Olive and Dulse (Seaweed) Vegan Scones
Crumbly and flakey, these savory vegan scones and peppered with powdered, umami-packed dulse and studded with stunning olives. Rich and complex, these scones tell a story of a wave crashing, splashing a fine mist of ocean flavor on the nearby ancient olive tree. A wonderful, pocket-sized snack to bring on a hike, breakfast, or tea time treat, these savory scones are unique, flavorful, and fantastic. They are vegan and dairy-free, but I promise you won’t be missing the butter.
Click Here for a Print-Friendly Recipe
Dulse: Seasoning with Seaweed
Seaweed (more properly named sea vegetables) are a hugely under appreciated resource. They are a powerhouse of iron, iodine, vitamin C, manganese, copper and more. Sea vegetables are actually said to contain the broadest range of minerals found in any food, because they contain all the same minerals the ocean does (which is about what we need in our blood). The ability of growing sea vegetables for food actually benefits the ocean waters, rather than depleting it, making it a sustainable food option. Gastropod did a really interesting podcast about seaweed farmers a few years ago, if you’re interested in learning a little bit more about why sea vegetables benefit the oceans and ourselves.
Savory Scones: Everything’s Better Savory
While I do like my desserts, I like dinner more. If choosing between a piece of pizza and a cookie, I choose the pizza every time. I can’t resist the salt, fat, and umami flavors- so this scone really ticks all my boxes. While it’s not terribly salty, it’s got the nice and crumbly texture from coconut oil, and the amazing umami from the seaweed. I do actually have a sweet scone recipe for anyone interested (lemon and turmeric scones!) but I definitely recommend giving the savory vegan scones a shot.
Choosing Savory Over Sweet? Try one of these recipes!
- Vegan Brown Rice Congee (Savory Rice Porridge) with Jackfruit and Mushrooms
- Savory Pumpkin Muffins
- White Bean Watermelon Gazpacho with Savory Almond Seaweed Granola
- Savory Chocolate Pasta with Hazelnut Chili Cream Sauce
- Savory Lemon Poppy-Seed Pasta
The Thanksgiving with the Garlic Stuffed Olives
Actually, every Thanksgiving my family has ever celebrated has featured garlic stuffed olives. It’s one of the types of olive I used in these savory scones (along with Kalamata olives), as they’re one of my favorites. Every year for Thanksgiving, we make a little tray of olives, pickles, and other similar nibbles. And every year, garlic olives have been heavily featured, since the year when I was small and ate about 20 of them. Afterwards, I walked around happily, smelling like someone who was taking vampire defense much too seriously. It’s a story my family loves to retell every Thanksgiving, particularly if there’s a new boyfriend present or someone else they can try and embarrass me in front of. But I still love them- enough to add them to my scones. I guess I’m just a garlicky-breathed kid at heart.
Olives and The Ocean
I don’t get whimsical with my writing often, but when making these vegan scones, something about olives and the ocean struck me as very romantic. My mind was transported to breezy shoreline, covered in tall, waving grasses with a vibrant blue sky. On the air you can smell the salty, damp winds of the ocean, and over the wind you can just hear the crashing of waves on the rocky coast. I’m standing near an olive tree, it’s trunk wrinkled and convoluted, branches twisted, held in a state of static motion. Long, dark green leaves protect this aged tree from the salt-laden breeze. And peaking from under the tear-dropped shaped leaves, rounded and hard fruit. I’m not here to serve any purpose, just to witness this grand and resilient tree and to breath in the cool ocean air.
How to Make Vegan Scones (The Secret is Coconut Oil)
Scones are a pretty easy recipe- they don’t require many ingredients, and part of their charm is the rustic, crumbly triangles that require no shaping abilities. The secret, as the heading implies, is all in the coconut oil. Make sure that your coconut oil is nice and cool, because if it’s too melted it won’t work properly. In order to get the flaky, crumbly texture of scones, you need semi-solid, uneven little bits in your dough, and liquid coconut oil will blend in evenly. The other pitfall to avoid is over-mixing. Once you add your soymilk, a dough will form. Don’t knead or mix much beyond this point- again, it can lead to the coconut oil melting into the dough. The scones are shaped by making two disks, and cutting each of those into quarters.
Olive and Dulse (Seaweed) Vegan Scones
Ingredients
- ½ cup soymilk or other vegan milk
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp. dulse flakes
- 1 tbsp. white sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ cup coconut oil, chilled until solid
- ½ cup olives, chopped (I used a mix of kalamata and garlic-stuffed olives, but use whatever kind you like)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Prepare a baking tray with a silicone mat and set aside. Combine the soymilk and vinegar, mix, and set aside for at least 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, dulse, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk well, and then use a fork or your hands to incorporate the coconut oil (about 1 tbsp. at a time) into the mix. When the texture feels almost like wet sand, add the soymilk and vinegar, mixing until you have a firm dough. Add the olives, and kneed a few times to mix it well.
- Divide the dough into two pieces, and form each into a disk, about an inch or so thick. Use a bench scraper or knife to divide the disks into quarters, and set on a baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Notes
Variations:
1. Try mixing half a cup of vegan cheddar cheese into the scones for added flavor
2. Similarly, onion, garlic, or scallions could be added for more flavor.
Click Here for a Print-Friendly Recipe
Let’s hear from you…
- Scones- sweet, savory or both? For that matter, are you team pizza or cookie?
- What’s your record for most garlic stuffed olives eaten in one sitting?
- Do you ever think about the landscape your foods might belong in? Have you ever designed a recipe around a specific landscape?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Like this post? Pin it!
HI Val, what an incredible sounding recipe. I was looking for a recipe that used dulse. We are trying not to use white flour. Do you think it would work with a whole grain flour? I wondered about oat, wheat, buckwheat, millet or …???? Did you try any of these? Any advice would be welcomed. Thank you
Hi Deborah, thanks so much for your comment! I haven’t tried any of those, but I think whole wheat should work perfectly fine. It will of course give it more of that nutty earthy whole grain flavor. Other low or no gluten flour might not work as well on their own, but could probably work well if you substitute in for maybe a quarter of your total flour.
Happy baking, and let me know how they turn out!