It’s not that I’m repetitive, exactly. It’s just that I sort of tend to… fixate on certain foods. There was September, for example, when I ate granola-and-frozen-banana-and-berries-and-soy-milk-and-peanut-butter for dinner for, um, the whole month (no regrets, man, no regrets). For the last two weeks, it’s been scones: three batches, to be precise. I live alone, and if I think about how many scones that means I’ve eaten singlehandedly, I get a little embarrassed.

But these are seasonally-appropriate scones, studded with jewel-coloured dried fruits, bright chips of green pistachios, and a seam of sweet marzipan; and if you were looking for a Christmas Day breakfast for your family, you got it. There’s none of the yeast-induced faffing of real stollen – these scones come together in just moments – but with all of the sweetness and brightness (this is the season of sweetness, right? Just checking). Plus, the idea itself may or may not have been appropriated from a certain major coffee shop chain – so if you’ve seen these while picking up your lavender earl grey soy latte, now you get your own, homebaked, vegan option. May your breakfast be merry and bright.

A note on ingredients: a lot of commercial marzipan is vegan (if you’re in the UK, I know Tesco and Asda’s own brands are), but in recipes online, egg whites are commonly used. If you’re buying marzipan from a shop, check the ingredients list! If not, I’ve included a literally-ten-second recipe for vegan marzipan below, in the quantity these scones call for. I prefer homemade, as I can leave out the almond essence, of which I am not a fan, and just have the subtler, natural taste of the almonds themselves. But, of course, your call. Likewise, if you’re somewhere where non-dairy yoghurt is not available (like say, oh, Japan no I’m not bitter about this what do you mean), I use my own faker version!

Ingredients:

• 280g (2 c.) plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• Zest of 1 satsuma
• 60g (1/2 stick) vegan margarine
• 50g (1/4 c.) white sugar
• 120ml (1/2 c.) non-dairy yoghurt
• 1-2 Tbsp soy or almond milk
• 90ml (1/3 c.) mixed dried fruit/peel
• 90ml (1/3 c.) shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1 recipe (below) marzipan, or 1/3 c.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 220C (420F).
2. Whisk the first eight ingredients together to combine, and add to the margarine, rubbing together with your fingers to make a reasonably fine-crumbed mixture. Stir in the sugar, then the dried fruit and chopped pistachios.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the yoghurt, gently working in with a round-bladed knife to form a soft dough. Work in any loose bits with the non-dairy milk, one tbsp at a time. Don’t overwork!
4. Lift the ball of soft dough out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Now, take your marzipan and flatten to roughly the size of your palm, then dice into cubes (experimentation tells me that I like fairly large chunks; your call). Scatter on the top of your scone dough, then fold the whole thing in half and knead a couple of times to check it’s all glued together and free of cracks.
5. Use your hands to shape this into a disk, around 1-1/2 inches in height, then cut into six wedges by pressing down firmly and quickly with a sharp knife – don’t twist it. Place the wedges on a lined baking sheet, and if you like, brush with extra non-dairy milk and sprinkle with raw sugar.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes until risen and golden, then cool on a wire rack, uncovered. Eat warm, but these also freeze wonderfully and yes, I have been known to eat them still-frozen straight out of the freezer. No judgment, please.

It’s not that I’m repetitive, exactly. It’s just that I sort of tend to… fixate on certain foods. There was September, for example, when I ate granola-and-frozen-banana-and-berries-and-soy-milk-and-peanut-butter for dinner for, um, the whole month (no regrets, man, no regrets). For the last two weeks, it’s been scones: three batches, to be precise. I live alone, and if I think about how many scones that means I’ve eaten singlehandedly, I get a little embarrassed.

But these are seasonally-appropriate scones, studded with jewel-coloured dried fruits, bright chips of green pistachios, and a seam of sweet marzipan; and if you were looking for a Christmas Day breakfast for your family, you got it. There’s none of the yeast-induced faffing of real stollen – these scones come together in just moments – but with all of the sweetness and brightness (this is the season of sweetness, right? Just checking). Plus, the idea itself may or may not have been appropriated from a certain major coffee shop chain – so if you’ve seen these while picking up your lavender earl grey soy latte, now you get your own, homebaked, vegan option. May your breakfast be merry and bright.

A note on ingredients: a lot of commercial marzipan is vegan (if you’re in the UK, I know Tesco and Asda’s own brands are), but in recipes online, egg whites are commonly used. If you’re buying marzipan from a shop, check the ingredients list! If not, I’ve included a literally-ten-second recipe for vegan marzipan below, in the quantity these scones call for. I prefer homemade, as I can leave out the almond essence, of which I am not a fan, and just have the subtler, natural taste of the almonds themselves. But, of course, your call. Likewise, if you’re somewhere where non-dairy yoghurt is not available (like say, oh, Japan no I’m not bitter about this what do you mean), I use my own faker version!

Ingredients:

• 280g (2 c.) plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• Zest of 1 satsuma
• 60g (1/2 stick) vegan margarine
• 50g (1/4 c.) white sugar
• 120ml (1/2 c.) non-dairy yoghurt
• 1-2 Tbsp soy or almond milk
• 90ml (1/3 c.) mixed dried fruit/peel
• 90ml (1/3 c.) shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1 recipe (below) marzipan, or 1/3 c.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 220C (420F).
2. Whisk the first eight ingredients together to combine, and add to the margarine, rubbing together with your fingers to make a reasonably fine-crumbed mixture. Stir in the sugar, then the dried fruit and chopped pistachios.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the yoghurt, gently working in with a round-bladed knife to form a soft dough. Work in any loose bits with the non-dairy milk, one tbsp at a time. Don’t overwork!
4. Lift the ball of soft dough out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Now, take your marzipan and flatten to roughly the size of your palm, then dice into cubes (experimentation tells me that I like fairly large chunks; your call). Scatter on the top of your scone dough, then fold the whole thing in half and knead a couple of times to check it’s all glued together and free of cracks.
5. Use your hands to shape this into a disk, around 1-1/2 inches in height, then cut into six wedges by pressing down firmly and quickly with a sharp knife – don’t twist it. Place the wedges on a lined baking sheet, and if you like, brush with extra non-dairy milk and sprinkle with raw sugar.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes until risen and golden, then cool on a wire rack, uncovered. Eat warm, but these also freeze wonderfully and yes, I have been known to eat them still-frozen straight out of the freezer. No judgment, please.

Marzipan Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 70g (2/3 c.) ground almonds (almond meal)
• 35g icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp water
• optional few drops of almond essence

Preparation:

1. Stir the almonds and sugar together til fully combined and add the water and almond essence.
2. Mix with a spatula or knead in with the fingers so that it all comes together to a dough-like texture.
3. Try not to eat the whole thing singlehandedly (I failed at this on my first go). :D

<h2 style=”text-align: center;”><strong>Browse through more fantastic scone recipes below:</strong></h2>
<h2 style=”text-align: center;”><strong>1. <a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-pumpkin-scones/” target=”_blank”>Pumpkin Scones</a> </strong></h2>
<p style=”text-align: center;”><em>Click on the image below to get the recipe.</em></p>
<a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-pumpkin-scones/”><img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1481006502″ style=”width: 800px;” alt=”Recipe: Pumpkin Scones” src=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/wp-content/uploads//2013/06/Pumpkin-scones.jpg” width=”700″ height=”467″ /></a>
<h2 style=”text-align: center;”><strong>2. <a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-fig-cardamom-walnut-scones-with-cashew-cream/” target=”_blank”>Fig Cardamom Walnut Scones</a> </strong></h2>
<p style=”text-align: center;”><em>Click on the image below to get the recipe.</em></p>
<p style=”text-align: center;”><a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-fig-cardamom-walnut-scones-with-cashew-cream/”><img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1480997861″ style=”width: 800px;” alt=”Fig Cardamom Walnut Scones with Cashew Cream” src=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/wp-content/uploads//2013/02/Fig-Cardamom-Walnut-Scones-with-Cashew-Cream.jpg” width=”800″ height=”515″ /></a></p>

<h2 style=”text-align: center;”><strong>3. <a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-currant-lemon-scones/” target=”_blank”>Currant Lemon Scones</a> </strong></h2>
<p style=”text-align: center;”><em>Click on the image below to get the recipe.</em></p>
<p style=”text-align: center;”><a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-currant-lemon-scones/”><img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1480993264″ style=”width: 800px;” title=”Recipe: Starr Wong” alt=”Recipe: Currant-Lemon Scones” src=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/wp-content/uploads//2012/10/Lemon-Currant-Scones.jpeg” width=”600″ height=”400″ /></a></p>

<h2 style=”text-align: center;”><strong>4. <a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-banana-gluten-free-scones/” target=”_blank”>Banana Gluten Free Scones</a> </strong></h2>
<p style=”text-align: center;”><a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-banana-gluten-free-scones/”><img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1480979800″ style=”width: 800px;” title=”Banana Gluten Free Scones” alt=”Banana Gluten Free Scones” src=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/wp-content/uploads//2012/04/BANANA-SCONES-COOKBOOK.jpg” width=”600″ height=”400″ /></a></p>

<h2 style=”text-align: center;”><strong>5. <a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-stollen-scones/” target=”_blank”>Stollen Scones</a> </strong></h2>
<p style=”text-align: center;”><a href=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-stollen-scones/”><img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1480964800″ style=”width: 800px;” title=”Stollen Scones” alt=”Stollen Scones” src=”https://www.onegreenplanet.org/wp-content/uploads//2011/12/stollen-scones.jpg” width=”600″ height=”400″ /></a></p>