional shortbread, so I up the butter and knead it in by hand until it undergoes that magical transformation to a coherent mass.

I upped the juice, and sometimes I need to add more almond flour after adding the egg, to get it to a just workable consistency but not at all overly dry. If anything, the scones came out of the form flexible and rubbery, but neither stiff nor soft. Sorry, cooking is like that, isn’t it? Feel and texture. The moister and more buttery dough takes a bit longer to cook and keeps a nice feel when you eat them.

Honestly, these are sort of cake-like and unlike any nut-flour item I have ever made.

The glaze is also all by feel. I start with about ¾ c powdered Swerve, add the juice, mix well to a loose consistency, then add enough Swerve to bring it to smooth and spreadable. I do not really know how much of each I actually used. I like a thick glaze with the zest in it. —Brian Coppola

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Ingredients
  • Scone
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1/3 cup coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup granulated Swerve
  • 3/4 stick of cold butter, diced
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 4 tablespoons Key Lime juice
  • 1 2/3 zest from 1/2 pound key limes or from 2 reg. limes
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • Glaze
  • 1.5 cups powdered Swerve
  • 2-3 tablespoons Key Lime juice
  • 1 1/3 zest from 1/2 pound key limes or zest from 1 reg. lime
Directions
  1. Preheat oven (325F) and prepare a baking tray with a piece of parchment. Zest the limes in two piles on their own parchment sheet: 2/3 from half a pound of key limes and 1/3 from the rest; or 2 regular limes and 1 regular lime.
  2. Sift the dry ingredients (1.5 c almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and Swerve) in a bowl (mesh strainer), and add in the diced butter. Start to blend and knead with your hands as in a shortbread. Stick with it. About 10 minutes in, you get a magical transformation to a solid and pliable dough. Then stop. Sifting is like magic. Don't skip it.
  3. Add the egg, key lime juice, larger zest pile, and vanilla. Mix well with a wooden spoon. If this mixture is too liquid after combining, add in 2-3 small portions of almond flour to stiffen the dough to a light and rubbery putty. Do not over dry it, but you should be able to roll and shape it.
  4. Remove the scones when done and place them on a cooling rack. Top immediately each one with a generous scoop of the glaze and then go back and tap/spread out with your fingers. The heat of the scone will help make the glaze easy to flatten.
  5. I use a greased wooden form to shape 8 scones. You can make a disk and cut it or divide it into 8 parts and create 8 small disks. One way or the other, place your formed scones onto the parchment.
  6. This is a moist dough, so cook for at least 25 minutes and then keep checking the tops for firmness. If they are airy and flexible, you are not done. I got a nice light golden color on mine.
  7. While the scones are baking, prepare the glaze. I make mine in a cup-sized cup. Start with ¾ cup of powdered Swerve, add about 3T key lime juice and mix to a smooth consistency. Keep adding sweetener until you get a hard frosting level of consistency. Mix in the zest from 1 portion of lime. Stir it up every now and then so it does not get hard/dry.
  8. Cool completely.

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