Breakfast Strawberry Shortcake

Growing up, one of my favorite breakfasts was my mother's version of strawberry shortcake. Freshly made biscuits and ripe strawberries would get drenched in milk and sprinkled with sugar. It was quite the treat. I stumbled upon a healthier vegan version of this breakfast delight when I made scones that were more like biscuits. I adapted the scone recipe from America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book, substituting most of the ingredients. The adapted recipe is given below.

For the strawberry shortcakes, I toasted a day-old scone, buttered with Earth Balance, and sprinkled with coconut sugar. I put this into a bowl and covered with fresh cut strawberries and more coconut sugar. The final trick was using left over canned coconut milk that I thinned with some hazelnut milk to generously pour over the top. There's nothing quite like my mom's version, but this one came in a close second, and beat it by miles in the nutrition department.

Adapted Recipe for Simple Cream Scones

Ingredients:

• 2 cups gluten-free flour mix
• 5 Tbsp. coconut sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 5 Tbsp. Earth Balance baking stick, cut into 1/4 inch cubes and refrigerated
• 1 cup canned coconut milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a backing sheet with parchment paper. Mix dry ingredients in a food processor until combined. Add butter to dry ingredients and pulse until mixture resembles fine sand. Pour mixture into large bowl. Pour coconut milk into bowl with flour mixture and combine wet and dry ingredients, folding with a rubber spatula. When just combined, place dough on lightly floured surface and shape into a 9 inch round. Use a bench scraper or knife to divide circle into 8 triangles. Bake triangles on lined baking sheet for 15 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway through. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving.