Dessert for Breakfast?!

I love dessert. I think I may have an unhealthy love of dessert. Don't judge me ;)

As my family has transitioned over to whole foods, or no processed foods, we have made the switch from traditional processed sugars to using honey or pure maple syrup instead.

These are fantastic sweeteners that you actually need LESS of for the same amount of sweetness, but best yet, they are 100% natural. Nothing added, nothing stripped, just plain from nature sweet :)

This is good news for people like myself who love dessert but do not want to use the processed kind of things most desserts call for...

So let's talk about what I like to call "dessert for breakfast"

Muffins, Scones, Cinnamon Rolls.... These are breakfast foods.... have you ever stopped to look at the sugar content of these 'breakfast' items... I did.... BIG mistake!

Let's take a look at  at a very common, on every corner coffee shop whose name shall not be written here:

Pumpkin Scone - 480 calories and 43 grams of sugar?!?! in ONE scone... what a way to start the day, sugar loaded!

What's that? You would like to know more and have it all ruined every time you walk in there again to order one of these "breakfast" items... SURE!

Blueberry Muffin - 350 calories and 29 grams of sugar
Cinnamon Roll - 420 calories and 32 grams of sugar
Coffee Cake - 390 calories and 31 grams of sugar

To me this is crazy! After not eating all night (for some of us), we then wake up and immediately put obscene amounts of sugar into our bodies as the first fuel it gets. We then wonder why we spend the day with headaches, stomach aches, sugar crashes...

I, too, love muffins, scones and cinnamon rolls and decided I would not just say well I guess I am out of luck and will never have one again. Nope, I decided to make better versions!

This will be a 3 part series of healthy breakfast alternatives to those crazy sugar filled breakfast bombs..

Up First

Whole Wheat Berry Scones (with pure maple syrup as the only sweetener) topped with a lemon glaze (skipping the powdered sugar and subbing in raw organic honey)


Heavenly!! Doesn't that look amazing!


Let's Get Baking!! Recipe adapted from here

Whole Wheat Berry Scones

3 cups whole wheat PASTRY flour
1.5 tablespoons baking powder
3 tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup ( this will make each scone only 5 grams of sugar! Remember that other scone sitting at a whopping 43 grams?!)

1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold butter
zest of 1 lemon
1.5 cups mixed berries (I used raspberries and blueberries)
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup almond milk (you can also use regular milk)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 F

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in bowl of food processor, pulse together and then add maple syrup

Add cut up COLD butter

Pulse until sand like consistency, or until butter is still in small pea size chunks (and nope that is not my hand that looks like an old mans.... no way at all :/)

Zest your lemon (avoid the white bitter pith part and just get the yellow goodness)

Empty flour mixture into a bowl, add zest and berries to your flour

Stir gently, add vanilla extract, milk and yogurt

Mix until yogurt is combined and let sit in refrigerator for 15 minutes (when using whole wheat to bake, you need to allow time for the liquid to be absorbed by the flour mixture and keep the butter cold)

After dough has sat for 15 minutes, turn it out onto a very well floured surface and begin kneading gently... you don't want to crush the berries too much - it will be wet... keep your hands covered in flour as well as the surface to help prevent sticking. Knead a few minutes until it starts to stick together more and look less wet... you will be tempted to add more flour. Add very small amounts at a time, it WILL start to come together :)

Once dough is holding together more, and sticking less to surface, divide into 8 wedges - or use a floured biscuit cutter to cut into rounds.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I was out so I used foil... I recommend parchment paper)

Bake about 15 minutes or until the tops are light brown, over baking will dry these babies right out.

Top with lemon glaze or greek yogurt

Lemon Glaze
(1 tablespoon raw honey and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, mix, taste, add more honey to your taste and drizzle over scones.

These freeze well - just wrap tightly and freeze. Toast in oven for a few minutes.

Happy (low sugar, healthy, whole grain) Eating :)