I love a good scone, but truth be told, I am always a bit disappointed when I make them myself. I collated a load of recipes last year from friends when I was doing my afternoon tea fundraiser, but the two things which let them down were 1) lack of rise and 2) lack of sweetness. So you may be surprised that these sugar free scones solved my sweetness problem!
You might argue that scones shouldn’t be too sweet. After all, they are a vehicle for all that creamy and jam. But here’s the thing: I quite like a scone with just butter. I know, I know, don’t tell the cream tea police! But a just warm scone with slightly salted butter is a thing of beauty for me so I want a scone which is maybe a bit sweeter than usual. 
I have tried using Natvia in this recipe. Although calorie free, it is made from stevia; a plant which is full of natural sweetness. I actually grew a stevia plant last year, but got confused as to how to harness it, and accidentally let it die 🙁
I’ve been trying Natvia out in various ways for a few weeks. I will be honest, the granules don’t have the same texture as sugar, so my first attempt at baking was a disaster. The next batch, I put the Natvia in the food processor for about a minute to grind it down a bit first, and the scones were just as I wanted. It is a shame because from what I can make it isn’t the stevia that gives it that texture, but rather erythritol; an added naturally fermented product which gives it a sugar-like structure. I noticed online that they do an icing sugar style which I am sure would yield much better results for bakes like this, so I will keep my eyes peeled for it at the supermarket. 
However, I did find it useful as a sweet hit in other ways:
- Perking up an emergency low fat hot chocolate sachet!
- Sprinkled over Special K when I needed a kick start
- Spiced chai tea
- Porridge
This simple sugar free scone recipe yields soft, fluffy scones, but the taste is ever so slight different to that of sugar. So have a go and let me know what you think.
Ingredients
- 225g self raising flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 80g soft butter
- 2 eggs
- 75g Natvia
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220c
- In a food processor, grind the Natvia for 60 seconds
- Then add the flour, baking powder and 1 egg and pulse until combined
- Add the butter and pulse briefly until butter just combined - should still see the butter
- Tip onto a clean work surface or large baking mat and gently bring the mixture together with your hands. Don't roll - they won't rise - but pat it all together until approx 1.5-2cm thick
- Cut with a round cutter stright down- don't turn the cutter as you press
- Wash generously with the other egg and place on a lined baking tray in the middle of the oven
- Bake 9-11 minutes until just golden
- Allow to cool in the tray or on a rack
Notes
I made quite small scones. My cutter was 6-7cm across. You could replace the sweetener with caster sugar - no need to pulse the sugar if you do.
Pin for baking later
*PR Samples
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