Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

So, these are by far the best vegan scones I have made to date. I know that they came from the Vegan With A Vengeance cookbook, but I found it online so I don't mind posting it, although I'm temped to not post it just so all you lurkers will leave me comments instead of just taking the recipes and leaving and not even giving me a "how do you do". I was so pleased that so many of you took the time to comment and ask for the last recipe so don't be a stranger, leave a comment when you visit.

It was a crappy overcast day up in VT on Saturday, but CB realizing it would probably be his last day to ski decided to go to the mountain anyway for a half day of skiing. The tickets were reduced price due to the deluge of rain that came on Friday and the crappy ski conditions so he just figured it was worth it to try and get in one more day of skiing before we took the ski rack off the car and prepared for the "wet" season up in VT.

I dropped him off at the mountain at 9:00 and picked him up at 1:00, he said the skiing was good, but he was a little lonely, not too many skiers took advantage of the reduced lift ticket, except for one guy who we now call Mr. Carrot. Chris was seated on the chair lift next to a man, who didn't want to make small talk, because he was busy rifling through the myriad of pockets on his ski jacket. He looked in the side pocket, front pocket, air vent zippers and finally found what he was looking for, a big, long orange carrot wrapped in saran wrap and placed in his inside pocket. CB had never seen a carrot wielding skier on the lift before, and found it odd that of all the snacks that skiers may want, like say, a power bar for energy, this man methodically washed, peeled and wrapped up a carrot and placed it in his inside pocket before he left for the mountain. He didn't say anything he just chopped on his carrot the whole way up the mountain. CB's only thought was, "isn't that carrot cold."

To each his own I suppose.

Try these scones. They are really good and you won't miss any of the animal products that usually go into scones.

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp baking powder (that's a lot...but that's what it says)

1/4 cup sugar (plus an extra tsp for sprinkling on top)

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup soy cream (rice or soy milk is an ok replacement, but the cream really works better)

3/4 rice or soy milk plus 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the oil, soy cream, and milk with vinegar. Mix until just combined; the dough should be clumpy and not sticky. Even if there is still a light dusting of flour, that's okay. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto the greased cookie sheet and pat the tops just a little bit to round them out; sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes until slightly browned on the bottom and firm on the top. Berry Scones: Fold in 1 1/2 cups fresh berries.

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones: Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the liquid ingredients, add another 2 Tbsp sugar, fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Add the zest of one orange.

Maple Walnut: Add 2 tsp of maple extract to the liquid ingredients, add 2 Tbsp of sugar, fold in 1 1/2 cups of walnuts.

Rating = So Damn Good