Chocolate Coconut Almond Joy Scones (Vegan)

You’ve probably all noticed that I like to take old classics and turn them into something new. I mean, how boring would it be to just write about plain jane chocolate cake or spaghetti and meatballs? Okay, actually I can think of a lot of things more boring than that and there is a time and place for traditional things, but usually it’s not here.

Hopefully you haven’t noticed how much coconut has been happening around here lately, or at least, if you have I hope you are coco-nuts for coconuts (pardon the corny pun.) We just happened to get a bunch of fresh coconuts recently and it was kind of a one time thing. Coconuts are hard to come by here and it was one of those times where a friend has a friend who knows a guy….. you know. Ergo, lots of coconuts and I am now a pro wacking them, well almost.

I didn’t really even like coconuts as a kid, or almond joys for that matter. I look back at my ignorance and wonder if maybe I was dropped one too many times as a infant or something because I clearly had brain damage. Oh, all of the yummy things I used to turn down because I was crazy. Things like these scones. Now instead of not wanting any of them I want all of them. Funny how that works isn’t it? No, believe it or not I do have some self control but probably could eat them all if I didn’t.

We’ve been unable to restock our very necessary stock of chocolate bars recently because the store haven’t had any. That was kind of puzzling until we found out yesterday that the port workers in Chile are on strike, something that happens all the time here, so that’s probably why. I need to start seriously rationing what we have until that all gets resolved because it’s not a good thing for this family to be chocolateless.

I didn’t know about the strike when I made these scones but I still didn’t want to deplete our dwindling supply of chocolate just in case so I used milk chocolate almond bars. We had some that have been sitting around for a while and worked perfectly in this recipe because the almonds in the chocolate are a bit softer than usual and are easier to chop.

That’s the long way for me to tell you that if you’d rather you can use plain milk chocolate and plain almonds instead. Either way these scones are worth trying. They were a huge hit with the gang and I probably could have even gotten the coconut haters to like them……if they had lasted long enough.

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Chocolate Coconut Almond Joy Scones

Take all the flavors of your favorite candy bar and turn them into these soft and chocolatey treats.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 16 scones

Ingredients

Scones

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup Organic Cane Sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or organic vegetable shortening, ice cold or a combination
• 1/2 cup coconut cream ice cold *see note
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups lite coconut milk or any plant-based milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut shreds
• 100 g about 2/3 cup dairy free semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

Glaze:

• 2 cups organic powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 2 tablespoons cacao powder or cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
2. -If using food processor (steps 2-3):
3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of a food processor
4. Add cold coconut oil and coconut cream to dry mixture and pulse until it is fine and powdery. Add vinegar, milk, coconut extract, and vanilla extract to mixture and pulse to combine until it comes together into a dough.
5. -If doing by hand (steps 4-5):
6. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix well. Use a pastry cutter or pair of knives to cut the coconut oil and coconut cream into the dry mix until you have a course, crumbly mixture.
7. Add the vinegar, milk, coconut extract, and vanilla extract to a small bowl and stir to combine, then pour into dry ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula until it comes together.
8. Fold in chocolate and shredded coconut then scrape dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half and, with well floured hands because the dough will be a bit wet, flatten each half into a circular disc shape, about an inch high. Do your best to handle the dough as little as possible in order to keep it cold. (If you're having trouble with handling it you can chill it for about 30 minutes in the fridge or even the freezer to make it easier to work with.)
9. Make 4 cuts, straight, across, and diagonally, in the circle so that you have 8 equal triangles. Repeat with other half of dough. Separate them and place each triangle about 2 inches apart to allow spreading room on prepared pan.
10. Bake for 12 - 16 minutes or until edges start to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
11. While the scones are cooling, whisk all ingredients together for the glaze (except cocoa powder) until smooth. Divide the glaze in half and stir in the cocoa. When completely cool drizzle both flavors of glaze over scones and let dry for about 30 minutes. Store in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.

Recipe Notes

If you have trouble finding coconut cream at your local grocery store it's completely fine to use full-fat coconut milk and scrape the cream off of the top. Just be sure that it's cold enough to separate.