I really don’t write a lot on my website because:
- I’m not a writer.
- I figure you all come here for the recipes anyway.
- What’s the point? I like short and sweet. Literally.
Every now and then though, I do get the itch to write just a bit. And this recent comment on Facebook tickled my writing fancy:
I absolutely adore your recipes. I’ve been Paleo for over a year and feel/look amazing. I have to ask, though, aren’t treats such as Paleo baked goods supposed to be a very occasional treat? It seems that they’re being posted on a near daily basis.
And this was my response:
You are totally right, however I have a houseful of almost a dozen growing boys here everyday after school and they aren’t Paleo (most aren’t even gluten-free) so they get at least a Paleo treat a day –far better than the standard teenage fare of soda and chips, if you know what I mean!
Why the heck are there so many dessert and bread recipes on here? Well, it’s not that much of a challenge to come up with a Paleo chicken recipe –they’re all over the internet. Just sift through the websites of people like Martha, Ina, and Elise, and you’ll likely find some nice healthy steak and vegetable dishes as well. They’re probably gluten-free and maybe even Paleo. However, when it comes to finding baked goods that are of course treats, well, that’s not as easy, and that it is something I provide on this website –I create classic Neolithic dishes (like these Paleo Chocolate Chip Scones) that use Paleo-friendly ingredients.
Further confirming this hunch is the list of the Top 10 Most Viewed Recipes on my sidebar; just crank your eyes over a few inches to the right and take a gander at that feature. As you can see, folks look at, and I assume therefore want, baked goods. And so I am pretty much always testing something, and thankfully, the hordes of boys that come to my house after school take pleasure in eating the items that I am continuously testing.
And now back to our regular programming:
Paleo Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup palm shortening
- ¼ cup honey
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup chocolate chips, coarsely chopped, about 3 ounces
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
- Pulse in shortening, honey and eggs
- Stir in chopped chocolate by hand
- Scoop batter onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Bake at 350°F for 10-14 minutes
- Cool and serve
These gluten-free, dairy-free Chocolate Chip Scones are made from coconut flour. So no, the measurement of 1/2 cup of flour is not a typo (I get this question on just about every recipe on my website that uses coconut flour). Coconut flour is unique in that just a little bit goes a long way.
On another culinary note, I want to point out that coconut flour is quite light and fluffy –great for cakes and muffins. So these quick and easy Paleo Chocolate Chip Scones are rather cakey and fluffy and don’t have a heavy crumb. They’re a bit different than a classic scone. They’re also nut-free which is deliberate as I’ve had more and more requests for nut-free recipes lately.
Finally, yet most importantly, I based this recipe on one from Brian Musial at mypaleodiet.net, although I’ve made a number of modifications. He has a lovely site that you may wish to peruse for other healthy Paleo recipes. Enjoy the scones and thanks for listening.
Peace out,
Elana
Hope says
I totally agree with you Elana! I have 4 children, 3 of them are boys and they eat me out of house and home. We are always baking something! I so appreciate your blog! The baking & snack item recipes are a big help.
Debbie says
Wait…What? “A very occasional treat?” That’s just crazy talk. Keep these amazing morsels coming.
valerie s. says
I am soooooooo grateful for the baked goods recipes. Just getting into the paleo groove, this is the most challenging area for me. I too have guys in the house always looking for “something good”. Please keep the treats coming!
Brandon says
Love your “Peace Out” at the end, Elana!
I have all of these ingredients and am trying them this Wednesday. Cannot wait, as I love, love, love chocolate! :)
Susan says
Elana, I find it refreshing to hear you don’t like to write all that often. There is hope for me! I do love to bake and you are right about all the recipes for all the other stuff. That’s easy, but baked goods that’s a whole other thing! And you make it so simple and fun! Thank you for making it so! Keep those goodies coming.
Tracey Mardon says
I agree and appreciate the baking recipes. With entrees, it’s seems so clear how to be sure it’s gluten free. I also really appreciate how user friendly your site is, the print button works beautifully and the comment option is clean and can even be used by someone without 20/20 vision :)
Can hardly wait to put these on the table with soup for dinner!
Fariba Kerendi says
Elana…you are wonderful, amazing and super uber talented! I have learned so much from you and I will be forever grateful. You can post as many baked good/desserts as you want and I will faithfully bake them every single time! You have made one mother’s job that much easier by directing us in the right direction and constantly mixing it up and keeping it fresh. THANK YOU!
MamaCassi says
Right on. I have 4 small children, a husband, and bake for a gluten-free (and slowly more paleo) crowd in our community, and baked goodies are what I’m looking for. I can make chili, roasted meats, stews, soups, birds, veggies, and even fruit dishes no problem.
But it’s when I make the birthday cakes, or show up at Thanksgiving w/ pies and squash breads that are BETTER by far than the standard fare, that’s when people get really excited.
I also love that my kids prefer my treats to any other junk food out there they have tried. That is huge. Scones for my husband’s men’s group? Better than donuts or other breakfast fare!
I didn’t bake gluten-free (I’ve been gluten-free since 2001) for years, until finding your site. Now, I’m happy to enjoy baking- b/c the quality of the ingredients and the satisfaction of the delicious treats are well worth it, though I rarely sample all the treats I make! The samoas are an exception- I hid those from my kids and didn’t NOT share them all.
Michele says
Exactly! Except for the samoa’s part – I haven’t tried that recipe!
Pink Peppercorn and Paprika says
One of my favorite things about your recipes is so many of them have such simple and few ingredients!
I’ve recently been on a coconut flour kick and can’t wait to use this as a base for my future baking projects! (
I am hoping coconut oil will be an ok replacement for the shortening)
Alex says
I feel the same way about this website. Elana’s recipes are my favorites because 1. she uses so few ingredients and 2. She uses so few flours… some websites call for a variety of gluten-free flours and I dont want to have to purchase all of them. Using almond flour and coconut flour (both tasty and nutritious) makes it easy! Thank you, Elana!
Michele says
I bet it would work, maybe a little different texture but likely still lovely. Let us know how it works if you do try it soon!
Sheilla says
I’m going to use Palm shortening from Tropical Traditions, they as a company have a great reputation.
Meg says
I tried coconut oil instead of shortening, and I found the scones took nearly twice as long to cook (over 20 minutes). Not sure why this is…
Pink Peppercorn and Paprika says
Update- the coconut oil worked great! but as meg said, i had the same experience in that the cooking time was much longer (30 mins for mine!) not a problem though as it just filled the apartment with baking aromas for that much longer :)
Shanna says
I un-paleo-ed this recipe and used butter instead of shortening then replaced the chocolate with raisins. Plus, a bit of vanilla extract. Cooking time was about 20min. My family and I enjoyed the fluffy texture of these scones. I hope to have chocolate on hand next time! Happy Holi! Viva Nepal!
Molly says
I am wondering how much butter you used????
Karen says
Butter IS paleo! ;^) Yum! I’d do that myself if I didn’t react to anything with dairy (casein). Bet they were scrumptious.
Rebecca Miller says
I love your recipes. I could care less how often anyone makes dessert. I am just grateful someone has made recipes I can use and enjoy with my family. Thanks!
Jennelle says
Ditto :-D
jennifer hirshhorn says
Can anyone suggest a substitute for coconut milk and coconut flour. More and more recipes are calling for these as a substitute for other ingredients…I am allergic to coconut. I use almond milk and almond flour and other gluten free flours for baking, as often as I can. The prevalence of coconut products is starting to create a challenge for me.
Thanks for your help.
Jennifer
Michele says
Jennifer – It would probably be easier to find one of Elana’s recipes that uses Almond flour. She has a ton on this site and a whole cookbook (which I can wholeheartedly endorse). As almond flour is so pricey I have always preferred to use her tried and true recipes rather than trying to sub stuff around flour wise. I absolutely sub oils and sugars though (for example, I sub coconut oil and maple syrup when Elana calls for grapeseed oil and agave).
Also, a huge problem with subbing recipes calling for coconut flour is that the egg content is so high because of them. It would be a totally different result taking out the coconut flour/eggs.
Cate says
Regarding the allergy to coconut flour, that’s cool (or not) but may I suggest something?
I’ve been primal (paleo but more experimental) for almost exactly a year and have done some serious extra-curricular testing on various foods.
Since I went primal everything baked was using almond (soaked, blanched, dehydrated, ground) flour or coconut flour out of a packet. I noticed a reaction to the coconut flour fairly early on, so dropped it altogether.
I hammered almond flour because I love to bake and eat tasty treats, but after about seven or 8 months of this, it too started causing issues. Around this time, maybe four or five months ago I started using purely EGG YOLKS at double the quantity of ‘eggs’ stated in any given recipe. This has upped the nutrient content, the moisture content and flavour content astronomically.
Even if I could eat egg whites again, I still wouldn’t, now I know how divine baked goods can taste, and how good I feel/how quickly I’m sated nutritionally speaking.
I’m not suggesting we share the same gut flora so this will work for everyone, but I have to say I was and am a gaseous wreck with egg whites in my system. Dumping the whites means I can eat coconut flour (and yolksyolksyolks) like it’s going out of fashion. So I do.
katherine says
What a great idea to double the yolks and skip the whites. I think I’ll give it a go!
Sheilla says
I have the same problem, (being allergic to coconut), but my family is not. So often I bake for them and the upside is that it keeps me from eating to many treats! There are quite a few almond flour recipes out there (Elena) has quite a few too. But really coconut flour is much better for you, thus the reason you are seeing more and more of them hitting the internet.
Thank you Elana for another great recipe, can’t wait to try these out on the kids.
Zoe Alexander says
These look delicious! I’m going to try them very soon. Many thanks Elena! :o)
Zoe xxx
Donna says
These chocolate chip scones made with coconut flour, where quite honestly horrible. They did not cook fully through even after leaving in for 5 extra minutes. They were very ‘brown’ on bottom and then on the top. Not much flavor also. I sadly wasted quite a few ingredients. FYI Elana did state that the 1/2 cup of cocounut flour was ‘not’ a typo. I am just wondering if there was something else either missing or not completed. Thank you.
katherine says
Since coconut flour has very unique properties, substituting for it isn’t simple. Best to just look for other recipes based on plantain, almond, tapioca, rice etc. Elana has tons of coconut free recipes here based on almond flour–and definitely check out her almond flour cookbook!
As much of the paleo community considers tapioca, arrowroot and white rice flours (not brown rice) to be very biologically appropriate (ie paleo), I often use regular gluten free recipes with these common gluten free flours and simply reduce and substitute sweeteners. I tend to use honey, date sugar, maple syrup and sometimes even succanat.
thepaleomom.com has a good number of non-nut, non-coconut recipes worth checking out. She gets pretty adventurous with plantain and pumpkin.
Alexa says
Ditto Rebecca! And thank you Elana! Yes, it’s fairly easy to come up with a paleo version of a meat recipe. Baked goods are much harder and I’m glad someone is doing it for me. :)
Laurie says
Agreed!