Tomato and Olive Wholemeal Scones
These scones are made with wholemeal flour, sun-dried tomatoes and black olives. So they’re full of good fat and fibre. Also full of gluten. I’m sorry to say there is no gluten-free alternative I can offer for these. But if wheat’s your friend – enjoy!
One of the last wholemeal baked goods from abitmoreveg. I normally don’t like to add to much stuff to scones. But I tried adding dried tomatoes and olives to scones, and it worked out pretty well. Then I tried adding some different cheeses – under-ripe brie worked out very well. Rather than cheese I added walnuts to some of these for a vegan version of them. To be honest, I prefer them with the cheese or just with the tomatoes and olives. The walnuts make them a bit heavy.
These scones are very filling and can turn a light meal into something more substantial and satisfying. To make them a good snack all by themselves I like to add either cheese or walnuts. Walnuts work well with the olives and tomatoes, and they are supposed to be very good for you, so that combination made immediate sense. When I first added cheese it was because I was hoping the scone would taste a little like a lasagne-flavoured scone so I used mozzarella but it melts into the dough while baking and what I was looking for was a gooey cheesy centre when you bite into scone – and that’s what the addition of brie gives you. It works best if the brie you use is (just a little) under-ripe.
As for the health benefits, these scones, like all wholemeal scones, are full of fibre, unlike other scones though they are also chock-full with healthy fat and the sun-dried tomatoes offer a good source of potassium and magnesium. Potassium helps your nerves communicate and regulates your electrolyte balance, while magnesium maintains healthy bone tissue and aids in energy production. (See this article for more information on the health benefits of sun-dried tomatoes.)
Ingredients
- 350g wholemeal flour (preferably stoneground)
- 3 dessertspoons olive oil
- 75g sun-dried tomatoes in 2 dessertspoons of oil
- 130g pitted black olives, drained
- 1 dessertspoon tomato purée
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of finely ground salt
- water
- handful of chopped walnuts or slightly under-ripe brie cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C.
- Mix together the salt, baking soda and the flour in a large bowl.
- Add the 3 dessertspoons of oil to the flour and rub into the flour with your fingers till all the flour has a crumby consistency.
- Mince the olives and sun-dried tomatoes in a food mixer to a tapenade consistency. Empty the tapenade into the flour and mix in well.
- Add in the tomato purée and squeeze in the lemon, making sure to remove the pips first. Stir in well.
- If the dough isn't binding together well stir in a little water. You need to stir the mixture well as this will also help it bind but usually it is necessary to add in 50 - 75ml of water.
- Dust 2 baking trays with flour and shape 12 scones, using a little more than 2 tablespoons of dough for each scone. If making olive-tomato-brie scones, to shape the scone add one tablespoon of dough to the palm of your hand flatten it so that it easily will hold a slice of brie, add another tablespoon of the dough on top of the cheese and use this to completely encase the cheese in dough. If using walnuts, simply mix them into the dough and shape the scones as normal.
- Bake oven in the until done - approximately 40 minutes. Take out from the oven and leave to cool on a wire tray.
Notes
The cheesy scones are best served whilst still a little warm.
