One morning in early February, my phone screen lit up with a text. I glanced over, skimming the name and message. It was sent by a good friend from high school, and he explained that since his company was coming into town for a Friday morning business meeting and gave him permission to take a later flight back, would I be interested in getting lunch? Without a moment’s hesitation, I immediately responded—YES!
Like calendar pages, my mind started flipping backwards in time, trying to figure out the last time that we hung out together. After a couple of minutes, it landed on a date almost exactly four years prior. Four whole years! How does time fly by so quickly??
A few weeks later, I drove across town to the hotel where he and his coworkers stayed to pick him up. After nestling his suitcase in the backseat and sliding into the passenger’s side, he and I navigated our way through the city’s streets to head to good ol’ Panera for lunch. During the car ride over and two hours we spent at the restaurant, we spent the whole time laughing, talking, and catching up, almost as if only a few weeks or months had passed since high school.
That’s the thing that I love about most of my close friends from high school… It doesn’t matter whether a few days, a few months, or even a few years go by in between when we last talk or see each other—we just pick up right where we left off. Conversations are easy; laughter is abundant.
I think that’s the mark of true friendships, when time practically seems to stand still like that, and I feel really lucky to have so many of my high school band friends fall into that category. I’ve reconnected with a handful or two of them within the past few months, and each time, we talk and joke and laugh exactly the way we did years and years ago. It’s so special.
Because I had baked these Clean Carrot Cake Scones the night before, I packaged up a few for my friend to snack on as he traveled back that afternoon, and he almost looked giddy with joy as I handed them over. Apparently he loves carrot cake as much as I do! After dropping him off at the train station, my phone lit up with another text… “Holy cow these are amazing! The texture is out of this world!”
That’s the best kind of compliment!
There are three things that go into creating that perfect texture in these healthier scones…
1) Very cold butter. To make scones, you cut cold butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter (I use this inexpensive one!) or a fork until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. You want to keep the butter as cold as possible throughout the entire time you’re mixing up the dough so that it doesn’t soften or melt until you put the scones in the oven. By melting only once the scones start to bake, the butter creates that perfectly tender texture! But since we’re making healthier scones that only contain 2 tablespoons of butter, as opposed to traditional recipes with a full stick or two, you’ll also use…
2) Greek yogurt. It’s my favorite ingredient in healthier baking! It adds the same moisture to the scone dough as extra butter for a fraction of the calories, and it gives the scones a protein boost too. Tender, low-calorie scones? I call that bliss!
3) Milk wash. Finally, you’ll brush the tops and sides of the scones with milk just before popping the tray in the oven. Combined with the hot oven temperature—turn it all the way up to 425°F!—this helps seal in moisture to keep the insides soft and tender, and it also creates a slight crust on the outsides. That textural contrast is so irresistible!
For the iconic dessert flavor, you’ll use lots of ground cinnamon and freshly grated carrots in the scone dough. Yes, you must use freshly grated! Do not substitute the pre-shredded carrots you can buy at the grocery store. Those are too thick and dry, and they won’t soften enough while baking. Trust me, the extra 4 minutes it takes to peel and grate the carrots is totally worth it!
And finally, carrot cake just isn’t the same without the cream cheese frosting… So you’ll add a cream cheese drizzle to these scones! It’s made healthier with Greek yogurt cream cheese. I found mine at Safeway (their own Lucerne brand), and many Walmart stores sell this brand as well. And the drizzle is sweetened with my new favorite ingredient: vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no calorie-sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s so concentrated that you’ll only need a few drops! This is the brand that I buy, and you can find it at many health-oriented stores, as well as online. (You’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too! I definitely recommend trying the ultimate healthy carrot cake next!)
Dessert for breakfast… That’s definitely something I can get behind! And when you try these scones, let me know what you think in a comment—or share a picture of them with me on Instagram! I’d love to see them!
| Clean Carrot Cake Scones | | Print |
- for the scones
- 1 ½ cups (180g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, very 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 (105g) freshly grated carrots (peeled first!)
- for the drizzle
- 1 tbsp (14g) Greek yogurt cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp nonfat milk
- 8-12 drops vanilla crème stevia
- 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, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or the back of a fork until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the Greek yogurt, maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla. Fold in the grated carrots.
- 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 to cool completely.
- To make the drizzle, stir together the Greek yogurt cream cheese, milk, and stevia in a small bowl. Transfer the mixture to a zip-topped bag, and cut off a tiny piece of one corner. Just before serving, drizzle on top of the scones.
Whole wheat pastry flour, white whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
In a pinch, solid-state coconut oil may be substituted for the butter, but I warn against doing this, if at all possible, because the scones’ texture won’t be quite the same.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the maple syrup.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
In the drizzle, 1 teaspoon of honey may be substituted for the vanilla crème stevia. Decrease the milk to ½ teaspoon, or omit the milk altogether.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Have you found a difference in the texture if you use a food processor to shred the carrots? I experienced this with a zucchini bundt cake recipe -the outcome was a really dense heavy cake-as if there was too much moisture.
I haven’t noticed a difference with shredding carrots in a food processor! Zucchini releases a lot more moisture than carrots, so I could definitely see how that could be an issue with zucchini. However, I’ve prepped the carrots both ways for these scones, and they’ll turn out exactly the same whether you use a box grater or food processor for the carrots. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the scones Jenn!
One last question as I finally get to these (although since my last inquiry I made your carrot cake for my daughter’s birthday and it was a tremendous success):
You note 150g for 1 1/2 cups of flour . Just want to make sure-120 g= 1 cup, correct? So wouldn’t you use 180 grams for 1 1/2 cups? Or do you really want less than 1 1/2 cups?
Oh goodness, thanks for catching that typo Jenn! It should be 180g for the flour, and I’ve updated the recipe accordingly. 🙂 I’m so glad you and your daughter enjoyed the carrot cake, and I’m truly touched that you made it for such a special occasion! I hope you enjoy these scones just as much!
These look absolutely phenomenal! I can’t wait to try them. I love how you’ve only incorporated 2 T. of butter into this recipe, too. I can’t wait to make these. My sister is an avid lover of scones, so I’m sure she can’t wait either! Thanks for another beautiful recipe that uses whole wheat flour!
Thanks Brooke! That’s really sweet of you to think of your sister. I can’t wait to hear what you think of the scones!
Do you happen to remember approximately how many carrots this needed? It’d really help when I’m making my grocery list!
It should take 2-3 large-ish carrots. 🙂 I’m excited to hear what you think of the scones Krithika!
So I made these over the weekend. They were hardly sweet at all (I didn’t add the drizzle since I didn’t have any kind of cream cheese on hand) but that’s ok, I prefer my breakfast to be that way anyway. But the texture was very disappointing. Rather that slightly crunchy flaky crumb texture, it was like a soggy piece of bread: very chewy. Where could I have gone wrong? I measured all the ingredients by weight, made sure I didn’t over mix the dough. I have two oven thermometers to check the temperature. Any ideas?
Oh goodness, that sounds disappointing Krithika! That’s definitely not the correct texture for these scones. (Although yes, they aren’t meant to be very sweet, so it sounds like the flavor was correct!) Did you substitute for any of the ingredients, by any chance? And how did you prepare the carrots?
The only substitution I made was using all purpose flour, since that was all I had on hand. Also I used some vanilla flavored almond milk.
I blitzed the carrots in my chopper for a few minutes.
Thanks for the information! The all-purpose flour and vanilla almond milk should be fine. Did the carrots look like the ones in my photo here, 4th down from the top? Long and thin? If they weren’t, then that would probably be the issue, and I’d recommend using a box grater instead. If you’re using a food processor, it’s important to use the grater attachment, not the standard revolving blade. 🙂
These look and sound actually amazing. Will definitely be giving these a go 🙂
I can’t wait to hear what you think of the scones Nadia! 🙂
I am eager to try these, as I am hoping for some healthful (yet kid-approved) breakfast options. Can I freeze these after I bake them? If so, how best to thaw? Thanks!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Katie! That means a lot to me that you think your kids might like these. 🙂 The un-drizzled scones freeze really well! Once they’ve been drizzled, I don’t recommend freezing. To thaw, I place individual scones in the microwave and heat on 30% power for 30-50 seconds, or until completely warmed through. I can’t wait to hear what you think of these!
Hi!
I recently made your carrot cake protein muffins, and wondered if there is a way to sub in some whey protein powder for flour to up the protein? Have you tried this?
Thanks!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Katelyn! Because all protein powders behave differently, I can’t guarantee that substituting some in this recipe will work. Whey protein powders can make doughs rather sticky and a bit difficult to work with! 😉 If you decide to try, I’d love to hear how your scones turn out!
I used whole wheat pastry flour and instead of the drizzle sprinkled with “sugar in the raw” demerara sugar and a little more cinnamon. I used Vietnamese cinnamon which amped up the cinnamon flavor too. Very yum! but a bit dense. perfect for breakfast.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these scones Shell! 🙂
I made these without the drizzle and they were delicious! I will definitely be making these again.
That’s the best kind of compliment, if you already think you’ll make these scones again! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. It really means a lot, Kally! 🙂