Tea Party Scones

Last weekend I went to a real-live tea party, the kind with grown-up humans instead of stuffed animals in attendance. When I was a little girl, I never went in much for tea parties, or any kind of make-believe that required wearing a dress or exercising table manners. I modeled my mealtime demeanor on Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch, tossing out put-downs between audible and enthusiastic bouts of chewing.

In spite of my uncouth early years, I've grown up to be a fancy person who got invited to a tea party. Extending my pinky just so, I sampled an assortment of black, white, green, and fruit teas. I lost track after six cups, and was pretty shaky by the end of the afternoon.

What do classy people like me nibble between sips? Scones, of course.

A white flour version of this vegan recipe with walnuts and raisins was a hit with tea drinkers of all persuasions. But unable to leave well-enough alone, and determined to put maple syrup in as many recipes as possible, I fiddled around with the ingredients and made the scones my own. I struck a balance between wheat flour (healthy but dense) and white flour (fluffy but nutritionally worthless), and added ground flax seed to make the scones softer and less crumbly.

These hearty, high-fiber scones are one more way to use Maine maple syrup, the only local product in season right now. Just remember to chew with your mouth closed.

Maple Oatmeal Scones

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are lovely)

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup plain soy milk

cinnamon sugar (1 tablespoon sugar+1 teaspoon cinnamon)

Preheat the oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flax seed. Add the margarine and beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in the oats and nuts. Mix on low speed for another minute, just to make sure all the large lumps of margarine are gone.

Add the maple syrup and soy milk and stir to combine.

On a floured surface, form the dough into an approximately 7-inch disk. With a metal spatula, cut the dough into 8 wedges and lift them onto an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack.

Makes 8 scones.