Scotch graham scones are sweet and wholesome

Scotch graham scones are sweet and wholesome.

When I was little mom used to take me to a tiny health food store on Princess Street in Saint John, where Happinez Wine Bar is today. I loved how it had Hobbit-sized door that led you down off the street into a little shop full of bins and pails and smelling of flour and herbs. The walls were stone and the whole place had an old fashioned feeling about it.

We bought honey ladled from huge pails and peanut butter from buckets. Mom would buy me a stick of licorice root, the actual root that you could chew on like a branch. This is where mom bought carob chips, purportedly a healthy alternative to chocolate that we all vetoed thereafter.

It was here that mom went to special order graham flour, sweet flavourful flour that was called for in an old bread recipe. The flour arrived in a 20 lb. bag so mom set about searching for other recipes that called for graham flour, which is how this recipe for Scotch graham scones was discovered.

This recipe came from The Laura Secord Canadian Cookbook, the source of many of our family favourites.

Graham flour is still difficult to find but whole wheat flour is a reasonable substitution. Stone ground whole wheat will get you closer to the sweet almost nutty flavour that true graham flour adds to these scones.

Scotch graham scones

1 cup flour
1 cup graham flour or whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup cold butter
1 egg
Water (about ½ cup, see method)

Whisk together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly.
Break an egg into a glass measuring cup and beat. Pour off 1 Tbsp. and set aside.
With remaining egg inside, fill measuring cup to the 2/3 cup mark with water. Stir to combine.
Add liquid to flour mixture and gently stir with a fork until almost combined.
Scrape dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead gently 10 times.
Pat into a circle 3/4” thick and score top into wedges. B
rush with reserved egg. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated 400 F oven for 20-25 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden.
Cool before slicing into wedges.