In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded mom and Whole Foods Market® team member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both toddler and husband. Read the other posts in her series opens in a new tab.I try my best to serve healthy snacks to my son. Sliced apples, hard-boiled eggs and bananas are always a big hit! My son still loves some of the recipes I posted about previously: green smoothies opens in a new tab and gluten-free banana bread opens in a new tab.
It’s been a while since these successful experiments, so I thought I’d get back in the kitchen and work up a new snack for my son − fruit and vegetable scones shaped as boats. Eating should be fun, after all. My favorite scones are the ones I’ve eaten on my travels to Ireland, so I visited one of my Irish cookbooks.
*The recipe is adapted from the Irish Farmer’s Market Cookbook by Clodagh McKenna opens in a new tab.
Dough (makes 16 scones):2 cups flour, plus extra for rolling
2 tablespoons baking powder
A pinch of sea salt
1 cup organic low-fat milk
1/2 cup organic butter, softened
Fruit Scones:
1/4 cup chopped organic strawberries
Vegetable Scones:
1/4 cup chopped organic spinach
1/4 cup chopped organic tomatoes
1 teaspoon chopped organic parsley
1 handful low-fat organic mozzarella cheese
Method:
First, preheat the oven to 400°F. For the dough, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Rub the softened butter into the floured mixture and then slowly add the milk. Stir it carefully into it forms into soft dough. Roll the dough onto a floured surface and cut it in half. Place each ball in a separate bowl.
In one bowl, add the strawberries and mix well with a wooden spoon. In the other bowl, add the spinach, tomatoes and parsley and mix well. You can easily alter this recipe to add different fruits or vegetables. Next time, I am going to try these combinations: mango raspberry scones and broccoli, cheddar and thyme scones. Yum!
Roll out each ball of batter separately until it is about 1/2 inch thick, using plenty of flour. In order to cut the scones, use a glass or biscuit cutter (about 3 inches in diameter). If you want to get creative, use a cookie cutter or knife to form the shapes that you want. My son is really interested in boats lately, so I used a knife to cut boat shapes in the dough.
Once cut, place the scones on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle a little bit of cheese on the vegetable scones. Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes until they are browned on top. Let the scones cool on a rack for 10 minutes and serve.
What I love about scones is their versatility; they can be eaten as a snack or as part of any meal. I placed flags in the scone boats and served them as an afternoon snack. My son was so surprised and happy to see the scone boats! He smiled wide and took a big bite.The other scones quickly disappeared from the fridge, so my husband clearly enjoyed them, as well. This was a fun, easy and budget-friendly experiment.
What kinds of snacks do you serve to your family? I am always looking for new ideas.
