Valentine's Day Scones To Help Boost Your Self-Love
Hi Queens!
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.
While I know that it is a holiday that people typically spend cherishing the love they have with significant others, I think it is also a great time to cherish the love that we have for ourselves (single or not).
Yes, I realize how corny that might sound to some of you. But on the realness, having a healthy dose of self-love is SO important when it comes to not only increasing your self-confidence, but it can also help you with coping through the times in your life when things just aren’t going to plan.
I know Valentine’s Day can be a real knife jabber to all my single queens out there who hoped that they would be in a relationship at this point in their lives. And while there’s nothing wrong with desiring to be in a relationship, I do think it’s important to make sure that the desire is not coming from feelings of inadequacy.
Regularly practicing self-love is not only a great way to keep those feelings of inadequacy in check, but prioritizing building self-love for yourself first can also help to assist you down the line in picking a partner that will also support those efforts.
According to Dr. Deborah Khoshaba of Psychology Today, self-love is often glamorized in the popular media as being a beauty makeover or random faux “inspirational” quotes. But in actuality,[self-love] is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth.”
Eating good and nutritious food is such a key way that I choose to practice self-love every day. As I’ve learned through my own journey, what I eat can play such a crucial role in how I feel and the choices I make in other areas of my life.
*To learn more about my food journey download my new e-book, Eat Your Way To Self-Confidence, on Amazon today!
So for this week I wanted to share a recipe that I recently fell in love with that not only tastes amazing, but will allow you to treat yourself without feeling like garbage afterwards.
Basic Scones w/ Vanilla Glaze
Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free
Adapted from The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook
Ingredients:
1 (6 ounce) plain or vanilla vegan yogurt
¾ cup vanilla rice milk
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ cups sweet potato flour *
1 ½ cups oat flour*
¾ teaspoon cornstarch*
⅓ cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup olive oil*
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the yogurt, rice milk, and lemon juice. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour mix, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add the rice milk mixture and olive oil and stir with a spoon until combined, but still clumpy.
Flour a work surface lightly with oat flour and turn out the dough. Lightly flour your hands. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour mix.
Divide the dough in half. Pat down the dough, take a heart shaped cookie cutter and press down into the dough. Place the scones on the baking sheet.
Bake in the center of the oven for 15 to 17 minutes or until lightly golden. Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm.
In The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook, you’ll notice that the original recipe calls for her own custom gluten-free flour mix that she teaches you how to make, xanthan gum, and canola oil. However, for my version I decided to use a combination of oat flour and sweet potato flour for my gluten-free flour because oats are high fiber and high protein, and sweet potato flour because it smells amazing. Sweet potatoes, while high carb, are also a great source of many key vitamins and nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and potassium, among others.
I used cornstarch instead of xanthan gum because I looked up xanthan gum substitutions and cornstarch popped up. This substitution was largely a financial one, however, as I had a big tub of cornstarch at home and didn’t feel like spending extra money on xanthan gum.
Then lastly I swapped out the canola oil for olive oil because canola oil has been known to contain small amounts of trans fats, is disproportionately high in omega-6s, and tends to be highly refined. According to Healthline, the typical canola oil you see on that market “goes through stages — such as bleaching and deodorizing — that involve chemical treatment” and that this process “markedly decreases [the] nutrients [found] in [the] oil, such as essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins.”
Because canola and olive oil are both liquid at room temperature, and olive oil has a multitude of health benefits, I thought that it would make a great swap. But it’s important to note especially in baking that the oil substituted is of a similar form to the original oil being called for.
Y’all… These were FIRE! They had a light crunch outside with a super soft inside. I also really enjoyed the grittiness of the oat flour, and the sweet potato flour just made my house smell divine. I really enjoyed these because they have a light sweetness. I’m not a huge fan of treats that are overwhelmingly sweet because I feel disgusting afterwards. But these are great because every now and then I do get a slight sweet tooth, and this was the perfect balance of sweetness that left me satisfied and not sick. They were also extra delicious with just a light coating of vanilla glaze (which you will find the instructions for below). In the book, the author will instruct you to make the scones in the traditional triangle shape, but the hearts were not only a cute festive touch, but I also felt like they were the perfect size. I can’t wait to make these again!
Vanilla Glaze
Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons rice milk
½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl. Mix until well incorporated.
Hope you enjoy these scones as much as I did. And remember to keep practicing self-love through your food choices!
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