My daughter was diagnosed last year with having gluten intolerance as well as lactose intolerance. If you are tested for celiac, and you come up negative but still have issues, they put you on the elimination diet. That timing coincided exactly with the holidays. I was in a fluster. I have grown up cooking and baking with flour my entire life. Going gluten free, wheat free as well as eliminating all dairy and dairy proteins over thanksgiving and christmas was just more than a little overwhelming. Gluten is hidden under all various forms and names, and so is that dairy protein. 

Well, after 8 very long weeks we have pinned it down to Gluten and Lactose. There are pills to help with lactose, so that has been a HUGE gift to me. But gluten? That one is tougher, and as a newbie to this style of cooking it was just easier to buy pre-made or go without. (As a family, we ALL adopted this lifestyle) 

That left out something I really excel at. Scones. I make really awesome scones, just ask around. I’m not bragging, just making a statement. It’s a combination of technique and knowing your ingredients. My mouth waters just with the thought of them. A dollop of Devonshire cream or Marscapone and I kid you not, heaven on this earth. 

I have been attempting to re-create a Gluten Free (GF) version, using GF flours, mixing my own flour ratio, adding in extra fat, tweaking here and there and all were failures. I kept ending up with grainy, tough, heavy, dry and not very tasty lead bombs. The most successful attempt was tasty but like eating sand, generally not acceptable in my kitchen nor any kitchen. Then, while searching the web for tips, I saw a video for Pamelas’ Baking Mix. I actually saw it while researching for pizza crust, another thing I’ve been unsuccessful in reproducing. She was using her bread mix, but there were links to her ‘baking’ mix. I guess you could sort of equate it to Bisquick, but its not Bisquick. I proceeded to read all the reviews on it, and it received glowing comments on its ability to substitute very closely for real flour. 

Hmmmmm, I thought, maybe I can try this and see how they turn out? I scooped it as directed, I added just a smidge more fat, a little less baking powder (the mix has some in it) and mixed up a batch. It was loose, so instead of forming a disc, I used a batter scooper and ‘dropped’ it on to my sheet pans, garnished with sugar crystals and popped in to the oven. I adjusted the time to compensate for smaller scones and a looser batter. Pulled them out and put them in front of my daughter piping hot with a tub of Marscapone. 

“THESE ARE AWESOME MOM!!!!”

Dang if my heart didn’t just swell up! She had been missing my scones for months now, and I fear was getting very tired of being a guinea pig. There are some days that just ROCK as a mom, and this was one! The only downside was they looked kinda/sorta like cookies. Food, whether we want to admit it or not, is a visual experience. I wanted my scones to look like scones. That is when hubby, who I’ll confess has moments of true brilliance, said: “You need a mold”. Seriously, why didnt I think of that? I’ve seen them in my cooking magazines and I’ve always thought to myself: “Why would anyone need a mold? Just pat it in to a disc and cut it in to triangles with a bench knife”. Well, those molds may not have been designed specifically for GF scones, but its on my ‘to buy’ list as of now. 

Some days are good days, and then there are some ROCKIN good days. Making my GF daughter GF scones I could be proud of makes this a ROCKIN good day.