1/3 cup toasted walnuts and pecans
1 cup dried apricots
1/3 cup dried currants
1/2 Perky’s Nutty Rice Cereal or other gluten-free crunchy rice cereal
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
2-3/4 cups French Bread/Pizza Mix
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed (may be cut back to 1 Tablespoon or omitted)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
1-1/2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt (read labels carefully, some contain gluten)
3 egg whites
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1-1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Glaze:
2 Tablespoons low-fat milk
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor combine nuts and apricots and pulse the machine until apricots are coarsely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl and add currants, rice cereal and lemon zest. In the food processor bowl, combine French Bread Mix, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and ginger.
Pulse to blend and add butter. Process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse meal. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice and oil. Add flour mixture and stir to blend. Stir in the apricot-nut mixture. Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop the batter onto lightly oiled baking sheets, setting scones about 1 inch apart. Brush with milk and sprinkle tops with sugar.
Bake 18-20 minutes or until scones are golden brown. Cool slightly on a wire rack and serve. May be frozen. Reheat at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
Yields 20-24 scones.
NOTE:
For whole-grain texture, substitute 1 cup of brown rice flour for 1 cup of French Bread/Pizza mix. Sugar may be omitted, if sweeteners need to be avoided.
Variations:
Use a combination of dried and fresh fruits in place of apricots and currants. Chopped dates, dried or fresh cranberries, blueberries and even chocolate chips are delicious in this recipe. Replace lemon zest and juice with orange peel and juice. Use another yogurt flavor or one which has fruit added; replace powdered with 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger or crystallized ginger.