Gingerbread Scones

For some reason, I like the number three.  I actually made this recipe three times before being completely happy with the results.

I tend to list things in groups of three, I like to decorate by arranging things in groups of three, and I repeat things three times, especially when I am stressed.  Even when I meditate, I like to breathe in groups of three.  Go figure. I’m weird.

A few weeks ago, I was with my parents and sister-in-law in an Uber.  We were driving down a fairly busy street, where the speed limit is pretty much ignored by pretty much everyone.  As we approached a light, it turned red, and the driver sped up instead of slowing down.

Now, growing up, this was how everyone in our family drove.  Green meant go, yellow meant go faster, and unless it was full on red by the time you got there, that meant everyone turned into Mario Andretti. They put the car into supersonic mode and tried to hit Mach 20 in 1.3 seconds (which was not easy to do in a Toyota wagon).

In fact, in driver’s ed, I gave the teacher quite a scare when I attempted this maneuver.  I believe the imprints of his fingers are still in the dashboard to this day, and I’m pretty sure the two other kids in the back seat needed a change of underwear.  Clearly, they had learned different driving techniques than I had.  That was also the last time I ever had that instructor.  Some people are just not cut out for the thrill of victory.

Apparently, as I’ve gotten older though,  I’ve become more cautious.  Now I drive more like I have Miss Daisy in the backseat than like i am trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records as fastest land animal.  So when the driver sped up, I felt impelled to call out, “Red light.”

The next few seconds were a bit of a blur, but when he chose to ignore the warning, I increased the intensity, volume and urgency, so it went something like this: Red Light. RED Light! RED LIGHT!!!

As he slammed the breaks on, halfway through the intersection, everyone in the car looked at me like I had lost my mind.

”What?” They demanded. “He totally could have made it!”

It’s sad when your parents are more daring than you.  Sigh.

Ingredients:

• 1  1/2 cups oat flour
• 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 Tablespoons vegan butter, melted
• 1/3 cup maple sugar
• 2 Tablespoons molasses
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

** when measuring the oat flour, pack it fairly firmly into the measuring cup.  If you lightly spoon in, the scones will be a bit more cookie-like.  No need to jam it in though; the harder you pack it in, the dryer the scones will be. If your scones are still really dome shaped when they come out of the oven, you can lightly press down on the tips with a spatula to make them a bit flatter.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and baking powder
3. in a small bowl, whisk together the butter, maple sugar, molasses and applesauce.
4. Add the wet ingredients to dry and stir well to combine.  Using an ice cream scoop, put 5 scoops on a nonstick baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes.  Let the scones cool on the pan 5-10 minutes before transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!