Apple and Wholemeal Breakfast Scones

I’ve been having a bit of a love affair with wholemeal at the moment. Having been home for the holidays, my usual pack of thick, toastie bread was shunned by the family in favour of wholemeal, or worse WeightWatchers bread. That’s right folks, my time at home was filled with weighing out potatoes, crisps that tasted like grit sprayed cardboard and the ultimate blow; using low fat spray instead of my beloved olive oil.

January had brought the dreaded New Year’s Resolutions back into our lives and eating healthily was top priority in my family. At the time, seeing my mother convince my dad to eat one of my soufflés because they had low WeightWatchers points value (You don’t count egg whites or fruit, so they’re practically saintly in WW terms) was pretty damn bizarre. But strangely enough, as I came back to Stirling I found myself gravitating towards the wholemeal bread section at Tesco. I took a body sculpt class. I avoided McDonalds for a whole month. And reader, I feel I’ve caught the bug as well.

As we hurtle towards March, and the Easter eggs begin to line the aisles of our supermarkets the way advent calendars did almost 4 months prior, I still feel like keeping the resolution to eat healthier. And part of that of course, is to keep eating breakfast. Now, I doubt I will be able to kick my black-coffee-in-the-morning-or-I-will-not-function habit like my dad, but I’ve taken inspiration in his dedication to eating the most important meal of the day. I am certainly more of an eat-on-the-go type of gal, and so these breakfast scones are a perfect size to shove in your pocket as you make your way to uni/school/work (delete as appropriate). You can make a batch, freeze them individually and defrost the night before. You can take a long, languid Sunday to make these beauties to go with your morning papers. Whatever you do, I urge you to roll up your sleeves and make these scones. With only a smidgen of sugar, the real flavour comes from the grated apple, and the zested lemon will sing through your kitchen as they bake. With a delicate crunch of oats topping them off, they are so full of flavour and textures, you will forget they’re actually packed with wholemeal. Serve with some apple jam and start the day well with your new friend wholemeal.

 

Makes 8 Scones

You Will Need

113g wholemeal flour

113g self raising flour

55g butter (or low fat spread if you’re feeling super virtuous)

1 ½ tablespoons caster sugar

`1 small apple, grated

1 lemon, zested

60ml milk

1 egg yolk

A small handful of porridge oats to decorate

Preheat the oven to 200oc/180oc fan/ gas mark 4. Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside. Add the two flours and butter to a large mixing bowl and rub through your fingertips lightly until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and add the apple and lemon zest.

Pour in the milk and mix with your hands until soft dough is formed.

Lightly dust a work surface with self raising flour and flatten the dough with the palms of your hands until about 1.5cm thick. Cut out rounds with a small cutter and place on the baking tray, gathering up the scraps and flattening again until all the dough is used.

Brush the tops of the scones with the beaten egg yolk and top with a sprinkling of porridge oats. Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and serve slightly warm.

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