Carrot Cake Scones with Cinnamon Glaze

For being a food blogger, I rarely prepare recipes that coincide with upcoming holidays. But for whatever reason, I managed to time these carrot cake scones perfectly with Easter. Yes!

The classic Easter meal is typically a lunch that’s all about ham but… what about breakfast?

How about some cake in the form of a scone?

My normal breakfast routine is always either oatmeal or toast with peanut butter. (Creative I know.) But for special occasions, I’m all about new, unique, or more indulgent breakfasts. Mornings have the power to set the tone of a whole day so I see breakfast as a way to make a day feel more special and memorable right from the start.

So let’s start this Easter morning with a delicious breakfast and family gathered. These are moist scones and if you shred the carrot finely, you won’t even notice it’s there. They are also on the healthier(-ish) side as per usual, containing some whole wheat flour and half the butter of typical scone recipes. Also, I recommend drizzling the glaze a little before serving them. The glaze dissolved into the scones overnight, just a heads up. :)

Carrot Cake Scones with Cinnamon Glaze; Recipe or Not

makes 8 scones

Scones

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. shredded coconut, optional
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• pinch of all spice
• 4 T. butter, cold
• 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 c. milk (can use non-dairy milk)
• 3/4 c. shredded carrots
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Glaze

• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• Heaping 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1 T. milk, add more to get the right consistency for drizzling

The Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, coconut, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice. In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, milk, and shredded carrots. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the wet ingredients and walnuts and stir until everything has been combined. Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and form a circle with the dough, about 1″ thick. Cut into 8 triangles and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Prepare the glaze while the scones are baking and drizzle the glaze on a little before serving.

Healthy Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Pasta Sauce

You guysssss. THIS SAUCE. I could hardly stop myself from devouring it before snapping photos and I’m so excited to share it with you!

It kind of reminds of those times when you find the perfect shirt in the perfect color in the perfect size and it’s 75% off. Or when you’re in a hurry and you find that perfect parking spot right by the door.

You know…those sweet moments that just make you say “Yessss!” and want to do a happy dance.

This sauce is ridiculously easy and fast, creamy, incredibly flavorful from the roasted garlic and rosemary, and it might just have a healthy twist that I promise you won’t even notice!

It’s a win all the way around.

Don’t you just want to dig your fork in RIGHT NOW?

After the process of putting this post together, I was craving this so much I made it again last night!

I hope I’ve hyped this recipe enough because 1) it completely deserves to be hyped 2) it will live up to the hype (have I mentioned I LOVE it?) and 3) I’m about to tell you what makes it so healthy and I don’t want you to miss the sauce for the ingredients.

This sauce is actually made with cauliflower (cue gasps & eyebrow raises) but stick with me. Cauliflower is a chameleon of a vegetable and it takes on the essence of whatever dish its in. It also happens to, well, not have a lot of flavor so we inject it with some roasted garlic and rosemary. We also might just add a little cheese for good measure and we end up with an Alfredo-esque sauce without the calories and food coma. Jackpot!

Creamy Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Pasta Sauce; Recipe or Not

serves 2 (if you pile on the sauce like we do)

• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2 bulbs of garlic, roasted (Here’s a great tutorial.)
• 1/2 – 1 T. fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/4 c. grated or shredded Parmesan
• 1/4 c. shredded mozzarella
• 1-2 T. olive oil

pinch of salt and pepper (Health tip! A small squeeze of lemon will help cut down on the amount of salt needed with no lemon flavor detectable in the sauce.)

The Prep: Bring several cups of water to a boil in a large sauté pan, add the cauliflower florets. Let the florets cook until they are tender (about 10 minutes). Put the roasted garlic, rosemary, cauliflower florets, olive oil, salt, pepper, and one cup of the cauliflower water in a blender. Blend until the ingredients are smooth. Empty the large sauté pan of the remaining water and transfer the smooth sauce back to the pan. Stir in the Parmesan and mozzarella, heat the sauce on low if needed to melt the cheese.

Notes: I had this sauce prepared and pasta boiled in 30 minutes one night. The trick? Roast the garlic the night before and store it in the fridge. Also, for a richer sauce add one cup of milk instead of water in the blender.