Some days I write for therapy, but many days, I eat for therapy and emotional comfort. You know your ideal comfort food, and many times it is based upon childhood favorites and nostalgic memories. I teach high school language arts, and as an “old” new teacher ten years ago, I was reminded that we can never assume what our students do or don’t know. One word they’d never heard was “nostalgia.” I suppose because of their short, young lives of emotional upheaval, they rarely looked back with fondness on many childhood memories.

I defined the word for them from my own perspective, stating that nostalgia for me was a sudden reminder of something good from my past, triggered by a smell, a sound, or a taste. Of our five senses, smell lingers longest, and I explained that walking past a bakery and smelling fresh baked breads would remind me of my great aunt’s Italian bakery in Harlem. Smelling cinnamon and donuts frying brought back summer mornings waking to donuts frying downstairs in our landlady’s kitchen.

Life has been crazy hectic these past two years, and crazy does in fact run in my family. Sometimes I feel like announcing to a room, “My name is Chelie, and I have a problem.” Probably my biggest problem is turning to carbs for comfort. So I try to adjust recipes to at least feel like they are healthier. My friends marvel at the way I add ingredients to use up leftovers or substitute for missing items, and still manage to produce a very edible end product. Rarely do I follow a recipe verbatim, unless it is baking, but then I mostly try to be sure I’ve got the right ratio of dry and wet, leavening agents, and flavor combinations.

Here is my latest scone recipe. I actually found a recipe for cream scones and forgot to add the cream, but with the other liquids and banana, they came out just right; light, moist, and crumbly. My sister the chef asked for the recipe, so they come highly recommended.

Banana Coco-Nut Scones (pictured after separating, but before glazing)

1 ½ c. spelt flour

½ c. hazelnut flour (mortgage the farm, but worth it)

½ c. buttermilk baking mix

1 T. baking powder

¼ c. coconut sugar (Trust me)

¼ t. sea salt

 

¼ c. ice cold butter, grated

¼ c. coconut oil

2 eggs (TIP: crack into a small cup before adding, to avoid shells in your baking)

 

1 t. Madagascar vanilla

1 very ripe banana, mashed

¼ c. heavy cream (if you don’t forget!)

 

Dash each of cinnamon & nutmeg, or use pumpkin pie seasoning

¼ c. raisins, currants, or dried cranberries (or fresh blueberries!)

¼ c. chopped nuts or seeds (I had peanuts & sunflower seeds so I used both)

Glaze:

½ c. powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

2 T. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (I lightly spray it with cooking spray)

In a food processor:

Combine flours, baking mix, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. Run to combine. Stir together butter, coconut oil, eggs. Pour through spout as your processor is running. Pour in vanilla and add in banana and nut mixture. Run just to combine thoroughly. Pour in heavy cream IF mixture looks too dry and crumbly. Once you see the dough ball up, remove from food processor onto your parchment lined cookie sheet. Using your floured hands and a well-floured rolling pin, roll and flatten the ball of dough into a round, about ½” thick.

Using a sharp, pointed knife, cut into 8-12 wedges. First cut in half, then quarters, then decide how big a scone you want before cutting the additional wedges. I then flour the knife and drag it through my cuts, gently separating the wedges just a bit,   so that each scone develops an allover crust while baking.

Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven. Cool slightly, but while still warm, drizzle or brush each scone with the glaze. Use a wide spatula to serve.

Enjoy while still warm!