Start Your Day off Right With These Healthy, Gluten-Free Scones

Makeover the classic scone with this delicious, savory, gluten-free recipe.

Scones are an underrated breakfast food. Their crisp-on-the-outside, crumbly-on-the-inside texture… I mean, muffins could never. But, as with most traditional baked goods, scones are typically packed with refined sugar and flour, making them not always the best choice from a nutritional standpoint if eaten on their own. (Plus, some experts think starting your day off with a high-sugar breakfast can impact your stress levels...kind of the last thing we all need right now.)

So if you're looking for a scone option that's a bit kinder to your blood sugar levels, you're in luck. In the latest episode of Well+Good's YouTube series Alt-Baking Bootcamp, chefs Mia Rigden and Jenny Dorsey show us their healthy, dairy-free, gluten-free scone recipe.

"What I look for in a scone is something that's really dense and crumbly," Rigden says. Almond flour helps the scones achieve that texture. They also add quinoa flour, which Dorsey says is great for this recipe because it adds a savory flavor. "It gives it this unique nuttiness that you don't really find in a lot of scone recipes," she says. Quinoa is also high in protein, which gives these scones a definite leg-up on regular scones, which are not high in protein and typically use refined flour. (Dorsey adds that if you can't find quinoa flour, you can make your own by grinding quinoa in a food processor.)

The recipe also calls for coconut sugar, which imbues the scones with a molasses-like flavor, and has the added bonus of being lower on the glycemic index than regular sugar. This means it won't drastically raise your blood sugar quite as much as cane sugar typically does.

"A scone can be just a vehicle for all of these other ingredients, and what you add in there not only adds flavor and texture, but can also add a lot of nutrition," Rigden says. For these savory gluten-free scones, they add in toasted sesame seeds, chives, and prosciutto, but you could go with any combo of herbs and spices that you want. And instead of butter, they use cold coconut oil to make this recipe fully dairy-free.

I can't be the only one whose mouth is full-on watering. Be sure to watch the video above to get the full recipe.