Banana Nut Scones

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Begin by chilling the coconut oil as directed in the notes below.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, spices, salt, mixed nuts, and sugar. In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk almond milk, mashed banana, and vanilla extract. Set both aside.

When coconut oil has chilled, use a knife to carefully cut out small cubes (they don’t need to be exactly equal in size) and stir into dry ingredients along with baking powder. Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just combined. The dough should be easily pulling away from the sides of the bowl, slightly crumbly, but not wet or runny at all. You should be able to handle it with your hands.

Transfer dough to a clean, lightly floured spacious surface such as a countertop. Roll it out in the flour once or twice so that it is coated. Shape the dough into a circle about 1 to 1 1/2 inches tall and sprinkle a light dusting of flour over the top, and another dusting over a sharp knife to allow for smooth cutting. Cut into 8 even triangles and place them on the baking sheet with about 2 inches between each.

Bake for 16–18 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on top. Remove from oven and cool before adding the icing.

Simply whisk together the ingredients for the icing and spread about 1-2 tablespoons onto each scone. Top with extra crushed nuts and enjoy!

Notes:
• To chill the coconut oil, melt it first and measure out 1/4 cup. Transfer this to a small bowl and place in the freezer. At five minute intervals, stir the coconut oil to make sure it solidifies evenly. When it is solidified through, transfer it to the freezer until ready to use.
• Make sure to stir the cubed coconut oil into the dry ingredients before stirring in the wet.
• Only add baking powder if you’re ready to bake. Prepare the parchment-lined baking sheet and everything else ahead of time. If you don’t, the baking powder can lose its rising power and you’ll end up with dense, gross scones. Barely even scones, for that matter.
• I tried using frozen then thawed bananas in this recipe, and the batter came out too wet. To fix, I tried adding more flour, but ended up losing the sweet banana flavor I wanted. I recommend using fresh bananas.
• To ripen your bananas (if they aren’t covered in brown spots, which is what you want), lay them on your parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 10–12 minutes, or until they’re soft to the touch and brown all over. Let them cool a bit before you peel them.
• If you don’t have coconut sugar, brown sugar works just fine.