Last week, my close food blogging friend Sarah and I met to hang out and catch up in a funky college town on the coast not far from either of our homes. Sarah walked us over to an organic, fair-trade tea café, one of her favorite downtown places, and helped me navigate the trendy gourmet menu. (Have I mentioned that I’m the most indecisive person on the face of the planet??)
Despite being August, the overcast skies and cool breezes outside guided me towards a cozy Moroccan mint hot tea, made by seeping fresh mint leaves and cardamom. Those mint leaves… Oh my goodness, they were so fresh and full and sweet and pure! I swear I’ll never go back to dried mint tea bags after that.
Teas in hand, we settled into a table in the back of the small café and pulled out our laptops for work date, similar to all of the other patrons. Nearly everyone in the restaurant sat behind a computer screen, but most of them were quietly studying for undergrad summer school midterms and finals or working on grad school dissertations. That’s what happens in a college town!
But of course, our lofty work intentions were quickly sidetracked by chatting about various topics: recipe testing, my new cookbook (update coming soon!), family and friends, moving, her big news… As we sat and sipped and typed, three hours passed in the blink of an eye. How does that always happen when hanging out with such sweet friends?
These Clean Zucchini Bread Scones reminded me of my tea date with Sarah because they’re also one part cozy, one part sweet, and one part summer… And they disappeared just as quickly as the time flew by!
Let’s start with the dry ingredients. While most of them are predictable (whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt), I always mix two spices into my zucchini bread: cinnamon and nutmeg. They add a warm, cozy background and a lovely richness to the loaves. Plus they smell absolutely irresistible while the scones bake in the oven!
Unlike traditional scone recipes loaded with sticks of butter and lots of heavy cream, these clean-eating ones only use 2 tablespoons of butter. Yes, that’s it! The rest of their tender texture comes from my favorite ingredient in healthier baking: Greek yogurt. It adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and it provides a little protein boost too. Greek yogurt also prevents these scones from turning out dry and crumbly—definitely a win-win!
It seems like half of the people I know have zucchini plants in their gardens producing more gigantic green vegetables than they know what to do with. Lucky! The deer in our neighborhood help themselves to anything we plant… So I had to buy mine at the store.
But I have a special trick for zucchini bread (and these scones!). Zucchini contains a lot of moisture, which it releases while baking, and that can ruin the structure of your goodies by making them sink while cooling. To get around this, I pat the shredded zucchini with paper towels to absorb the excess moisture before mixing it into the dough. This little trick allows us to add more zucchini than normal!
Then bake, cool, grab, and… Ahhhhhh. The sweet tastes of summer!
| Clean Zucchini Bread Scones | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (180g) white whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp (45mL) pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp + 2 tsp (40mL) nonfat milk, divided
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (110g) shredded zucchini, patted dry*
- Preheat the oven to 425°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or the back of a fork until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Make a well in the center. Stir in the Greek yogurt, maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla extract. Fold in the zucchini.
- Shape the dough into a ¾” tall circle on the prepared baking sheet, and brush with the remaining milk. Slice the circle into 8 triangular segments with a sharp knife. Bake at 425°F for 17-20 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat flour.
For the gluten-free flour, I recommend the following blend: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, ¼ cup (30g) brown rice flour, and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. This is the only blend that I’ve tried, so I can’t guarantee that any others will work.
Coconut oil may be substituted for the butter; however, it will not produce the same texture since it melts at a lower temperature.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the maple syrup.
See here for step-by-step photos and here for my video on how to make the perfect scones.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Do I need to refrigerate leftovers?
Sorry, my name is Chastity
It depends Chastity! The scones will last for about 2-3 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature, but they’ll stay fresh for at least 5 days (if not longer!) if refrigerated. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of the scones when you try them!
These sound delicious! I would love to make them… but I could not find the directions for mixing or baking anywhere on Pintrest or your website. Please post or send to my e-mail… Thank you so very much.
Thanks Vicki! You actually scrolled right past the recipe here on my website to leave your comment. 🙂 It’s located underneath the 6th photo in a box outlined in a dashed line, with the recipe title “Clean Zucchini Bread Scones” in pink. There’s also a green circular icon in the top right corner of that recipe box that will allow you to print it. I can’t wait to hear what you think of the scones!
Thank you so much, Amy. I got all ingredients today. Will be making them tomorrow.
My pleasure Vicki! 🙂 How did the scones turn out?
Amy, they were delicious! My husband loved them!
Since this was my first attempt ever in making scones, they were a little tricky to make in the beginning. The mixing was easy enough but when it came time to make the ball, my dough was way to wet. Finally, I got them completed. When they were baking, the smell was wonderful! We ate one right out of the oven!
I will be making them again.
I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed the scones Vicki! 🙂 If the dough is very wet, then use a spatula to shape it rather than your hands or a spoon. (You can see my video located above the recipe here for a demonstration!) I’m truly touched that you want to bake them again — that means a lot to me!
Thank you, Amy.
I just made your Zucchini Bread Scones and Wow, are they delicious! I used a gluten free flour recipe from America’s Test Kitchen plus a little xanthan gum. Then I added a little grated apple, walnuts, and raisins. Bake time was a little shorter for me, about 14 minutes. That was a great tip about patting dry the zucchini, and Thank You for a lovely recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the scones Bonnie! And thank you for including your recipe tweaks; I always love hearing what else works! 🙂
I made these last night and they were awful, tasted like just wheat. The only changes I made were using honey instead of maple syrup, and vanilla greek yogurt. I tried the batter and I could tell it wasn’t sweet enough so I added 2 tablespoons extra of honey hoping that would help. My husband and I even reviewed the recipe a few times make sure I didn’t miss any thing. So sad I had such high hopes.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Katie! That isn’t how these scones are supposed to taste, so let’s figure out how to change that. 🙂 How did you measure the flour? Did you use a kitchen scale, or did you scoop it directly from the container with the measuring cups? Also, honey tends to stick to measuring spoons, so did you use a spatula to scrape out that lingering bit in between measuring each tablespoon?
I just made these as I love zucchini bread. I was very disappointed, I’ve made scones before, but these did not bake inside. I left them in longer, but the outside just got overdone and they were underbaked inside. I used unbleached flour, and followed directions exactly. Baked with parchment paper on a baking sheet. Was I supposed to separate the triangles after cutting them before baking? The flavor was good, but very underbaked.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Debby! That’s so strange that the insides were completely underbaked. The scones don’t need to be separated before baking. Did you pat the zucchini dry before adding it to the dough, as instructed in the Notes section underneath the Instructions? If so, how thoroughly did you dry it? We’ll get this sorted out so your next batch turns out perfectly! 🙂
What a great and simple recipe, thank you for sharing =) I have a double batch in the oven right now, and it smells HEAVENLY in the house!
It’s my pleasure, Kathy! I really hope you enjoyed these scones! 🙂