Less-fattening scones are still tasty | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Less-fattening scones are still tasty | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Wednesday, November 29, 2006

TASTE
Less-fattening scones are still tasty

•	Have your centerpiece and eat it, too

By Elaine Magee

The trick to making healthier lemon scones is to use less of the fatty ingredients and to maintain the texture with light cream cheese.

Q. A bakery near my house makes scrumptious lemon scones, and I would really appreciate if you could create a light lemon scone that I can make at home.

A. I love lemon anything! And lemon scones certainly would make my top five favorite lemon foods. The trick to a light lemon scone is using a little less of the fatty ingredients and substituting something that will help maintain the scone's texture, in this case, light cream cheese. I also reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup; used 1 cup of fat-free sour cream instead of regular sour cream, and whole-wheat flour for half of the flour.

This recipe works out well with 2 lemons because after you've zested the lemon peel for use in the scone batter, you can use the juice to make the lemon glaze (2 tablespoons are needed).

The original recipe contained 465 calories, 20 grams of fat, 12 grams saturated fat, 67 milligrams cholesterol, and no fiber.

Makes 12 scones.

LIGHT LEMON SCONES

1 cup fat-free sour cream

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 cups unbleached white flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup less-fat margarine (with around 8 grams fat per tablespoon)

1/4 cup light cream cheese

1 EGG (HIGHER OMEGA-3 EGG, IF AVAILABLE)

Lemon peel from 2 lemons, grated or finely chopped

Lemon glaze:

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice (add a teaspoon more, if needed, for thick glaze consistency)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda; set aside.

In large mixing bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Beat on low to blend dry ingredients. Add margarine and light cream cheese to dry ingredients and beat on low until incorporated (about 20 seconds).

Add sour-cream mixture, egg, and lemon peel into the flour mixture and beat on low just until moistened.

Set dough onto a lightly floured sheet of wax paper and knead it a few times. Pat dough into a 3/4-inch thick circle. Cut with serrated knife into 12 wedges. Place the scones on a nonstick baking sheet or jellyroll pan about an inch or two apart.

Bake about 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Stir glaze ingredients together with whisk or beaters until smooth. Spoon generously over the top of cooled scones.

Per serving: 360 calories, 8 g protein, 60 g carbohydrate, 9.5 g fat, 2.7 g saturated fat, 2.2 g monounsaturated fat, 4.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 24 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 500 mg sodium. Calories from fat, 24 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids, .2 g; Weight Watchers points, 7; omega-6 fatty acids, 3.6 g

Elaine Magee is a registered dietitian. Learn more at www.recipedoctor.com.

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