Vegan Chia Seed and Dried Cherry Scones

I don' like using eggs when I bake. I don't know why, and it's not like I never use eggs, it's just, I prefer the taste of baked goods without eggs. Believe me, eggs have their place around here. Just not in my scones.

I have spent the last several years trying different methods to create the best tasting egg-less scones. The funny thing about all that trial and error is I developed not only an egg-less scone, but a vegan one. 

So far, it's been a hit with all of my vegan and non-vegan friends alike. Plus this recipe uses chia seeds- making you super healthy and trendy too.

What You'll Need:

1/4 cup prepped Chia  seeds*

3 cups all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons Baking Powder

1/2 Cup Sugar plus a dash for sprinkling the tops

Dash of salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar 

1 1/2 cups Soy Milk

1 cup Dried Cherries

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Grease two cookie sheets with a little vegetable oil. In a small bowl or mason jar mix together the chia seeds and water* and let stand while you combine the other ingredients.

  In a large bowl sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl mix the vegetable oil, soy milk and vinegar together lightly.  Add the 1/4 cup of  the set chia seeds to the liquid ingredients. Using your spoon create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the bowl. As you stir the wet and the dry ingredients together, slowly add the dried cherries until they are well incorporated. Try not to over stir**. The dough should be clumpy, but not sticky. Not all of the flour will incorporate, and that's fine. 

Drop 1/4 cups full of dough onto your prepared cookie sheets. Press the dough into shape and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Your are scones are done when the bottoms are slightly browns and they are firm on top. 

* (take 1/4 cup of dried chia seeds and mix with 1/2 cup water. Let stand for a few minutes. The chia seed are ready to use when they have formed a jelly-like substance. Measure the neceesary quantity for the recipe from the prepped chia seeds. You will have some left over.)

** A trick I have learned when creating vegan desserts is to resist the urge to over-stir. Usually, if the ingredients are well combined, that's all the stirring that is necessary.