Almond Pulp Whole-Grain Vegan Scones

It might be hard to get excited about a recipe that has "pulp" in the title, but trust me, these are good. Those of you who don't make your own almond milk probably won't find much use for this recipe, but if you do, you probably hate throwing out that almond pulp just as much as I do. Almonds aren't cheap and they contain good nutrition!

I did some research online and found that you can toast or dehydrate the almond pulp and then use it just like almond flour. But that's just another thing to do and I feel like it's enough for me to soak the almonds, blend them up, strain out the milk through the nut bag, pour the milk into its bottle, and wash out the nut bag. If I'm going to use the almond pulp in a recipe, I want to be able to use it as is.

I looked around online for scone recipes using almond pulp (I love a good scone), but all of them were grain-free, gluten-free and/or Paleo. I'm one of those people that runs really well on whole-grain carbs - if I go off carbs, I feel terrible, like I'm putting diesel fuel in a car that takes regular unleaded. So, if I'm going to bake something, I want carbs in it! Lately, I've been trying to cut down my white flour intake, and I wanted to come up with a scone recipe that was 100% whole grain.

My first attempt at almond pulp scones came out pretty well, but I had a couple concerns: 1. They were a bit gummy when they first came out of the oven. The texture improved when they were cooled - they became more dense and moist. I've been eating them and loving them, but they're still a bit too doughy. 2. The fat content. I don't know the calorie count of almond pulp, but it has to be somewhat similar to that of almond flour/whole nuts. When I eat nuts, it's only a small handful at a time because of their fat content, and I don't want to eat a ton of nuts in one sitting just because they're in scone form.

So, here is the modified recipe I came up with. I used less almond pulp (from 3/4 cup of almonds, not 1 cup), and added some coconut flour, which not only helps dilute the almonds, but also soaks up liquid. Two birds with one stone! The resulting scones were fluffier and not too gummy. I also decreased the amount of coconut cream, since the pulp provides a good amount of fat already. I didn't add anything to the dough, but dried cherries would be delicious. If you plan to add a different dried fruit or chocolate, I would switch up the flavor profile, omitting the almond extract and/or the orange zest. I just happen to love all things almond and I wanted to highlight the almond pulp, which I did with almond extract and almond milk. The coconut cream, coconut flour, and coconut sugar are a nice counterpoint to the almond, but you can substitute butter or oil for the coconut cream and brown sugar for coconut sugar no problem. If you want to substitute the coconut flour, you have to reduce the liquid. Coconut flour requires an equal amount of extra liquid (1/3 cup coconut flour requires an extra 1/3 cup liquid), so if you're going to omit the coconut flour in this recipe, I would suggest reducing the almond milk to 3/4 cup. But if you do that and the dough is too dry, add more liquid until the dough comes together.

Whole Grain Almond Pulp Scones

Pulp from 3/4 cup almonds
1/2 ts almond extract
1 Tb ground flaxseed + 2 Tb warm water, mixed
1 ts dried orange peel (or the fresh zest of 1 orange)
1 ts vanilla
1/2 coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
3/4 ts salt
1.5 Tb baking powder
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or any combination of flours, such as oat, spelt, etc.)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup coconut cream (this is not the same as coconut milk; it comes in a solid form and can be substituted with butter or oil)
1 1/4 cups almond milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix flaxseed with water in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Mix almond pulp with almond extract, orange peel, vanilla, and sugar.
4. Add flours, salt, and baking powder, and mix well.
5. Work in the coconut cream with a pastry cutter or your fingers until it is in small, pea-sized pieces.
6. Add the almond milk and flaxseed mixture and mix until evenly blended.
7. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and divide into two equal pieces.
8. Pat each piece into a circle about 7 inches in diameter and cut into 8 wedges.
9. Place wedges on a greased or parchment-covered cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 12-15 min, until browned on top and firm to the touch.

Makes 16 small/medium scones.

If you want to make my original, more decadent scones, omit the coconut flour, increase the almond pulp to 1 cup, decrease the liquid to around 3/4 cup, decrease the sugar to 1/3 cup, and increase the coconut cream to 1/2 cup.

Enjoy!

My Go-To Winter Exfoliator

For my daily exfoliation routine I use exfoliating cleansing wipes to take off my makeup at night, and when I'm in the shower, I use a natural exfoliating sponge. This generally does the trick, but sometimes I want my skin to feel extra exfoliated! And in the winter, I want some good moisturizing too, but I have to be careful because my skin is so oily. Even oil-free moisturizers can make me break out.

I've made my own home-made exfoliators for years (there are some great recipes all over the web), and that used to be the only way I exfoliated my face. I would keep a dry mixture of coffee grounds, almond flour, and brown sugar in a little container in the shower. The moisture from the water would be enough to spread it around easily, and it worked great (it was also easily portable for when I traveled). The problem was: the particles would stick to the shower walls and shower liner and would go bad pretty quickly. This meant a lot more work cleaning the shower and either taking down and washing the liner or buying and installing new ones more often. I was just getting tired of the extra work, hence the routine I now use.

But every once in a while, I want to pamper myself, and this is what I do: I take some plain yogurt or sour cream (the dairy is good for your skin - I believe it's the lactic acids) and mix in some coffee grounds, cornmeal, and honey. The coffee and cornmeal do a bang-up job of exfoliating, the dairy makes my skin look better, and the honey provides some moisture without going overboard. My skin looks and feels so good when I'm done! I usually make a lot so that I have extra for my back, arms, etc. Here's what the mixture looks like:

It looks a little bit like melted cookies-and-cream ice cream, but trust, me it's not as tasty. You can make exfoliators that taste good though too. In the past, I've made yogurt, brown sugar, and almond flour exfoliators with spices like cinnamon and cloves, and if a little bit gets inside my mouth, so be it. Although sugar is good for your skin, it doesn't provide the kind of exfoliating power I'm looking for because it dissolves in the yogurt, which is why I gravitate towards the cornmeal and coffee grounds for that.

Pamper yourself some time this winter and make your own exfoliator to your own taste! Aside from the ingredients I mentioned, other common additions are oats and other kinds of ground nuts. If you have super dry skin, you could make an oil based exfoliator with olive oil or other face-friendly oil (like almond or jojoba oil). In that case, sugar would be a great idea, since it won't dissolve in the oil like it does in yogurt (oil and sugar are the base for sugar scrubs, which I like to use for my lips and legs). 

Happy Exfoliating!