Emotional Eating | Healthy Scones
What do you turn to when you crave comfort? Do you get your sweatpants on and lie in the sofa? Do you reach a homemade pasta dish? or do you call your mum or best friend?
It has been long enough since I had my last scone. In Spain they are not common, they are hard to find (although easy to avoid succumbing the temptation 😛). But for few days last week I had a strong craving for them.
Mmmm scones, they are so good! They bring me good memories, Dublin bakeries; delicious, soft and rich Irish butter; cozy cloudy sky; and lots of afternoon teas with my beautiful ladies👭👭!! At the second day I was wishing to have a scone, I realized what I was really missing, those comfy dates with the girls!
Emotional Eating
As a human being, we’re programmed to instinctual crave satisfaction in the form of warmth, love, comfort, affection. When we are lacking of any of this, we feel discomfort and instinctual our body craves comfort to restore its feeling of safety.
And this is exactly what have happened to me! My cravings for scones would evoke the nice feelings and love of my Dublin friends. When you need to deal with emotions, you need to make a decision, what’s the best way to satisfy the craving without sabotaging your health?
Some people go for a walk, others like to paint or do some crafting, I tend to rely on food. But I’ve learnt to choose healthier options when satisfying cravings. Instead an ice-cream full of sugar I turn to frozen fruit; instead fries or salty snacks I go for natural roasted nuts; or if you crave a whole meal packed with refined flours, sugars and unhealthy fats, I usually twist the recipe and reinvent it in a healthier and more nutritious option.
And this is what I did with the beautiful and delicious scones. I used wholemeal oat and spelt flour, complex carbs that will be absorbed slower and will make me feel fuller for longer. I didn’t used any sugar, they are sweetened with the natural sugars found in tender and soft cooked apple. The traditional recipe call for butter, here you have two options, go for a sustainable, organic or local butter or use cold-pressed, unrefined coconut oil.
This is my new healthier relationship with emotional eating, how is yours? If you need help dealing with cravings, with eating patterns or just a bit of help integrating healthy habits, don’t hesitate to contact me!
The easiest English teatime treat in a healthier way. Served with organic butter, clotted cream and homemade jam.
- 120 grams spelt flour
- 90 grams oat flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 90 grams organic butter or coconut oil
- 1 egg white yolk reserved
- 60 ml milk of your choice
- 3 tablepoons raw honey optional
- 1 apple peeled & diced
- 1 tablespoong water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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Put the diced apple, water and cinnamon in a pot and cooked over low-medium heat until water is evaporated and apple is soft.
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Preheat the oven to 200ºC and line an oven tray with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl, put together all the dry ingredients (flours & powders. Add diced butter, using your hands and fingertips, rub butter into the flour until get a sandy texture.
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Add egg white, honey if using and milk, stir around with a wooden spoon until you can work the dough by hand. When the dough has come together and is combined (maybe you need to add a bit more of flour if it's too wet or more liquid if it's too dry), sprinkle some flour over the table, flatten the ball of dough with your hand or a rolling pin until is about 1,5cm thick.
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Spread the cooked apple, blend the dough, leaving the apples in the middle of the two layers and roll it until is about 2,5cm thick.
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Use a round cutter of 8cm to cut out as many scones as you can. Gather the rest of the dough into a ball again, flatten it our and cut out the rest of the scones.
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Place in the oven tray and bake for 15-18 minutes until crusty on the outside and soft in the inside.
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Serve them slightly warm with organic butter and homemade jam.
They are better consumed freshly baked!