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!