New England doesn’t do things by halves. The region as a whole seems utterly incapable of gradualism, particularly when it comes to weather. It simply goes whole hog, full tilt into whatever the season dictates. So when it’s summer, you KNOW it’s summer…hot, muggy, sticky heat. When it’s winter, you KNOW it’s winter…cold, biting and lots of snow (except for last winter, which barely registered at all). It always seems to me like fall will creep up slowly, with leaves gradually changing and temperatures gradually cooling off. But that’s just not how New England does it. Instead you are still seemingly in summer and then BAM! You are in fall, leaves are blazing orange, yellow and red, the nights and mornings are cool, and the rains come with a vengeance.
The rains came with a serious vengeance over the past few weeks. We had a good solid week and a half of miserable grey skies and near constant rain. Even a few promising bright mornings would cloud over by noon and rain by nightfall. I was really struggling there for a bit, both in spirits and in photography. I really am still such an amateur when it comes to my pictures, and I have no real concept of how to account for dark, gloomy days. So at first blush, my photos of these Gingerbread Scones were awful. Too dark, too blue (even though I adjusted my white balance), too…blah. Which matched my mood perfectly! I did manage to make the most of what I got, and I warmed them up with a bit of red, which I think helped. And very soon, I am going to have a private lesson with a blogger friend and I hope to improve my photography greatly. In particular, I hope to be able to take some of those dark, shadowy pictures that still look balanced. I’m great with the brightly lit pictures, but I want to learn more about how to manipulate my light.
Once again, though, I fall back on…well, at least the results taste good! Because these scones were rockin’ good, and a perfect morning treat with coffee. I waffled a lot on what I wanted to top them with. They were tasty just as they were, but they looked kind of boring. I considered cream cheese frosting, but I’ve done that with gingerbread before, and I didn’t have any cream cheese. I was going to do a light vanilla glaze I could drizzle over but as I was making it, the thicker icing tasted so good, I just stopped thinning it out and went with that. And I think it actually gave just the right touch of sweetness without overpowering the gingerbread flavour.
A creamy, buttery frosting gives these tender low carb gingerbread scones just the right amount of sweetness. Perfect for a cozy autumn morning, or anytime!
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup Swerve Sweetener or granulated erythritol
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tsp molasses optional, for colour and flavour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp butter softened
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener or powdered erythritol
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- 1 to 2 tbsp heavy cream
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 325F.
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Whisk together almond flour, Swerve, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and cloves in a large bowl.
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Add egg, butter, cream, molasses, and vanilla, and stir until dough comes together.
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Turn out dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet and shape by hand into a rough circle, 7 or 8 inches in diameter. Using a very sharp knife, slice into 8 even wedges and separate carefully, then space evenly around the baking sheet.
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Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until scones are firm and lightly browned. Keep an eye on the bottoms to make sure they don’t burn.
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Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
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Beat butter, Swerve and vanilla until well combined.
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Beat in cream, 1 tbsp at a time, until a spreadable consistency is achieved.
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Spread over cooled scones.
Serves 8. Each scone has 7 g of carbs and 2.5 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 4.5 g.
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
Loving that frosting smeared on top!
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies says
I hope the photography lesson goes well–you’ll have to tell me what you learn! I had the same issue with the photos I took for the recipe I posted today. They looked so gray! Even after editing! Sigh. I’ll commiserate with you over some of these yummy scones. 🙂
[email protected] says
I love the gingerbread vanilla combination! It’d be wonderful to start my day with one of these!
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
your gluten free creations amazing me!
Karen says
Food photography is such a constant learning experience! One day, you think you’ve got it nailed, the next you’re crying after an hour of miserable shots. Not that I know from experience! 🙂
But your scones do look delicious! I’m so ready for holiday flavors!
Moira Richardson says
Yum! In the oven as I type — I already had cream cheese icing in the fridge and was coming here looking for a recipe to use it with 🙂 I love your recipes — your cinnamon scones are a regular in my house.
Buttoni says
These look soooo good! Can’t wait to try them during the holidays!
Beth @ Tasty Yummies says
Yum these look incredible! It is hard to believe that you had issues with these photos, you did a great job bringing them back, brightening them up and balancing them out. I am with you though, this time of year is very frustrating for that. I need to pick some of my photo friends brains myself, get some tips for better photos! Good luck with your lesson, I can’t wait to read and see what you’ve learned.
Cara says
Yum, I just baked up something gingerbread-ish too! ’tis the season 🙂
Alyssa | Queen of Quinoa says
Wow these sound delicious! The perfect fall breakfast (or late afternoon) treat. I love the texture of scones and infusing them with gingerbread flavors is sensational. Can’t wait to try them 🙂
litehousepat says
Love everything with ginger. Great for this time of the year. Will be trying these soon!!
[email protected] says
Just as I was looking for a breakfast recipe with almond flour, I get this across my google reader! YES!! and YUM!
RavieNomNoms says
I hear ya! We don’t seem to get a break here in New England do we? Just all of a sudden it is one extreme or the other. All the rain was when I was sick, so at least I got to snuggle in my bed haha.
These scones look delicious and I can completely empathize with your photo problem with the natural light not only going away earlier but seems like all we have is non sunny days anymore. 🙁
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious says
I love scones ever since I was a tiny kid! Yes I too am dreading the shorter days as I only do bright light pics safely 🙂
Jeanette says
I haven’t scones in so long – my youngest son loves them and he also likes gingerbread.
CJ at Food Stories says
I love almond flour and use it all the time … This is right up my alley 🙂
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
Rain ruins everything. I’m still new at photography, too, and the rain makes it difficult to take a photo. Yours turned out beautiful, and the scones sound amazing. Can’t wait to try this recipe. Pinned!
Moira says
Just made these again. I like em better w double the ginger and no icing. Yum! A regular now, I can tell!
Katharine says
I took your suggestion, Moira, and doubled the ginger AND cinnamon (love cinnamon) and skipped the icing (but did use the molasses). I had to seriously hold my husband and son back…. they loved them so much and polished off 2 each the minute they were cooled. Next time I guess I need to try a double batch! Thanks, Carolyn!
Jean B. says
This recipe is top priority here. For some odd reason, I sometimes find myself craving gingerbread (and gingersnap) flavors. I also like having a baked good on hand for breakfast. I hate puttering in the early morning.
BTW, I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that the nutritional information doesn’t include the molasses. Is that correct?
Thanks so much for sharing your yummy recipes with us. They make life a lot easier and a lot more palatable.
Carolyn says
It does actually include the molasses. I always include any extra sweetener I’ve put in.
Janis says
Do you happen to use the really sweet “Grandmothers” brand molasses, or like a black strap molasses? Thanks!
Carolyn says
I think I used Grandmothers. It isn’t a lot, just enough to give a little flavour and colour.
Nout says
Hi Carolyn, I made these over the weekend and I just wanted to say thank you! THEY WERE FANTASTIC! they’re so good in fact, my hubby and I almost ate the ENTIRE batch in one night. I didn’t have any honeyville almond flour so I just used the slightly grittier Sensato almond meal/flour and they were still wonderful – nutty, tasty, sweet, delicious!!!
Thanks again!
Nout
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
I don’t know what to do with gloomy days either. I would say I’m okay with sunny days and absolutely terrible with dark days. I hope your lesson with your friend goes well!
And these sound amazing. I’m in the mood for gingerbread now!
John says
Your recipes always look great. I am on a no/low-salt diet and was wondering if these can be modified for that.
Carolyn says
Absolutely, just leave out the salt and use unsalted butter.
Kathy says
These look really good! I’ll be making these for my kids and would like to use real sugar (gasp!). What is the equivalent for that? Thanks! Can’t wait to try them!
Carolyn says
In the scones themselves, you wouldn’t want too much sugar. Maybe a 1/4 cup at most (scones are usually pretty low in sugar). Then just replace the same amount of powdered sugar as erythritol in the frosting. If you find it too thick, add some liquid. Too thin, add a little more powdered sugar.
Kathy says
Thanks!! I agree, I don’t like to use too much sugar, but my kids don’t need the alternative stuff and I’m not that advanced of a baker to know how to switch it up. 🙂 Can’t wait to try these!
Amy says
I made these last weekend but I used the maple glaze from the maple scone recipe on them…they were fantastic. I am about to make another batch 🙂
WereBear says
These were AMAZING. Now, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly: I used 4 packets of Truvia and 1 tsp of molasses, and added 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar, because I wanted drop cookies. 8 minutes in my oven.
And these were so light and fluffy; so many low carb baked goods turn out dry and crumbly. Thanks, this one is a keeper!
beth says
Has anyone frozen these? I wonder if I could freeze the dough and then bake it off when I’m ready, or if I would freeze the finished product? With Christmas, I keep looking for LC recipes that I can make ahead so I can relax a bit on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
Carolyn says
Hi Beth. I am attempting to do the same with some cranberry scones (same basic recipe, minus the spices, and then adding in chopped cranberries) for Christmas brunch. I am going to try freezing or refrigerating the unbaked dough and see how that works, so I can bake them nice and hot on the morning of. I think it would be similar to flour-based scones, but I really can’t say for sure until I try!
beth says
Great minds think alike. Except, I pretty much just steal all of your delicious ideas 🙂 I think I’ll try freezing the unbaked dough as well.
Carolyn says
Let’s hope it works for both of us!!! Good luck.
Alison says
Just made these with brown Ideal as I’m not a fan of Swerve. Yummy is the word!
Mindy says
Yum,now I’m torn between making these or the gingerbread donuts!
Julie B. says
These are in the oven now. I found them difficult to separate after cutting
Too moist. Suggestions?
Carolyn says
Not really sure, they shouldn’t be too moist. What brand of almond flour did you use?
Julie B. says
I use Honeyville. The scones came out great, though. I just ‘scored’ the circle, and them separated them the last 5 minutes of baking. Worked just fine!
Shelby says
When I was reading about the weather my thought process was, she really isn’t that far from me, could she really be having that different of a fall? haha. Then I realized the date of your post was not this year! We had 80 degree weather earlier this week, not a typical new england fall here this year 🙂 I love your scones, and I think your photos were fabulous, dreary day or not!
Carolyn says
Ha, yep. It’s been a warm few days here too!
Eliz says
Hello! May I know the full nutrition facts for a serving of this scone? 🙂
Amy says
I made these a couple of weeks ago and loved them. The batter was a little wet so I added a couple tablespoons of golden flax seed and they were great! I am bad at not using exact measurements so I probably used too much butter or had an extra large egg or something. Also added a little fresh ginger. The texture was great . Getting ready to make them again! Thanks for all your recipes!