Vegan MoFo: Lemon Ginger Scones!

It's Vegan MoFo Day 15 and it's time for this week's Vegan Iron Chef Challenge! The ingredients this week were lemon and ginger. I just happen to love both of these things a lot!
As soon as I learned what the secret ingredients would be, I instantly knew what I would make: Lemon Ginger Scones! It just sounded delicious and I adore scone-making. I just winged the recipe and it turned out great! You should definitely try this one on a cloudy afternoon, and it will surely brighten your day. It did for me!

Vegan Lemon Ginger Scones (makes 8 big scones)

4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 Tbs baking powder

2 Tbs sugar

1/4 tsp ginger powder

Zest of two lemons

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening

3/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, such as Earth Balance or Spectrum Spread

1/2 cup soymilk

Juice of two big lemons--approx. 1/2 cup

1/2 cup crystallized ginger, diced small

Lightly grease a cookie sheet. In a mixing cup, whisk together the lemon juice and soymilk, and set aside to let curdle a bit.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, and ginger. Stir to mix well. Cut in the shortening and margarine, until they are in pea-sized pieces or the mixture looks crumbly. Slowly pour in the soymilk mixture and stir until just combined, being sure to not over-mix. Fold in the lemon zest and chopped ginger until fully incorporated.

Chill this mixture for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375 F. When dough is ready, turn out onto the baking sheet and form it into one large circle. Using a very sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 triangles, as if cutting a pie or pizza. Make sure each scone is separate from one another enough so they won't cook together completely. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, slice along the already-made cuts, and place back in the oven for 15 more minutes. Scones will be ready when golden brown on top and firm to the touch. These are fairly dense, crunchy scones, so they will continue to firm up after baking. Allow to cool for 10 more minutes on the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling or serve immediately. These are really great slathered with Earth Balance and drizzled with agave nectar!! Even better with a nice cup of Earl Grey tea!

This Week in Sustainability...

Yesterday's Sustainability Sunday was a HUGE success! Dane and I both had tons of people come out to our supper clubs, and the KC Vegan Crawl made yet another mark on the midwest! Yay!

At my place for lunch, I made everyone's favorite: Brunch!!

My Lemon-Ginger Scones! A big, big hit! The recipe is here...I highly recommend it. I even got the lemons at the Farmers' Market!For the main event, I served up cakes 'n eggs, vegan-style!! Awesome Whole Grain Pancakes, Scrambled Tofu with Local Greens, and Local Homefries, featuring both yukon gold and sweet potatoes.

To mix it up a bit, I gave my guests a choice of different pancake toppings: Plain (Earth Balance and Maple Syrup), Homemade Pumpkin Butter, Cinnamon-Baked Apples, Chocolate Chips, or, for those with a savory tooth, Spicy Seitan Chorizo!

Here's my plate-- I topped mine with both the pumpkin butter and baked apples, being the little glutton I am. Did I mention ALL the produce and tofu used were local? Well, they were! The savory option: Pancakes topped with homemade Spicy Seitan Chorizo Crumbles, drizzled with agave nectar and sprinkled with sea salt. Holy moly this was one tasty plate o' food!!Then, for dinner at Dane's place: Gumbo and Rice! Food for the working folks, for sure!! Tons of okra, Anasazi beans, tomatoes, garlic and more in a delicious, spicy broth, topped with fluffy white rice. I think all the vegan Southerners would be proud!!And there was homemade bread: Whole Grain and French Baguettes!! BREAD!!And, since no meal is complete sans dessert: Depression Cake!! Dane found a recipe for cake from the Depression era, when things like eggs and milk were scarce...so it was already vegan and tasty and cheap to make! Yes!! He jazzed it up a bit with a Cranberry-Orange Glaze, and it was just too good!
Thanks to everyone who has been coming out to the Vegan Crawl!! Hopefully we'll just keep growing and growing! There will be more delish food to come, ya'll!