A Taste of Paradise - Coconut Scone & Lime Glaze

I find myself with a serious case of itchy feet. No - before you close your browser - this is not going to be a tale of athlete's foot. I don't have itchy feet, like, literally. What I mean is that I want - very badly - to take a trip. I'm not talking about a pack-the-car-and-drive trip, I'm talking about a pack-my-extra-large-suitcase-and-fly-to-an-out-of-country-destination kind of trip. Preferably a country of some exotic description. With water where when I look down while wading in it, I actually see my legs, rather than a plastic bag. And sand that isn't a cigarette butt and sand blend. Just sand. A swim up bar wouldn't hurt.


So, with this extremely overpowering feeling of wanderlust consuming both mind and spirit, I allowed myself to get sucked into the vortex that is Jetsetter. Somehow, I have managed to stay blissfully unaware of this website since its inception - which means that for the last couple of years, I didn't know what I was missing in, oh let's say, Costa Rica - and so, I didn't feel so bad.

But a couple of months ago a very dear friend told me all about the site - and to be fair - she did give me a warning about its tendency to time-suck, but I visited anyway, despite her cautionary advice. And, believe me, time-suck, it did. Fast forward and a mild addiction has formed.


Thus, maniacally searching Jetsetter from my couch is where I found myself for a few hours little while yesterday afternoon.

I'm not sure why I did it to myself, since I know full well that for a whole slew of reasons, we will not be donning new swimwear in Bali anytime soon. It was fun to dream about my escape to paradise for an afternoon, but it's not gonna happen this summer, so instead - I made coconut scones with a lime glaze. Because, if I'm not going to be sipping Margaritas in Mexico or Piña Coladas in Puerto Rico, I might as well satisfy my appetite for both the exotic and for breakfast with a coconut-lime scone.

I chose not to include an egg in my scone batter, because I like the extra moist, kind of light, not too bready texture that occurs without an egg - but if you prefer a bit more rise to your scones, go for adding an egg to the mix. 

Recipe adapted from Heather Christo

What you'll need:

2 cups flour, plus more for kneading/pressing dough

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

1 stick of cold butter, cut into cubes

1/3 cup coconut cream {you can buy cans of cream, or if you have coconut milk, use the thick top layer}

1/3 cup cream

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. lime zest

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. cream or water

Preheat the oven to 350ºF

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, this includes the flour, sugar, shredded coconut, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Since I don't have a food processor, I use a whisk to make sure the ingredients are well combined. 

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the coconut cream and regular cream. 

Add the cubed butter to the large bowl of dry ingredients, and using your hands, rub the butter and flour together until you have a coarse sandy texture. This can also be done by pulsing it in the bowl of  a food processor.

Once you have a sandy texture, incorporate the cream mixture. I stirred mine with a wooden spoon until it was mixed enough that I could handle it. At this stage, turn the dough onto a well floured piece of parchment paper. 

Knead a bit more to bring the dough together - add a bit more flour if needed. The dough should be soft and a little wet, so don't add too much flour. Pat the ball of dough into a round disc, roughly 10-12 inches in diameter. 

Use a knife to cut the disc into 8 equal pieces. You can do this by cutting it in half, then into quarters, then divide each quarter into 2 slices. 

The dough will be quite soft, so don't sweat it.

Gingerly, using a spatula, lift each triangle of dough and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment, or a silpat liner. Do this with each scone until all 8 are on the baking tray. {If you have an extra teensy oven like I do, you might have to use two trays or make them in two batches of four}

Bake in the center of the oven rack for roughly 18-20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden and a bit brown on the bottom edges.

While the scones cook, use a whisk to mix together the cream, powdered sugar and lime zest in a small bowl. Set this aside until the scones are ready to be glazed.

After removing the scones from the oven, allow the scones to cool a bit before using either a small spoon or a pastry brush to top each scone with a little bit of lime glaze. 

Before you bite into a scone, close your eyes and think of paradise. See?! It kind of works, right?