Sourdough Scones with Granola

Sourdough scones with granola make a great breakfast bread. Slather them with butter and marmalade for a cozy morning treat. They’re perfect with tea or coffee.

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Sourdough Granola Scones Recipe

This recipe assumes that you have sourdough on hand. If you don’t and you’re craving these yummy scones, get some starter going, and then come back. I got my starter at Cultures for Health.

Sourdough was one of the first types of grain fermentation and was used by the ancient Egyptians. So, it’s not a new idea, but it is a really good one. There’s some evidence that sourdough bread is better for you than regular bread. You can read about that info here.

When you use sourdough discard you’re using the sourdough that you poured off before a regular sourdough feeding. Because the discard hasn’t been fed and isn’t as active as the actual starter, it needs a little help in the way of baking powder. There are lots of quick breads that you can make with sourdough discard.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make these delicious sourdough scones with granola.

• All-purpose flour – Depending on the makeup of your sourdough, you might want to use some whole wheat flour in your flour mix.
• Baking powder & salt – helps the scones rise and counters the sweetness.
• Cinnamon – the perfect spice for scones.
• Coconut sugar – adds some sweetness.
• Granola – gives these scones more body than other scones.
• Coconut oil – used as shortening that makes the scones flaky but not crumbly.
• Sourdough – use the discard; not the active starter.
• Buttermilk – serves as the liquid component. You can use regular milk, kefir, or for a vegan option, coconut milk or any other type of nut milk. I’ve tried them all and they all work.
• Nuts and dried fruit – I used currants and walnuts in this recipe, but you might like other nuts or dried fruit.

There are lots of options for fruit and nuts. Instead of currants and walnuts, you might like cranberries, blueberries, raisins, or any kind of dried fruit, such as dried apricots and dates. If you use dates or apricots, dice them into small pieces before adding them to the dough.

What’s the best type of granola to use?

I make these scones frequently, and I’ve used a variety of different types of granola. In this recipe, I used my own granola recipe, but I left out the fruit and nuts when I made it because I wanted to add those ingredients with the scones. If you use granola that contains fruit or nuts, adjust how much fruit and nuts you add to the scones accordingly. If you buy granola with toasted almonds, I recommend that you chop them into small pieces; they can be a little hard when you bite down on them in a scone.

Making Sourdough Granola Scones

Step 1 – Mix the Ingredients

• Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
• Stir in the coconut sugar.
• Add the coconut oil and use a pastry blender to mix it into the dry ingredients.
• Stir in the granola, nut pieces, and fruit.
• Add the sourdough starter discard and the buttermilk (or kefir).
• Note: If the dough bubbles after you add the buttermilk, that’s OK. Buttermilk has live cultures, too, like sourdough; when those two ingredients combine (along with the baking powder too) some carbon dioxide is formed. This helps the dough rise a bit.

Step 2 – Prepare the Dough for Baking

• Form four equal-sized balls of dough.
• On a floured cutting board, knead the dough until it’s not sticky.
• Flatten the ball of dough and cut it into four pieces.
• Arrange the scone wedges on a cooking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Here are the scones on the baking sheet, ready to go into the oven.

Step 3 – Bake the Scones

Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes or until the scones are brown on top. Look at these beauties! They’re ready for breakfast.

Q & A

Serving Sourdough Granola Scones

Sourdough granola scones are so good hot out of the oven. As they bake, your house fills with the smell of cinnamon and baked sweetness. I don’t know how you could resist eating one or two right away. They’re good with butter, honey, or some marmalade, or other jam. The next day I like to slice them in two and toast them in the toaster oven.

Tips

Several variables can affect the outcome of this recipe. Here are some things to consider:

• Sourdough varies – My sourdough is 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white flour. If your sourdough is all white flour or all whole wheat flour, consider adding some other type of flour to your batter. Sourdough also varies in moisture content. If your sourdough has high water content, use less buttermilk.
• Granola varies – I touched on this a few paragraphs up, but some granola is sweeter than others, has fruit, and so on. These factors can affect the sweetness and can change the amount of dried fruit and nuts that you add.
• Sourdough discard – I keep my discard in the fridge. On the day I make the scones, I measure out one cup of starter discard and let it get to room temperature so it will be more active. You can put it in a bowl and rest it in another bowl that has warm water to bring it to room temperature more quickly. The recipe will work if you skip this step, but I think it helps.