In my college town, there was a small bakery located on the edge of downtown, right next to the train tracks. Situated inside of a tiny building, practically the size of a shack, they only had room for two brick ovens, one glass display case, and a few shelves displaying other baked goods behind the register.
Despite its size, the bakery almost always had a line that stretched out the door (although no more than five patrons at a time fit comfortably inside). In addition to the countless loaves of freshly baked bread that they offered, ranging from sourdough and French to foccacia and baguettes, the bakery also sold pizza by the slice and by the full-sized pie, both of which were incredibly popular with the students.
Every night, a few small groups of college kids sat on the park benches out front, their paper plates of gigantic pizza slices in front of them. The display case for single slices always held three varieties of pizza: plain cheese, pepperoni, and a third “fun” flavor such as veggie, Mediterranean, Hawaiian, or meat lover’s. The slices cost about $3 on average, but with their humongous size—an eighth of an extra-large pizza!—one was always more than enough for a meal.
Whenever grabbing dinner, I always ordered last out of my group of friends to give myself more time to stare into their pastry display case. (No surprises there!) Tiarmisu, éclairs, cream puffs, fruit tarts, chocolate mousse, and chocolate chip cookies stared back at me, tempting me even more than those thin crust pizza slices!
On one of our trips during my senior year, I noticed a small sign posted on the corner of the menu blackboard. In small lettering, it announced that all breakfast pastries would cost $1.25 after 5 pm. My eyes lit up—I loved breakfast at any time of day! While everyone else ordered their pizza slices, I opted for a small side salad along with a blueberry scone the size of my face instead.
I sped straight through the greens in order to slowly savor my pastry prize. The outside was crusty and dusted with coarse sugar, just how I liked it, but… The insides were more crumbly and dry than I remembered scones to be. They were still buttery and rich, just not as tender as I envisioned. I blamed that on the scones sitting in the display case all day, but I still polished off every last crumb.
So whenever I bake scones at home, I always make sure that their insides turn out as moist as possible. These Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Scones are the perfect example! With a slight crisp crust on the outside and the most tender dough inside, these cozy breakfast treats never last long.
These healthier scones start with whole wheat flour. Yup, just regular ol’ whole wheat flour. Some people think that whole wheat flour makes baked goods turn out dry, but these are the exact opposite! You’ll see why when we get to the wet ingredients…
Then you’ll add ground ginger and cinnamon. You can’t have gingerbread without ginger! You’ll need 1 full tablespoon for these scones, which gives them a warm spicy taste. It’s one of my favorite flavors in the winter, especially on chilly mornings alongside a big steaming mug of coffee!
Now into that, you’ll cut 2 tablespoons of butter. Yes, that’s it! Other scone recipes call for a full stick of butter, plus lots of heavy cream, but our lightened-up scones use just 2 tablespoons. The rest of their tender texture comes from my favorite ingredient in healthier baking: Greek yogurt! Greek yogurt provides the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your scones a big protein boost too.
These scones are sweetened with two important ingredients: pure maple syrup and molasses. Be sure to use the good stuff when it comes to maple syrup! Stay away from pancake syrup or the sugar-free stuff; those include corn syrup or artificial ingredients and will give the scones different taste and texture. The only ingredient on the bottle should be “pure maple syrup.”
As for molasses, you can’t have gingerbread without that either! Do not substitute anything for it. You can find it on the baking aisle near the other liquid sweeteners like honey and maple syrup, and it’s relatively inexpensive. I use molasses in all of my bran muffin recipes, as well as many of my granola recipes, so it’s worth keeping a bottle in your pantry!
And of course, don’t forget the chocolate chips! We’re using mini chocolate chips in these scones because their smaller size ensures that every bite contains a morsel of chocolate. You’ll also press a few into the tops of the scones just before baking to give them a pretty look.
And in just 30 minutes, your breakfast is on the table!
| Clean Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Scones | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (180g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp (4g) ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 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 tbsp (15mL) molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp (28g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- 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, ginger, cinnamon, 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, molasses, and vanilla extract. Fold in 1 ½ tablespoons of chocolate chips.
- 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. Gently press the remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake at 425°F for 16-19 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.
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. Do not substitute anything for the molasses; it’s require to produce the iconic gingerbread flavor.
See here for my video on how to make the perfect scones.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
I can’t wait to whip these up tomorrow. It’s my first attempt at scones and these sound perfect. I picked up a few missing ingredients tonight but love that I have most ingredients on hand at any given time.
I’m honored that you’d choose these as your first scone recipe Samantha! That means a lot to me. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your scones turned out!
Amy they turned out amazing. Really tasty for a Sunday morning breakfast and oh so pretty. Even my dad who was not looking forward to a flavoured scone really liked them.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these scones Samantha! That means a lot to me that your dad liked them too — thanks for sharing that with me! 🙂
I want to say thank you for your lovely recipes complete with conversion from cups to oz for us fickle English! It really is so helpful and such a time saver. Love this recipe and your gingerbread waffles, thanks again x
It’s my pleasure Petra! I was actually a chemist before a baking blogger, so I prefer measuring in grams too. That’s what we did in lab, and it’s so much easier! 😉 I’m so glad you enjoyed these scones and the waffles too!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Yvette! That sounds really disappointing and not like how these scones should turn out at all, so I’d love to help figure out what went wrong with the batch that you made. 🙂 Did you make any substitutions to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? How did you make the dough? Did you use an electric or stand mixer, or did you use something else? Also, how did you measure the flour? Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, can you describe how you used them?
I know I just asked a lot of questions, but once I know your answer to each one, I’ll have a much better idea of what happened and how to fix it!
Amy, I (now) have to eat dairy-free (along with GF and egg-free). Being new to this situation, I’m wondering if you have advice about substitutions for the Greek yogurt? Thanks!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Cheryl! In this recipe, non-dairy yogurt (ie soy-, almond-, or even oat-based) will work in place of the Greek yogurt. This is true for my other scone recipes, as well as many of my other recipes for things like brownies, muffins, and cupcakes. The main place I haven’t had luck substituting non-dairy yogurt for Greek yogurt is in my Greek yogurt-based frosting recipes. It seems like the non-dairy versions are a bit too thin for those frosting recipes!
I’m not sure how long you’ve been baking egg-free treats, but if it’s any help, Ener-G is my favorite substitute. Ener-G is a flavorless shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of my recipes! For my recipes, use 1 ½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for each egg white, and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil {or Earth Balance, if you’re vegan!} for each egg yolk. 🙂
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these scones!
What about cruising instead of choc chips as I am allergic to chocolate.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Chris! I’m worried that autocorrect may have interrupted your comment… I’m not quite sure what you mean by “cruising!”
Craisins . Rather than chocolate. Autocorrect is a royal pain.
I’ve lost track of the number of times autocorrect has changed the right word into something totally unhelpful — you’re not alone, Chris! 😉
Yes, you can substitute craisins! You can also double the amount, if you’d like. If you have the time, I highly recommend hydrating them first too. It’ll make them soft and plump, which I think makes for even better scones! To do so, add the dried cranberries to a microwave-safe bowl, and pour water on top until they’re completely covered. Seal plastic wrap over the top (or place the lid or a plate on top!), and microwave the bowl on high for 1 minute. Let the cranberries sit while mixing together the dough, then thoroughly drain just before folding them in.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these scones!
Buttons not working ! Cannot print!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Susan! My tech team and I have tried replicating the printer button issue on our end using four different internet browsers on our computers and a few on mobile devices as well. The blue print button in the top right corner of the recipe box is working for everything that we’ve tried. However, the printable recipe does appear in a separate browser tab, so if you have pop-ups blocked, that would prevent the printable recipe from appearing.
If that’s not the case, then can you describe in more detail what you’re experiencing on your end when you click on the blue printer icon in the top right corner of the recipe box? We’d love to fix that issue so you’re able to print and try this recipe! 🙂
Blue print button does not print only repeats or refreshes page back to recipe. I do not have this issue with any other site. I have an iPhone SE. I do not have blocks that I know of. Thank you for checking this out.
Thank you so much for sharing this additional information, Susan! It’s really helpful for us to know. Would you be willing to quickly try something for us? Instead of briefly tapping on the blue printer icon, would you mind pressing and holding down on it? After a second or two, that should (hopefully!) open a pop-up with options underneath such as Open, Open in New Tab, Add to Reading List, Copy, etc. If you select “Open in New Tab,” are you able to view the printable PDF? It should appear within a dashed outlined box with a very faint gray background.
I truly appreciate your patience and willingness to help us work through solving this printing issue!