Despite my best intentions, I fell off the face of the planet. The last few weeks have been chock-full of traveling, packing, hauling, sleeping on a futon, living out of suitcases, moving, and unpacking. In the midst of that, I was without internet access for about 10 days. Bad blogger! It’s okay. You can fire me, if you’d like. But we are officially (almost) settled and moved into our new apartment in Providence. Hooray!

In the midst of the crazy, we enjoyed a trip in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the wedding of two dear friends, Stacey and Kevin. About six years ago, I lived in this lovely little city for a short 10 months and loved it. So, it was really nice to be back on Lake Michigan, to stop by a few of my favorite places in town, and to visit with so many old friends and colleagues. If you ever find yourself in the Brew City, I would recommend popping over to one of the many Alterra Coffee locations (my fave is in the old pumping station right on the lake) and having at least one meal at Beans & Barley (we may have eaten there twice in one weekend).

While we were out of town, another good friend of ours stayed at our place in Worcester. Patrick was visiting family, but we were like two ships passing in the night. Since I was feeling badly that we wouldn’t be there to greet him, I decided that some scones might be a suitable replacement. I went looking for a spelt recipe, since I had a bunch in the pantry and I landed on this basic one from The Healthy Chef. I made a good number of substitutions based on preference and what I had in the kitchen. Here goes!

Blueberry Oatmeal Spelt Scones – adapted from The Healthy Chef

• 2 cups (10 oz)  wholemeal spelt flour, plus more if necessary
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks (or vegan alternative)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 cup your choice of milk (I used almond)
• 1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
• 1 cup (3.5 oz) rolled oats (you will have extra)

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
2. Combine spelt flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Then, rub the butter gently into the dry ingredients using your fingertips. It should resemble a coarse meal.
3. Stir in the blueberries. Frozen berries will turn the scones a purply-blue. 
4. Combine milk, maple syrup, and vanilla separately, then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix lightly to form a soft sticky dough. You may need just a touch more flour at this point, particularly if using frozen blueberries, which will add some liquid to the dough. Add no more than a tablespoon at a time.
5. Sprinkle half the oats onto a clean working surface and place the dough on top. Flatten down slightly then sprinkle the rest of the oats on top. Gently press down until the scone dough is about 1 inch thick.
6. Cut into 12 rounds or squares with a cutter or a sharp knife. 
7. Place onto a lined baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Teresa’s recipe recommends topping these with ricotta and honey, which sounds delectable! I had no ricotta, so I slathered spread on some butter. These definitely needed a *little* something else, as I prefer a moister scone. But the mix of sweet/tart blueberries, maple syrup, and the earthiness of the spelt flour was lovely! I also love that the oats are just hanging out on top, adding some additional texture.

Because these are made with spelt flour, they have a bit more protein than your typical whole wheat version. They make a great mid-morning snack with your second cup of coffee!

Enjoy!